Jen Scheer, mentioned earlier on the STN blog, has created the educational program titled Project Mercury Rising. It is described as follows:

The project will entail refurbishment of the deteriorating Mercury launch complex to the way it was in the early 1960s (with some modern improvements) for use as an educational facility. The facility will be used to host programs similar to Space Camp for middle to high school students. Rather than the astronaut and flight controller training that is provided by Space Camp, they will focus on engineering and the hands-on technical skills needed to process and launch spacecraft.

Follow developments in the effort via the Project Mercury Rising Blog.

Mary J. Blige and her Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN) organization are cooperating with NASA to encourage young women to pursue careers in technical fields, including space and astronautics: NASA Recruits Singer Mary J. Blige to Inspire Young Women - SPACE.com.

Check out the Mr. Microgravity website. The site offers educational kits and services developed by an engineer who previously worked in microgravity research at NASA. See, for example, the Microgravity Demonstration Kit:

* Bring microgravity into your classroom!
* Demonstrate how astronauts "float" in the International Space Station.
* Demonstrate free fall and orbits and show how they are related!
* Show students that it is not "zero-gravity" up in space.
* Make a feather fall at 9.8 m/s/s.
* Demonstrate Newton's Laws.
* and More!
* Included in the kit is an instructional booklet.

See also the Educator Drop Tower classroom package. Classroom and workshop presentations can also be arranged.

Rocketeers points to this announcement by the UK Space Agency about its Space for All program in which it is

inviting people from across the UK to submit ideas for projects that will help increase awareness amongst the general public of the UK's exciting space programme and inspire and educate the next generation of scientists.

All entries for the funding awards will be judged later this year by a panel led by the UK Space Agency and supported by representatives of the UK space community. The total awards fund is £35,000, with up to £5000 available for each successful applicant.

Find details in the following:
/-- Space for All - UK Space Agency launches new round of community sponsorship awards - UK Space Agency - Aug.5.10.
/-- Space for All - Community Funding Scheme 2010/11: Closing date for applications is 1 October 2010 - UK Space Agency - Aug.5.10

Here' s an example of NASA's Summer of Innovation program, which seeks to bring fun science and tech educational activities to middle school age kids during the summer: NASA Program Brings Science To Native, Hispanic Children In Idaho - OPB News ·

Here's a nicely entertaining tutorial video on using spin to provide artificial gravity for your spacecraft:

NASA's Teaching from Space program helps to get students involved directly with activities in space.

Imagine speaking live with crew members orbiting Earth on the International Space Station. Or imagine helping your students learn about their world by remotely programming cameras to capture images taken from space. Teaching From Space offers unique resources and opportunities that give you the tools to launch students into a deeper understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Explore this Web site and discover a new frontier of learning possibilities!

For example, see the section on using the ISS ham radio station to communicate with crew members there: Amateur Radio on the International Space Station

The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) will allow student groups in for grades 5-12 to fly experiments on the Space Shuttle Endeavour when it will goes to the International Space Station. This is currently expected to be the final final flight of the Space Shuttle program.

he Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), launched June 2010, is a national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education initiative that provides middle and high school classes across a school district the ability to propose experiments to fly in low Earth orbit, and to celebrate that accomplishment with their local community and with national and global audiences. The SSEP supports a local experiment design competition in each participating school district, together with extensive local programming that embraces a community-wide engagement model for STEM education.

Phase 1 of the program is a unique and historic opportunity for students to propose an experiment to fly aboard STS-134, the final scheduled flight of the Space Shuttle. Selected student experiments would fly for 10 days aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour.

This week NASA announced that STS-134 is scheduled for launch on Feb. 26, 2011.

See How to Participate for details of the SSEP program.

An interesting discussion of the issues involved in supporting a planetarium for a public school system that is desperate to save money: What Price, Planetarium? - On Space/Aviation Week - June.2.10

A message from the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC):

NM Space Grant, NASA Kick off 'Summer of Innovation'

LAS CRUCES, NM – The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium (NMSGC) will formally announce NASA's 2010 "Summer of Innovation" at a public kick-off event to be held Thursday, June 3 in Las Cruces, NM. Up to 200 New Mexico middle school teachers will each receive a grant from NASA for middle school students to design an experiment for next year's NM Student Education Launch scheduled for April-2011 from Spaceport America. It's estimated that 4,000 students will be involved in the 2010 "Summer of Innovation" statewide. The Kick-Off Event will take place beginning at 9 a.m. in the San Rafael room at the Hotel Encanto, 705 S. Telshor Boulevard in Las Cruces.

NASA has awarded the NMSGC $2 million for the "Summer of Innovation" initiative. The program is designed to boost summer learning in programs related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The NMSGC's "Launch & Learn" proposal was one of four chosen by NASA. The grant gives each teacher $2,500 to help students design an sounding rocket experiment, plus $500 for materials. All the experiments will be evaluated, and 20 will be selected to fly at next year's annual NM Student Education Launch on April 1, 2011. The NM Education Launch is a NMSGC program that provides students annual access to space. This year’s launch successfully took place on Tuesday, May 4.

