NASA Educator Astronaut Program

NASA's Educator Astronaut Program is helping educators and students experience NASA missions in a whole new light. K-12 educators are now part of the NASA Astronaut Corps and are trained to carry out all of the tasks and responsibilities that Mission Specialist astronauts are qualified to perform. Educator Astronauts will help NASA find new ways to connect space exploration to the classroom and to inspire the next generation of explorers.

You can be part of NASA's activities through the STS-118 Education Resources:

Engineering Design Challenge Plant Growth Chamber
During the 2007-2008 school year, join NASA's Engineering Design Challenge to design, analyze, build and assess plant growth chambers as part of a standards-based activity related to the STS-118 space shuttle mission. Growth chambers, much like the space plant chambers students will design and build, are part of the education payload on STS-118. The first Educator Astronaut, Barbara Morgan, and her fellow crewmates will take up two growth chambers along with 10 million basil seeds. These seeds will be exposed to microgravity and brought back to Earth to be used in classrooms throughout the nation.
More Information Coming Soon

Physical Fitness Challenge
NASA's Fit Explorer project is a scientific and physical approach to human health and fitness on Earth and in space. While using standards-based classroom science activities related to the STS-118 shuttle mission and human spaceflight in general, students will learn about NASA's exploration mission and the requirements of living in space. They will perform physical activities, including: Base Station Walk-Back, Spacewalking, Jumping for the Moon, simulated crew strength training and a mission control exercise. The Fit Explorer project will run from fall 2007 through summer 2008.
More Information Coming Soon