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

SOURCE NASA

Stephanie Schierholz of NASA Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358-4997,
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov; Jim Bradshaw of the Department of Education,
Washington, +1-202-401-2310, press@ed.gov; Audrey Williams of the DC Public
Charter School Board, Washington, +1-202-328-2748,
awilliams@dcpubliccharter.com; or Kate Harrison of the Parkland Magnet Middle
School for Aerospace Technology, Rockville, Md., +1-301-279-3853,
Kate_Harrison@mcpsmd.org