This Echo is READ ONLY !   NO Un-Authorized Messages Please!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.                           
February 14, 2003
     
News Release: 2003-019

NASA Ambassadors Spread the Wow of Space Exploration

NASA has selected a diverse network of volunteers nationwide to
organize community programs that teach the public about solar system
exploration.

Engineer, real-estate broker, orthodontist, teacher, pastor: They're
all among the space enthusiasts in 50 states, Puerto Rico and Okinawa
chosen for the 2003 Solar System Ambassador Program coordinated by
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

"I've seen kids get so excited learning about space, it got me wanting
to teach them more," said one new ambassador, Walter Koehler, an
environmental engineer for the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center at
Lakehurst, N.J.  Boy Scouts he advises on rocketry merit badges, for
example, gain new interest in mathematics for calculating ascent
heights, he said.  Koehler intends to work with Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts and local museums to offer programs as a Solar System
Ambassador.  He is among 46 new ambassadors this year, joining 247 who
are back from last year.

The ambassadors run events such as star parties, public exhibits,
classroom presentations and library programs.  JPL offers them special
training opportunities, including teleconferences with leaders of
interplanetary missions.  It also supplies materials, such as the
latest pictures from JPL-managed NASA spacecraft orbiting distant
planets. The program is part of NASA's mission to inspire the next
generation of explorers.

"I want to help reinvigorate interest in space exploration and tap
into the sense of wonder of learning about the unknown," said Jennifer
Lamison, a graduate student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
beginning her second year as a Solar System Ambassador. People of all
ages attend illustrated talks and telescope-viewing sessions she
offers at the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area on the west
side of Las Vegas. "Kids are always interested, but when the parents
start raising their hands and asking questions, too, that's when you
know you've clicked, and it makes you feel good," she said.

The Solar System Ambassadors help JPL share the results and excitement
of space exploration with people all around the country whose taxes
fund missions such as Mars Odyssey, currently orbiting the red planet;
Stardust, on its way to catch a sample of comet dust; Genesis,
currently collecting solar wind particles for return to Earth next
year; and Cassini, due to begin orbiting Saturn next year.

"The ambassadors come from all walks of life, but what they have in
common is active involvement in their local communities and a keen
interest in space," said JPL's Kay Ferrari, coordinator of the
program.

Dr. Stephen Paige, an orthodontist and new Solar System Ambassador in
Ocala, Fla., said, "Those early satellite launches back when I was in
high school helped instill a love of science that has influenced the
directions I have headed in my life. It's important that students
today know about the future possibilities open for them."  Paige is
tapping into the network of other ambassadors to learn from their
experiences in planning successful presentations at career days,
school visits, library talks and other opportunities.  He also is
considering a display area in his waiting room that will track the
progress of current missions to Saturn and Mars.

Bookmobile visits to schools are the primary outreach style for Janet
Pionkowski, a second-year Solar System Ambassador in Kansas who works
for the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.  She created a
program called "Whazzup in Space?" to excite students about learning
more on their own from books and the Internet.  "I've never taken an
astronomy class, but I love the sky," she said. "I wanted to be an
ambassador because I'm fascinated by the robotic missions to other
planets."

Kevin Gullion, a pastor in Sciotoville, Ohio, assisted local schools
with projects about space exploration even before becoming a Solar
System Ambassador this year.  He expects the ambassador program's NASA
connection will help him strengthen those endeavors and be a boon to
the community. "There are a lot of kids I can touch base with who
would never be likely to meet anyone from NASA or JPL," he said.

Many ambassadors include telescope-viewing opportunities in the events
they organize. Tori Spratling-Anderson, of Salt Lake City, said, "When
people see Saturn through a telescope for the first time, you hear the
'Wow!' and you know they're going to remember it."  She combines her
new Solar System Ambassador role with a full-time outreach job for
Salt Lake City's public planetarium, visiting schools throughout Utah.

Online information is available about the Solar System Ambassador
program at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador .  JPL is managed for
NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

                                -end-
-END OF FILE-
=============

---