Recent Press Releases
This page contains our most recent press releases. For older releases, please see our press release archive.
Teachers in Space Calls for More Educator Astronauts to Fly
Kennedy Space Center, FL, August 21, 2007 – As the Space Shuttle Endeavour touched down with Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan on board, Teachers in Space project leaders called for NASA to announce flight dates for the three remaining Educator Astronauts."NASA has taken the first step toward keeping the commitment it made to education more than 20 years ago, but it's only the first step," said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright. “We call on NASA Administrator Mike Griffin to immediately announce flight dates for the next three Educator Astronauts – Joe Acaba, Ricky Arnold and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger.”
Teachers in Space was a NASA project in the 1980's, but NASA discontinued the effort after the Challenger accident that claimed the life of teacher Christa McAuliffe in 1986. Teachers in Space has been revived as a private nonprofit project by the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy. Instead of flying teachers aboard the Shuttle, the new Teachers in Space program will use suborbital passenger vehicles now under development by commercial companies.
“The Educator Astronaut program is taking teachers out of the classroom to join the NASA astronaut corps,” Wright said. “Our goal is to put astronaut teachers into American classrooms.”
Space Frontier Foundation chairman Bob Werb believes NASA still has a role to play as well. “We call on NASA to fly the three remaining Educator Astronauts as soon as possible and to give them more time to teach lessons from space. After flying, they should return to the classroom, alongside the astronaut teachers we will be creating.”
Teachers in Space is preparing to begin the process of selecting the first of many teachers who will fly in space on suborbital vehicles. The start of the selection process will be officially announced at the Wirefly X Prize Cup, a public spaceflight show at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico on October 26-28.
Teachers in Space to Begin Accepting Applications
Alamogordo, NM, August 8, 2007 – As Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan prepares to blast into space, the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy announced that the new Teachers in Space effort will begin accepting applications from teachers this October."We congratulate Barbara Morgan on the beginning of this historic voyage," said Space Frontier Foundation Executive Director Jeff Krukin. "NASA is keeping a commitment to education that was made more than 20 years ago. Now, we need to take the next step. The Educator Astronaut program takes a teacher out of the classroom to join the NASA astronaut corps. Our goal is to let many teachers experience spaceflight and return to American classrooms to educate and inspire the next generation."
President Ronald Reagan announced the first Teacher in Space program in 1984. NASA selected Christa McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan to be the first teachers to fly in space, but NASA backed away from the program after the Challenger accident claimed the life of Christa McAuliffe in 1986. Under political pressure in the 1990s, NASA created the Educator Astronaut program and accepted Barbara Morgan as a permanent NASA employee. Unfortunately, the goal of returning flown teachers to American classrooms was lost.
"We're returning to that original vision," said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright, "and expanding on it. The average teacher touches thousands of students during a teaching career. Imagine the impact of hundreds or even thousands of astronaut teachers, men and women who have been to space, in American schools. For 40 years, we've held forth the false promise that if students studied math and science, they would have a chance to go into space. A student still has a better chance of playing professional basketball than flying as a NASA astronaut. Today, we're changing that. Private companies are developing a new generation of reusable suborbital vehicles that promise dramatic reductions in the cost of human spaceflight. We are working with leading suborbital companies. When they're ready to fly, we will have teachers who are trained and ready to go."
The rules for the first competition will be announced at the Wirefly X-PRIZE Cup on October 26-28, and we will begin accepting applications at that time.
For older releases, please see our press release archive.