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Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington                 Jan. 30, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1726)

RELEASE: 03-027

NASA EDUCATOR ASTRONAUT PROGRAM SOARING

     Nominations for NASA's Educator Astronaut Program are in high 
orbit. Since the Program's kickoff January 21, more than 1,300 
teachers have been nominated to become members of the Astronaut Corps. 
Texas leads with 324 nominations, followed by 223 from Florida, and 
California with 163.

The Educator Astronaut web site is also receiving a high volume of 
traffic. More than 4.8 million visits have been recorded during the 
first 10 days of the program.

"After only a week, we are seeing tremendous interest in the program. 
The number of nominations coming in are a wonderful testament to the 
teaching profession," said Educator Astronaut Program Co-Manager 
Debbie Brown. "One enthusiastic teacher called today and said her 
students are so excited they are debating over who will write her 
letter of recommendation," she said.

Students, family members, friends and the public are encouraged to 
nominate K-12 teachers for this unique opportunity to join NASA's 
first class of Educator Astronauts. Selected teachers will perform the 
jobs and responsibilities of Mission Specialist Astronauts on Space
Shuttle and International Space Station missions. Educator Astronauts 
will be trained for spacewalks, to operate the Shuttle's robotic arm, 
and lead research experiments. With their unique teaching skills, 
Educator Astronauts will help create extraordinary ways to share the 
space experience with millions of students and teachers.

Educators interested in applying for the program or anyone interested 
in nominating a teacher can find the qualifications at:

http://edspace.nasa.gov/qualifications/qualif.html

To learn more about the Educator Astronaut Program and other NASA 
education activities on the Internet visit:  www.edspace.nasa.gov

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