Jan 27 2011
From The Space Library
MEDIA ADVISORY: 11-019 NASA ADMINSTRATOR Charles Bolden TO SPEAK TO RICHMOND STUDENTS VISIT FOLLOWS PRESIDENT OBAMA'S CALL TO MAKE EDUCATION AND INNOVATION NATIONAL PRIORITIES
WASHINGTON -- NASA Administrator Charles Bolden meets with seventh and eighth grade students from Albert Hill Middle School this Friday at the MathScience Innovation Center in Richmond, Va. Bolden will highlight the importance of science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education as he shares his career experiences in the military and the space program. In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Obama emphasized the importance of STEM education for the U.S. to remain competitive in the world and win the future. U.S. Senator Mark Warner is scheduled to join the administrator and science center executives for this special NASA student event on Friday, Jan. 28, at 10 a.m. EST. Bolden's remarks will begin around 11 a.m. The MathScience Innovation Center's goal is to be the innovator, incubator and advocate of 21st Century math and science programs for the Virginia-capital region's kindergarten through 12th grade educators and students. It also houses the Challenger Center Learning Center Richmond. January 28 will mark the 25th anniversary of the loss of space shuttle Challenger astronauts. In his first education address of 2011, Bolden will reinforce NASA's commitment to STEM education and highlight opportunities for students who pursue those fields. STEM studies are a key part of NASA's effort to build the agency's future high-tech workforce and cultivate the next generation of explorers. In addition to hearing from Bolden and Warner, the students will have an opportunity to engage in hands-on activities related to science and exploration. Education staff from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., will lead the activities.
MEDIA ADVISORY: 11-020 NASA TO ANNOUNCE NEW PLANETARY DISCOVERIES
WASHINGTON -- NASA will host a news briefing at 1 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Feb. 2, to announce the Kepler mission's latest findings about planets outside our solar system. The briefing will be held in the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St S.W. in Washington and carried live on NASA Television. Kepler is the first NASA mission capable of finding Earth-size planets in or near the "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist on the surface of the orbiting planet. Although additional observations will be needed over time to achieve that milestone, Kepler is detecting planets and planet candidates with a wide range of sizes and orbital distances to help us better understand our place in the galaxy. The news conference will follow the scheduled release of Kepler mission science data on Feb. 1. The data release will update the number of planet candidates and is based on observations conducted between May 2 and Sept. 17, 2009. Participants are: -- Douglas Hudgins, Kepler program scientist, NASA Headquarters, Washington -- William Borucki, Kepler Science principal investigator, NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. -- Jack Lissauer, Kepler co-investigator and planetary scientist, Ames -- Debra Fischer, professor of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
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