Project Resumes After 20 Years, Aims To Use Private
Spacecraft
At the National Conference on Science Education earlier this
month, the Space Frontier Foundation announced a project to fly
hundreds of teachers in space within the next few years. Science
teachers from across America showed their support by signing a
declaration saying they want to go into space.
"We've lost that 'Holy cow, we've been to the moon,'" said Kevin
Runkle, a teacher at John Muir Middle School in San Jose, CA. "Our
kids don't know they've lost it, but the teachers do. This project
can bring it back. As good as it will be for our students, what
better way to tell teachers how important they are."
Of course, the idea of flying teachers in space is not new --
and it is it not without some melancholy. In 1984, the US
government created the first Teachers in Space program to fly
teachers aboard the Space Shuttle. More than 11,000 teachers
applied, with NASA ultimately selecting Christa McAuliffe (right)
to be the first teacher in space.
After McAuliffe -- along
with six other astronauts -- were lost in the Challenger
shuttle accident, however, the program was derailed. At that time,
President Ronald Reagan said, "We'll continue our quest in space.
There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes,
more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing
ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue."
Sadly, those words were not heeded for the next 20 years...
until now.
"Today, we return to that original vision," said Teachers in
Space project manager Bill Boland of the Space Frontier Foundation.
"Opportunities for flying on the Shuttle are going away, but
American free enterprise is developing new suborbital vehicles that
promise dramatic improvements in cost and safety. We intend to
fulfill the original promise of Teachers in Space. Our hopes and
journeys continue. The new Teachers in Space project will provide
many more flights, with many more teachers."
"There's a revolution in space transportation," said Space
Frontier Foundation spokesman Rick Tumlinson. "Within the next few
years, there will be multiple companies offering flights to space,
with ticket prices starting at around $100,000. We want to make
sure that some of the first tickets go to teachers."
"We want to fly many more teachers than the original Teachers in
Space program would have flown, and we want these teachers to
return to the classroom within a few days to inspire thousands of
students to pursue academic excellence and possibly space careers,"
Tumlinson continued.
The Foundation intends to seek funding for Teachers in Space
flight scholarships in a multi-year campaign.
"We are hearing loud and clear that there is a critical need to
attract and keep the best and brightest to teach in America's
classrooms," said Boland. "We combine this need with the
opportunities of the commercial spaceflight industry to create a
historic win-win solution. Stay tuned, this is going to be a great
ride!"