NASA Seeks Undergrads to Defy Gravity for Science and Engineering

HOUSTON, July 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is offering undergraduate
students an opportunity to test experiments in microgravity aboard NASA's
"Weightless Wonder" aircraft.

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The opportunity is part of NASA's Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program,
which gives aspiring explorers a chance to propose, design and fabricate a
reduced gravity experiment. Selected teams will get to test and evaluate their
experiment aboard NASA's reduced gravity airplane. The aircraft flies about 30
roller-coaster-like climbs and dips during experiment flights to produce
periods of weightlessness and hyper-gravity ranging from 0 g to 2 g.

"Today's students will be the ones going to the moon and beyond to live,
explore and work," said Douglas Goforth, the Reduced Gravity Education Flight
Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This project gives
them a head start in preparing for those future ventures by allowing them to
conduct hands-on research and engineering today in a truly reduced gravity
laboratory."

Proposals are due to NASA by Oct. 28. Interested students also should submit a
letter of intent by Sept. 16. This step is optional but serves as an
introductory notice that a team plans to submit a proposal for the upcoming
competition.

NASA will announce selected teams Dec. 9. They will fly in the summer of 2010.
Once selected, teams also may invite a full-time, accredited journalist to fly
with them and document the team's experiment and experiences. All applicants
must be full-time students, U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old.

With this program, NASA continues its tradition of investing in the nation's
education programs. It is directly tied to the agency's education goal of
strengthening NASA and the nation's future workforce. Through this and other
college and university programs, NASA will identify and develop the critical
skills and capabilities needed to carry out its space exploration mission.

For more information about the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program or to
submit a proposal, contact the program at jsc-reducedgravity@nasa.gov, or
visit:

http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

SOURCE NASA

Stephanie Schierholz, Headquarters, Washington, +1-202-358-4997,
stephanie.schierholz@nasa.gov; or Jenna Maddix, Johnson Space Center, Houston,
+1-281-244-0185, jenna.c.maddix@nasa.gov, both of NASA