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, CALIF.  91109.  TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov 

Contact: Charli Schuler (818) 393-5467

News Release:  2003-066                April 30, 2003

NASA 'Ambassadors' Target the Future of Flight with Space Day

About 35 volunteers in NASA's Solar System Ambassadors Program are
planning an assortment of public activities across the country for
Space Day, being observed this year on May 1.  The events run through
May 17.

Established in 1997, Space Day celebrates the advancement of science,
technology, engineering and math by inspiring young people to realize
the vision of our space pioneers. The 2003 Space Day theme,
"Celebrating the Future of Flight," commemorates advancements in
aviation and aerospace spanning 100 years.

"Space Day is a vehicle to be used to educate the scientists,
engineers and astronauts of the future. There is a good chance that
the first person to step foot on Mars will have celebrated this
year's event," said Timothy Robertson of NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.  He will discuss Stardust, a mission to
return samples of a comet to Earth, with students at Mesa Union
Elementary School in Somis, Calif. He will show students the "dirty
snowball" model of a comet nucleus by making "comets" from dry ice,
dirt and other materials. In addition, students will see a real piece
of aerogel, the world's lightest solid, used on the Stardust mission
to collect dust from comets and space.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory coordinates the Solar System
Ambassadors Program, consisting of more than 270 volunteer
ambassadors who have committed to organizing and carrying out at
least four public outreach activities a year. JPL provides them with
educational materials and training sessions, including contacts with
mission scientists. 

"I think it's important to get elementary students excited about
space and astronomy because it's more challenging to grab students'
interest when they reach high school," said ambassador Bonnie
Walters.  She invited Robertson and 14 other speakers from JPL,
Johnson Space Center and several space-related organizations to speak
to Mesa Union students on May 9.  The volunteers will discuss various
NASA missions and astrobiology, among other topics, and offer
demonstrations on what telescopes do and what the universe looks like
through three-dimensional eyeglasses.

Ambassador Jim Zebrowski will present a slideshow about the solar
system, focused on the Sun and planets, to students at Joseph L.
Mulready Elementary School in Hudson, Mass. With help from the
Aldrich Astronomical Society of Worcester, Mass., Zebrowski will also
show students meteorites, small telescopes and binoculars, and offer
free handouts on beginning astronomy provided by Sky and Telescope
magazine.

Ambassadors Susan Batson and Ginny Mauldin-Kinney will showcase
presentations on the Mars Exploration Rovers May 2 at North Hills
High School Planetarium, Pittsburgh, Pa., and May 5 at Brockett
Elementary School, Tucker, Ga., respectively.

JPL ambassadors are based throughout the United States and Puerto
Rico, serving widespread public interest about robotic missions
throughout the solar system. Each year, the program is among more
than 75 Space Day partner organizations sponsoring local events
across North America.

More information about the Solar System Ambassadors Program is
available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ambassador .

For more information about Space Day, including a comprehensive list
of scheduled events, see http://spaceday.com/ . 

JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.

-end-

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

@Message posted automagically by IMTHINGS POST 1.30
---