The Kick-Off Event will begin with opening remarks from Dr. Pat Hynes, Director of the NMSGC. "As one of only four states to receive this NASA funding, I am excited to bring such a unique, valuable experience to the students and teachers of New Mexico," she said. The event will also include Katie Pruzan, NASA Senior Programs Associate, and Rick Homans, Executive Director of Spaceport America.

Here's an announcement from the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA) and Space Age Publishing:

Galaxy Forum USA

Awareness and learning about our Milky Way Galaxy and Humanity's place in it, offers a transnational, transcendent focus and dynamic for a 21st Century Renaissance in American and Global Education -- primary and secondary, public and private, university and advanced.

You are cordially invited to attend
Galaxy Forum – USA
Galaxy Education and Galaxy Enterprise in the 21st Century

Part of an international program of Galaxy Forums sponsored by the International Lunar Observatory Association and Space Age Publishing Company

July 4, 2010
Sunday Morning 9:30-11:30
The Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market Street, San Jose, California 408-294-8324

Featured Presentations
Pamela Harman
SETI Institute ASSET Program
“Teaching Astrobiology”

Ryan Nurmela and Michael Finnegan
Quantum Camp
“Comprehending Quantum”

Patrick Hamill
Department of Physics & Astronomy, San Jose State University
“Observing The Earth From The Moon”

Steve Durst
Space Age Publishing Company, International Lunar Observatory Association – Founder
“International Lunar Observatory (ILO) Galaxy First Light Imaging Program”

Galaxy Enterprise in the 21st Century
Pioneering Businesses With Galactic Aspirations

This free event is open to the public. Seating is limited. Please R.S.V.P. today.
news [at] spaceagepub.com or 650-324-3705

A message from Reach for the Stars Rocket Contest:

National Corporations are Helping Kids Reach for the Stars

Corporations step up to provide unforgettable memories for three national winners in the fourth annual Reach for the Stars Rocket Contest. The winners will be receiving their trophies at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Celebration is to be held August 7 & 8. Deadline for entering the contest is June 15th.

Complimentary admission to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the Astronaut Hall of Fame will be provided by Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, operators of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on behalf of NASA. Lodging is being provided by Rick "Hutch" Hutcherson, Director of Sales and Marketing; Best Western Ocean Beach Hotel & Suites and the Days Inn Cocoa Beach. The corporations are combining to provide unforgettable memories for the winners of the annual Reach for the Stars Rocket Contest. Contest co-director, Kathy Colpas states, “Without the generosity of these companies, this event would not be possible.”

Starting at 9:30 AM on Saturday, August 7th, three national Reach for the Stars Rocket Contest winners will receive trophies and launch their rockets in triumph at the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The winners and their families receive a personal tour of the Hall of Fame. They will continue their celebration at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, visiting the Astronaut Memorial and receiving a framed Space Shuttle Challenger commemorative coin signed by Christa McAuliffe’s mother, Grace Corrigan. A walk through the historical Rocket Garden, a ride on Shuttle Launch Experience and many more activities will complete their two-day celebration.

Part of the winners’ package includes two nights at the Best Western Ocean Beach Hotel & Suites or the Days Inn Cocoa Beach. Excitement builds from the greeting at check-in to fussing over the kids at breakfast. Breakfast at the hotel - where the official greeting of the national winners takes place as they pack parachutes into their rockets for the upcoming launch - has become a part of the tradition. Winners and their families often join each other for meals or bond in the hotel’s swimming pool - making the celebration even more special.

During the competition, contestants were required to build and launch a solid-fuel powered rocket. To win the local event they had to have the closest parachute landing to a target after two launches. It is a challenging, spot-landing event. The local winner’s information is forwarded to contest headquarters to be compared to all other entries during the year long competition. The competition promotes the Helping Kids Reach for the Stars Program – an educational outreach of the Christa McAuliffe / Challenger Learning Center and fosters an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) studies.

The contest presents a fantastic opportunity to young rocketeers. Contest co-director Jack Colpas boasts that, “national winners receive memories to last a lifetime and bragging rights for generations to come.” For more details about Helping Kids Reach for the Stars and the Reach for the Stars Rocket Contest go to www.TheRocketman.net.

In phase two of the Reach for the Stars Rocket Contest, three more national winners will receive their trophies from famed author Homer Hickam (Rocket Boys, October Sky) at the October Sky Festival in Coalwood, West Virginia. Winners will be announced on June 18th.

