Education Secretary Hosts DC Students for Talk With Space Station

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan are hosting Washington area middle and high school students Thursday for a live discussion with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)

Reporters are invited to attend the chat between the space station's Expedition 21 crew and students from the Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High School and the Parkland Magnet Middle School for Aerospace Technology.

The live call from orbit will take place between 10:10 and 10:30 a.m. EST during an event Nov. 5 scheduled from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the auditorium of the Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington.

The event is part of the 10th annual celebration of International Education Week, so the students will ask the crew members questions in English, French, German and Russian. The week highlights international education and international exchange. This year's theme is "Creating a Vision for a Better Future."

The international Expedition 21 crew participating in the event consists of NASA astronauts Jeff Williams and Nicole Stott, European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, and Russian cosmonauts Roman Romanenko and Maxim Suraev.

Patrick Forrester, Jose Hernandez and Christer Fuglesang, who recently flew on NASA's STS-128 space shuttle mission, and former astronaut Don Thomas, a veteran of four spaceflights, also will participate.

The downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space office. The office promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of human spaceflight.

NASA Television will air a Video File from the downlink event. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA's education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education

For information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station