More than 650 educators from around the nation and Canada
will experience the hands-on challenges of living and working
in space. NASA involves the education community in its
endeavors as a way to inspire and enlighten inquisitive minds.
During a unique two-day conference, the Agency will use the
International Space Station to motivate teachers to encourage
young people to study science, mathematics, technology and
engineering.
The Seventh Annual International Space Station Educators
Conference is scheduled to begin Feb. 9 in Houston, TX.
Conference participants will have hands-on, interactive
sessions, such as building and launching rockets, constructing
their own space suits, assembling a space station model and
preparing astronaut food.
“This conference provides a unique opportunity to spread the
excitement of the International Space Station to educators
throughout the world, as well as teach about what lies ahead
with the ISS,” said Patricia Tribe, Director of Education,
Space Center Houston, Houston, TX.
The orbiting platform is the most complex construction project
ever undertaken in space. Sixteen countries have joined
together to build a sophisticated complex for space science
research and human habitation. “The International Space
Station symbolizes one of the most complex international
challenges faced by people of this planet,” said Frank C.
Owens, Director, Education Division, Office of Human Resources
and Education, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC.
Owens added, “It is only fitting that NASA provide educators
from around the country first-hand access to our plans and
research agenda for this new NASA orbiting laboratory. In
doing so, NASA is making an investment in the conference
participants as they will translate this experience for the
youth of our nation — America’s future.
Research aboard the station will include probes of how human
genes function, development of human tissue models to study
infections diseases, and examination of combustion processes
to improve fuel efficiency. Since November, a three-person
crew, led by American commander astronaut Bill Shepherd, has
been living and working aboard this orbiting outpost.
Guest speakers at the conference include astronauts Dan
Burbank, Chris Hadfield, Barbara Morgan and David Wolf.
Michael Hawes, Deputy Associate Administrator for Space
Station at NASA Headquarters, and Kathryn Clark, Senior
Scientist for the Human Development and Exploration of Space
Enterprise, NASA Headquarters, will speak during the
conference. The crew of the STS-92 mission is also expected to
participate in the conference.
The International Space Station Conference is sponsored by
NASA Headquarters; NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX;
The Boeing Company, Houston; Southwest Airlines, Dallas, TX;
and Space Center Houston.