On his upcoming mission to the ISS, astronaut Piers Sellers will pay a unique tribute to Isaac Newton:

/-- Newton's tree joins list of odd items to fly to space - New Scientist

/-- Isaac Newton's apple tree to experience zero gravity - in space: British-born [NASA] astronaut to take piece of tree that aided scientist's discovery of gravity to international space station - The Guardian

A message from the American Museum of Natural History:

Virtual Universe: The Earth Today
With Carter Emmart

Join AMNH Director of Astrovisualization Carter Emmart as he leads a special Virtual Universe and debuts the most current Earth data to be displayed in the Hayden Planetarium. Part ambient experience and part guided walk-through of the data from NASA’s Earth Observing System, adventure-seeking New Yorkers are invited to step inside the world’s largest cosmic atlas and take the trip of a lifetime.

This event is part of an exciting schedule of space-related public programs celebrating the spectacular 10th anniversary of the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space and the 75th anniversary of the opening of the original Hayden Planetarium.

For a quick glimpse of a Virtual Universe program:


WHEN
Tuesday, May 4, 6:30 pm

WHERE
Hayden Planetarium Space Theater
American Museum of Natural History
Enter at 81st/Rose Center

ADMISSION
$15 Adults $13.50 Members, students, seniors

URL
www.amnh.org/programs/programs.php?date=2010-05-04&event_id=1629

FOLLOW
Become a fan of the Museum on Facebook facebook.com/naturalhistory, or visit twitter.com/AMNH to follow us on Twitter.

The Space Frontier Foundation's Youtube Channel includes the following video of a presentation given by a Virginia teacher who participated in a ZERO-G parabolic flight program. The kids get a real kick out of the video of teachers in weightlessness:

NASA tries to make it easier for college students seeking NASA internships and fellowships: NASA Funds Initiative to Develop One Stop Shopping for Students Seeking Agency Internships - NASA - Apr.2.10.

Boing Boing reminds me of Don Pettit's Saturday Morning Science Videos on the International Space Station, made during his stay there in 2003. Find them on YouTube such as this gallery. See, for example,

Planetariums in US are threatened by education funding cutbacks: Study of space becoming a victim of school budget cuts - washingtonpost.com.

The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is sponsoring an educational rocket launch event on May 1st at the new spaceport under construction near Las Cruces: Student Launch at Spaceport America is scheduled for May 1, 2010 - NMSGC.

More info in this announcement:

Second Annual Education launch at Spaceport America

LAS CRUCES – As part of New Mexico Space Grant Consortium's mission to promote space programs and education to New Mexico students and educators, the second annual Education Launch will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 1 from Spaceport America. Along with carrying experiments designed and created by New Mexico students into space, the SL-4 launch vehicle will also be dedicated to the memory of a Farmington science and technology teacher who died of breast cancer in 2005.

New Mexico Space Grant Consortium Director Dr. Patricia Hynes said, "The promise of a new commercial space industry has created an increased interest in technology and science programs in New Mexico classrooms. The Education Launch gives our students the ability to launch their experiments into space, which is something that inspires visionary educators like Debbie Prell."

Debbie Prell was a physics teacher at Farmington High School when she became involved with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium's Education Launch program. She worked with her students to build high-powered model rockets and electronic payloads for many years. She later taught physics at San Juan College in Farmington and continued to work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium to offer scholarships to her students, and worked on weekend science programs for middle- and high-school students. Debbie died of breast cancer in 2005, and her family, friends and students established the Deborah Ann Prell Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Endowment to continue her work.

"The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is proud to have had Debbie Prell as a partner, and we are continuing her work through her endowment," said Dr. Patricia Hynes. "Working with UP Aerospace, which is providing the SL-4 launch vehicle for this launch, we are dedicating this launch to Debbie's memory with a pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness painted on the rocket." In addition, many of the launch participants will wear special pink shirts that read, "Rocket Scientists are Tough Enough to Wear Pink."

The Education Launch is open to the public by reservation via coach transportation for $20 per person. Registrants can go online to: spacegrant.nmsu.edu to reserve their space and make payment. No private vehicles are allowed to the launch site.

The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium is a member of the congressionally funded National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program that is administered by NASA and sponsored by New Mexico State University. The program promotes and inspires lifelong learning in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics as it pertains to space-related activities. The consortium supports a wide range of projects and scholarship opportunities, including the Student Launch Program. New Mexico students build multi-sensor electronic experiments that use the environment of sub-orbital space to further their hands-on scientific and engineering experience.

Here is an announcement from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation:

Celebrate the New Class of U.S. Hall of Fame Astronauts

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation’s highly anticipated 2010 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Gala and Ceremony is set for June 4-5. Join over 20 legendary astronauts in honoring this year’s class of inductees: Guy Bluford, Kenneth Bowersox, Frank Culbertson and Kathy Thornton.

Tickets to the exclusive event are limited, so secure your SPACE today! For more information, visit www.AstronautScholarship.org or call 321.455.7015.