Teachers In Space

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX — February 7, 2009 — Teachers from across the nation met here today to help design a new training course for astronaut teachers. The workshop, attended by more than 50 teachers, was sponsored by Teachers in Space, which aims to put hundreds of American teachers into space.  “Teachers in Space is a nonprofit program working with the companies that are now developing low-cost, reusable spacecraft,” said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright. “Our long-term goal is to fly 200 teachers a year, four from each and every state in the Union.” 

Before those teachers fly, they will train. Teachers in Space plans to offer a three-week astronaut teacher training course for those chosen to fly. “The course will include about three days of spaceflight safety instruction and two and a half weeks of professional development for teachers,” Wright said. “Astronaut teachers will fly during the summer and return to the classroom in the fall with a priceless payload of knowledge and first-hand experience. Every astronaut teacher will reach and inspire hundreds of students every year. For the first time, space can have a real effect on American education.”

Teachers in Space is now working with teachers to design the content of the professional development program. “Over the next year or two, we will be conducting a series of workshops like this one in various locations around the United States,” Wright said. “We want teachers to tell us what activities they’d like to see in the astronaut teacher course. It is their ideas that will fuel our program.” 

Teachers in Space has also begun the process of selecting its first Pathfinder astronauts, who will be the first astronaut teachers to fly in space  and return to the classroom. “The Pathfinders will lead the way for the large number of astronaut teachers who follow,” Wright said, “They will go back into the classroom, but we hope that they will return each summer to help teach the new astronaut teacher course.”    

Rob Radnich, a physics and computer science teacher from Meadville, PA was one of the teachers who attended the first workshop, which was held at the Space Exploration Educators Conference at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Radnich feels that Teachers in Space “can be used to boost America to the same drive we felt in the 50’s and 60’s, to become a world leader in all areas, especially technology.” 

Harry LaForge, an aviation teacher from Missoula, MT agreed. ”We must find many ways to excite the next generation of aviators,” LaForge said.

Teachers in Space is a joint project of the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy. More information about Teachers in Space is available on the website, www.TeachersInSpace.org.

Dramatic action is needed to counter America’s teacher dropout problem, according to Teachers in Space education director Don McMahon.

“Everyone knows we have a dropout problem among high-school students,” said McMahon, a 40-year veteran teacher. “Most people don’t realize that the dropout rate for teachers is even higher.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, almost half of all teachers quit teaching during their first five years. In rural schools and low-income areas, the dropout rate is even higher. Schools with more than 75% minority, disadvantaged, or Hispanic students lose over 20% of their teachers every year, according to the Haberman Educational Foundation.

“The numbers alone do not convey the full severity of the problem,” said McMahon. “It’s not just the number of teachers who are leaving but the quality of teachers. The best qualified teachers are often those who leave first because they have the easiest time finding employment in other fields.

“We cannot solve this problem through ‘business as usual.’ We need innovative new incentives for teachers to remain in education. Government cannot do this alone — the private sector must play a role as well.”

Teachers in Space is a non-profit private-sector program designed to create such incentives, said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright.

Teachers in Space is working with the private companies that are developing new reusable suborbital spacecraft, which promise dramatic improvements in cost and safety. These low-cost vehicles will enable large numbers of teachers to fly in space and return to the classroom. “Our goal is to raise $20 million to fly 200 teachers a year, four from each and every state in the Union. We want to put a thousand astronaut teachers into American schools, within the next decade,” Wright said.

“We want to make teachers heroes. At Johnson Space Center, I met a computer programmer who told me, ‘I used to be a science teacher. I left teaching because of the salary, but if your program had existed at that time, I would have stayed in teaching.’ That’s the sort of teacher we’re trying to reach. That’s the kind of incentive we want to create.”

As a first step, Teachers in Space is currently recruiting Pathfinders who will be the first Teacher Astronauts to fly in space and return to the classroom. After their flights, which are expected to take place in 2010 or 2011, Pathfinders will be invited to return each summer to help teach the next class of astronaut teachers.

The deadline for teachers to submit Pathfinder astronaut applications is December 4, 2008. Finalists will be announced and training will begin on selected weekends in 2009. Teachers who are selected will not have to give up their day jobs.

More information about Teachers in Space is available on the project website: www.teachers-in-space.org.

Pathfinder application forms and information about the application process are available at: www.teachers-in-space.org/apply/apply.htm.

Teachers in Space is a joint project of the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy. 

Teachers in Space is a joint project of the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy.

A new astronaut program will help inspire American students to study math and science, countering the decline that has produced what experts call “a generation at risk.”

“For almost 50 years, teachers have told students that if they excelled at math and science, they could grow up to become astronauts,” said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright. “Up to now, that has mostly been a false hope.

“Even at the height of the Shuttle program, a student had a better chance of becoming an NBA basketball star than a NASA astronaut. What kind of message does that send to the next generation?”

“We want to turn that around,” said Rick Tumlinson, co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation and a Teachers in Space advisor. “American industry is developing a new generation of reusable suborbital spacecraft, which promise dramatic improvements in cost and safety. We will use these spacecraft to fly large numbers of teachers in space and put those teachers right back into the classroom where they can share the excitement, knowledge, and experience of space travel.

“Imagine a thousand astronaut teachers in American classrooms, touching millions of students. What effect will that have on math and science education?”

To accomplish that goal, Teachers in Space will eventually need to raise $20 million a year. “That will allow us to fly 200 teachers a year, four from each and every state in the Union,” Wright said.

Response has been positive so far. Five aerospace companies that are developing suborbital vehicles have pledged flights to the program, and the United States Rocket Academy has purchased additional flights for Teachers in Space and other educational programs. Simultaneously, teachers have started to submit applications for the first Pathfinder Teacher Astronaut flights, which are expected to occur in 2010 or 2011.

Pathfinders will be the first Teacher Astronauts to fly in space and return to the classroom. Later, they will be invited to return each summer to help teach the next class of astronaut teachers.

The deadline for teachers to submit Pathfinder astronaut applications is December 4, 2008. Finalists will be announced and training will begin on selected weekends in 2009. Teachers who are selected will not have to give up their day jobs.

More information about Teachers in Space is available on the project website: www.teachers-in-space.org.

Pathfinder application forms and information about the application process are available at: www.teachers-in-space.org/apply/apply.htm.

Teachers in Space is a joint project of the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy.