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Teachers in Space Calls for More Educator Astronauts to Fly

Kennedy Space Center, FL, August 21, 2007 – As the Space Shuttle Endeavour touched down with Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan on board, Teachers in Space project leaders called for NASA to announce flight dates for the three remaining Educator Astronauts.

"NASA has taken the first step toward keeping the commitment it made to education more than 20 years ago, but it's only the first step," said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright. “We call on NASA Administrator Mike Griffin to immediately announce flight dates for the next three Educator Astronauts – Joe Acaba, Ricky Arnold and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger.”

Teachers in Space was a NASA project in the 1980's, but NASA discontinued the effort after the Challenger accident that claimed the life of teacher Christa McAuliffe in 1986. Teachers in Space has been revived as a private nonprofit project by the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy. Instead of flying teachers aboard the Shuttle, the new Teachers in Space program will use suborbital passenger vehicles now under development by commercial companies.

“The Educator Astronaut program is taking teachers out of the classroom to join the NASA astronaut corps,” Wright said. “Our goal is to put astronaut teachers into American classrooms.”

Space Frontier Foundation chairman Bob Werb believes NASA still has a role to play as well. “We call on NASA to fly the three remaining Educator Astronauts as soon as possible and to give them more time to teach lessons from space. After flying, they should return to the classroom, alongside the astronaut teachers we will be creating.”

Teachers in Space is preparing to begin the process of selecting the first of many teachers who will fly in space on suborbital vehicles. The start of the selection process will be officially announced at the Wirefly X Prize Cup, a public spaceflight show at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico on October 26-28.

Teachers in Space to Begin Accepting Applications

Alamogordo, NM, August 8, 2007 – As Educator Astronaut Barbara Morgan prepares to blast into space, the Space Frontier Foundation and the United States Rocket Academy announced that the new Teachers in Space effort will begin accepting applications from teachers this October.

"We congratulate Barbara Morgan on the beginning of this historic voyage," said Space Frontier Foundation Executive Director Jeff Krukin. "NASA is keeping a commitment to education that was made more than 20 years ago. Now, we need to take the next step. The Educator Astronaut program takes a teacher out of the classroom to join the NASA astronaut corps. Our goal is to let many teachers experience spaceflight and return to American classrooms to educate and inspire the next generation."

President Ronald Reagan announced the first Teacher in Space program in 1984. NASA selected Christa McAuliffe and Barbara Morgan to be the first teachers to fly in space, but NASA backed away from the program after the Challenger accident claimed the life of Christa McAuliffe in 1986. Under political pressure in the 1990s, NASA created the Educator Astronaut program and accepted Barbara Morgan as a permanent NASA employee. Unfortunately, the goal of returning flown teachers to American classrooms was lost.

"We're returning to that original vision," said Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright, "and expanding on it. The average teacher touches thousands of students during a teaching career. Imagine the impact of hundreds or even thousands of astronaut teachers, men and women who have been to space, in American schools. For 40 years, we've held forth the false promise that if students studied math and science, they would have a chance to go into space. A student still has a better chance of playing professional basketball than flying as a NASA astronaut. Today, we're changing that. Private companies are developing a new generation of reusable suborbital vehicles that promise dramatic reductions in the cost of human spaceflight. We are working with leading suborbital companies. When they're ready to fly, we will have teachers who are trained and ready to go."

The rules for the first competition will be announced at the Wirefly X-PRIZE Cup on October 26-28, and we will begin accepting applications at that time.

Anoushe Ansari Joins Teachers in Space

Phoenix, AZ, November 19, 2006 – World-famous private space explorer Anousheh Ansari is joining the Advisory Board of the Teachers in Space project of the Space Frontier Foundation. Mrs. Ansari, who recently returned from her inspiring week-long flight aboard the International Space Station, has agreed to lend her name and support to the organization's plans to fly hundreds of teachers into space aboard a new generation of private NewSpace vehicles now in development across the United States.

"This is great news," said Bill Boland, project manager of the Space Frontier Foundation's TIS project. "Anousheh brings a special understanding of the real experience of spaceflight to our team. She represents exactly the kind of spirit and drive we want to communicate to the teachers and students of this nation."

Mrs. Ansari joins Apollo Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, X Prize Founder Dr. Peter Diamandis, famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan, educator Dick Methia, and authors Frank White and Dr. Patrick Collins on the Teachers in Space Advisory Board. TIS, building on the legacy of the former NASA program to fly teachers into space on the space shuttle, has a goal of flying teachers from each of the 50 states aboard the next generation of commercial sub-orbital space vehicles as they come online within the next few years.

"I want the children of America and the world to be inspired by space, and to understand that if they study and work hard anything is possible," said Mrs. Ansari. "By putting their own teachers into space, we can bring the concepts of space flight and advanced technologies right into the classrooms where they learn each day."

With this announcement, Mrs. Ansari is coming full circle in her quest to help open up the field of space travel. It was her financial support that allowed the X Prize to succeed in inspiring the first-ever private manned space flight. Having now taken her own space-flight she is lending critical support at just the right time to the TIS project, which is designed to reward excellent teachers and fire the imaginations of their students, while supporting the growth of the NewSpace industry she helped begin.

"Without her, there may have been no X Prize, no SpaceShipOne," said Foundation Founder Rick Tumlinson. "She and her family stepped up at a critical moment and helped kick-start the NewSpace industry – with the goal of opening space to more and more people. What she is doing here, inspiring the workforce of tomorrow, will ensure that goal is achieved."

"Anousheh touched millions of people by sharing her experience as she flew around our planet on the ISS," added the Foundation's Executive Director, Jeff Krukin. "In supporting Teachers in Space as the world's first NewSpace Ambassador, she will be a powerful and credible voice for education as a means to form and realize one's dreams."

The TIS project was announced this April at the National Science Teachers Association conference, and has garnered widespread support from educators, along with several suborbital spaceflight ‘rides’ donated by NewSpace companies to help kick start the effort. The first new vehicles are expected to begin flying by the end of 2008, with operational services beginning around 2009 – once they have been proven safe. The Foundation believes now is the time for a commercially-based effort enabling teachers to experience spaceflight, and building excitement in students and teachers about what opening of space to everyone means in the very near future. Beginning with these donated seed flights, TIS is seeking companies and others wishing to sponsor branded "spaceflight scholarships" that can be used by selected teachers to buy rides on any proven vehicle of their choice.

PlanetSpace Joins Teachers in Space Project

Phoenix, AZ, October 16, 2006 – PlanetSpace Inc. today joined a growing list of NewSpace rocket firms offering to fly teachers into space as part of the Teachers in Space project of the Space Frontier Foundation. The firm, based in Chicago, says it will be ready to carry passengers in 2008 to over 60 miles altitude – among them two teachers taking the ride of their life.

"The momentum is growing," said Bill Boland, project manager of the TIS project. "PlanetSpace is showing it understands the need to inspire the next generation of students and teachers, and we appreciate their offer to join our team."

PlanetSpace is a joint U.S./Canadian venture, and joins several other companies who are already participating in TIS. Among these are Dallas-based Armadillo Aerospace, Oklahoma's Rocketplane Limited, Inc. and California's Masten Space Systems, Inc. and XCOR Aerospace. Each of these companies is using a different approach to sub-orbital spaceflight, but all understand the need to excite the next generation of students to study science, math and engineering.

"No matter where they are from, these teachers will take their student's imaginations with them as they climb aboard our rocket," said PlanetSpace's Chairman of the Board, Chirinjeev Kathuria. "Their excitement and inspiration will be contagious, and given the short turn around time of our spaceflight program, they can be back in the classroom and sharing their experience in just days, rather than months and years."

Following in the footsteps of famed aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan and the flight of his XPrize winning SpaceShipOne in 2004, and building on the legacy of the former NASA program to fly teachers into space on the space shuttle, TIS has as its goal flying teachers from each of the fifty states aboard these new space vehicles as they come online within the next few years. PlanetSpace is the first company to join the program with a non-U.S. launch system. They and TIS have agreed to discuss flying both a U.S. and a Canadian teacher in an expansion of the original concept, given the close relationship between the countries.

"We are a hybrid firm, using both American and Canadian know how, personnel and funding," said Geoff Sheerin, the firm's visionary CEO. "It makes sense for us to support education in both nations, just as we share in so many other aspects of our history and cultures. We look forward to touching the hearts and minds of students from both sides of the border as we move together into space."

"This partnership demonstrates two significant aspects of education and human space activity...they are intertwined, and they are valued around the world," added the Foundation's Executive Director, Jeff Krukin.

Since its rollout earlier this year at the National Science Teachers Association conference, the TIS project has garnered widespread support from educators, with several rides donated by NewSpace companies to help kick start the effort. The first new vehicles from various companies are expected to begin flying by the end of 2007, with operational services beginning around 2008 – once they have been proven safe. The Foundation believes the time to start this program is now, to begin building the excitement of students and teachers for what is to come in the opening of space. Beginning with these donated "seed" flights, the group is seeking companies and others wishing to sponsor branded "spaceflight scholarships" that can be used by selected teachers to buy rides on any proven vehicle of their choice.

&q"The promise of space is about going beyond boundaries," said the Foundation's Rick Tumlinson. "Boundaries of the imagination, like lines on maps, are about limits. Any student who watches their own teacher flying into space is going to be soaring right along with them into new realms of possibility."

Masten Space Systems Donates Rocket Ride to Teacher

Phoenix, AZ, September 18, 2006 – Joining a growing group of space companies, Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California announced today it is donating a trip to fly a U.S. teacher to space aboard a sub-orbital spaceship. The donation goes to the Space Frontier Foundation's Teachers in Space project, whose goal is to fly at least a hundred teachers into sub-orbital space in the next few years. With a price tag of between $150k and $200k, the seat aboard Masten's proposed vehicle represents a valuable contribution to a project that promises to change the face of American science education.

"Rides to space are what we're about," said Bill Boland, project manager of the Space Frontier Foundation's TIS project. "Masten Space System's generosity means another teacher will have the experience of a lifetime. It's great to have them onboard."

Already on the team are Dallas-based Armadillo Aerospace, Oklahoma's Rocketplane Limited, Inc. and California's XCOR Aerospace. These companies, representing a wide variety of approaches to the sub-orbital space flight business, all see the TIS project as critical to inspiring the new generation of employees and customers they will need to open space to all of America. Following in the footsteps of famed aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan and the flight of his X Prize winning SpaceShipOne in 2004, these and other "NewSpace" companies are working to build a commercial industry flying people and payloads to space and back. Built on the legacy of the former NASA program which was to fly a few teachers into space on the space shuttle, TIS has as its goal flying a hundred or more teachers, two from each state in the union, aboard these new space vehicles as they are proven in the next few years.

"We want to democratize space," stated Michael Mealling, Marketing VP of Masten Space Systems. "We want to encourage K-12 students to be in close proximity to the kind of science only NASA has been able to do until now. By flying their teachers we can create a direct connection to these kids in a way national space programs could never do. We can make it something they experience and can relate to in the form of someone they respect and work with everyday."

A funded and operating space firm, Masten is currently developing a lunar lander test vehicle to fly in October at the X Prize Cup in New Mexico. The firm will follow this project with a development effort leading to its first sub-orbital flyer in approximately 3 years. Although this and other such projects are in their early stages, the TIS team welcomes their commitment, knowing that some or all of the firms competing in this new market will succeed, and when they do, U.S. education will be the real winner.

"This is a completely new field of endeavor, it is high risk and the winners and losers are yet to be known," said the Foundation's Rick Tumlinson. "But Masten and the other NewSpace firms are already winners in our book. By stepping up now, they are showing vision, and helping us build the momentum we need to grow this program into a national success – and if it succeeds, it will then feed-back into the NewSpace industry, so everyone wins."

The Foundation's Teachers In Space program was announced earlier this year at the National Science Teachers Association conference. Beginning with these "seed" flights, the group is seeking private and government support for "spaceflight scholarships" that can be used by teachers to buy rides on any proven vehicle as they reach maturity. Although commercial flights will not be available for a few years, the Foundation is developing this program now, as it believes our students cannot wait for inspiration. Once the firms are flying and capable, the first teachers will already be selected and ready to go.

Space Flight Firms Donate Rides to Teachers

Phoenix, AZ, April 21, 2006 – Responding to the recent announcement of the Space Frontier Foundation's Teachers in Space program, three U.S. suborbital space flight firms have donated the trip of a lifetime: a free ride for a teacher on their rocket ships when they become operational in the next few years. Dallas-based Armadillo Aerospace, Oklahoma's Rocketplane and California's XCOR Aerospace are each developing their own vehicles to carry customers to the edge of space, much like Burt Rutan's famed SpaceShipOne. Each of the companies has committed to providing a ride for a teacher, valued at between $100,000 and $200,000.

"These folks get it!" said Bill Boland, team leader of the Teachers In Space program. "They understand how the real-life experience of space flight can touch the classroom. These new American heroes are offering tickets, at a real financial cost to them, to support America's future, its teachers and students."

As we begin the new millennium, America's educational system is facing major challenges, particularly in the areas of math and science. At the same time, a new suborbital human space flight industry is being born, offering much lower costs than the discontinued NASA Teacher in Space program, which cost millions per flight. That program selected only a few teachers, and required them to leave their classrooms for months, if not years. The new Teachers In Space program will recognize many more excellent teachers, giving them an early chance to fly, and getting them back into the classroom where they can pass on their excitement to their students.

"To open space, we will need a workforce that is educated and motivated. Inspiring today's students and their teachers by putting them in direct contact with this new space industry does just that," stated Jeff Greason, XCOR President.

"Inspiration always accelerates education," added President and CEO of Rocketplane, George French, "and history shows that there is almost nothing that is more inspiring than space flight."

"Reducing the ‘degrees of separation’ between students and space will have a significant impact on their selection of goals to work toward," remarked John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace. "Just knowing a teacher that knows a teacher that has actually been to space brings it within reach."

The Foundation's Teachers In Space program was first announced several weeks ago at the National Science Teachers Association conference. Its goal is to send hundreds of teachers a year into space. The group is seeking private and government support for "scholarships" that can be used by teachers to buy rides on any proven vehicle. Although commercial flights will not be available for more than a year, the Foundation is developing this program now, so once the firms are flying and capable, the first teachers will be selected. As a first step, Teachers In Space is asking for selection criteria suggestions on its web site.

"This is an unprecedented public show of unity by these leaders of NewSpace. In acknowledging their generosity, we are not endorsing any firms, technologies or plans over any others," explained the Foundation's Rick Tumlinson. "But we thank and honor them for being the first to step up to the challenge. We are eager to hear from other companies, organizations and individuals that want to support this exciting program, and we hope to be able to make more such announcements in the near future. This is just the beginning!"

Teachers in Space: Foundation Wants Hundreds to Fly

Los Angeles, CA, April 11, 2006 – Educators attending the National Conference on Science Education signed a declaration last week, saying they want the chance to fly into space. Meanwhile, the Space Frontier Foundation has announced a project which, if successful, could put hundreds of teachers into space in just a few years.

The Foundation is seeking business-funded “scholarships” for TIS flights, in a multi-year long campaign that begins today, and announced a new website devoted to its Teachers in Space project at www.teachersinspace.org.

“There is a revolution going on right now in space transportation,” explained the Foundation’s Rick Tumlinson. “Companies like XCOR Aerospace, Rocketplane Ltd., Scaled Composites, Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Canadian Arrow, Masten Space, and Space Exploration Technologies are leading the way, by building commercial sub-orbital spaceshipsthat can carry passengers.”

What does this mean for teachers? “So many companies are working this challenge,” Tumlinson continued, “that in less than five years, tickets to fly to the edge of space should be available in the $100,000 to $200,000 range. By soliciting businesses to pay for a number of tickets for teachers, we are ensuring that flights for teachers become a priority.”

“We’ve lost that ‘holy cow, we’ve been to the Moon,’attitude,” remarked 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.”

In 1984, when President Ronald Reagan created a Teachers in Space program to fly them on the Space Shuttle, more than 11,000 immediately applied. Sadly, momentum faded after the Shuttle’s Challenger tragedy. Unlike the Reagan-era program, the Space Frontier Foundation’s new Teachers in Space program will not fly on NASA Shuttles. Instead, a new generation of spacecraft, which will have flown paying customers for years, will transport America’s teachers to space.”

These newspace-faring passengers will bring their knowledge and experience to the classroom, teaching and inspiring the next generation of America’s youth.

“My daughter is an alternative school teacher. She would love to go to space and share this experience with her kids,” said Rachel Milstead, a science teacher from Heritage Middle School in Columbus, Mississippi.

“We are hearing loud and clear from teachers themselves that there is a critical national need to attract and keep the best possible teachers in the classroom,” said Bill Boland of the Space Frontier Foundation. “There is also a critical national need to stimulate commercial spaceflight. We are excited about this chance to bring America’s education and space needs together. Stay tuned, this is going to be a great ride!”

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