Challenger Center Celebrates a Golden Year of Solar System Exploration

ALEXANDRIA, VA (PRWEB) July 16, 2004

Challenger Center for Space Science Education commemorates the launch of the MESSENGER spacecraft with today’s release of fun and exciting educational materials that will give students, families, and teachers throughout the world a “window seat” aboard a spacecraft on course to orbit the planet Mercury.     

MESSENGER, short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging, is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., between August 2 and August 14, 2004. After making three passes by Mercury, the spacecraft will enter into orbit around the planet in 2011. MESSENGER’s seven scientific instruments will provide the first images of the entire planet and collect detailed information on areas such as the composition and structure of Mercury’s surface and interior, as well as its geologic history. MESSENGER is a highlight of this golden year of Solar System exploration that has already seen several space missions reach significant milestones, from detailed studies of comets to rovers searching for signs of water on the Martian surface.

Challenger Center is releasing the MESSENGER Launch Celebration Package as an educational accompaniment to the mission and a means to celebrate this golden year of Solar System exploration. The package is a collection of fun activities and educational resources compiled by Challenger Center educators and scientists. The materials–geared toward students in grades K-12, families, and teachers–include activities that bring the wonders of the Solar System into both classrooms and living rooms. Topics include creating a scale model of the Solar System; determining the relative ages of surfaces on the Moon and terrestrial planets; and estimating the energy output of the Sun.

Filled with useful information on Mercury and the Solar System, the package also includes information on finding local science resources that can be utilized to discover more about the MESSENGER mission and other space science events occurring this year. The MESSENGER Launch Celebration Package is available online today, and can be downloaded from http://www.challenger.org/messengercelebration.

Sean C. Solomon, Ph.D., director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the mission’s principal investigator, said, “Through the MESSENGER mission, I have the honor of working with scientists from a variety of institutions. Each of us has a unique story about what sparked our initial passion to become scientists. It is my hope that students everywhere will become explorers of Mercury with us. And as MESSENGER sends back images of the planet’s cratered surface, perhaps that will be the catalyst for some young people to think about a future career in science.“

In support of the MESSENGER mission, NASA has also tasked Challenger Center with creating a complementary Educator Fellowship Program. Through the program, a select group of master teachers, called MESSENGER Educator Fellows, will train teachers nationwide on mission-specific educational materials that address its unique scientific questions. Over the life of the MESSENGER program, more than 27,000 teachers are expected to be trained.

June Scobee Rodgers, Ph.D., widow of Challenger commander Dick Scobee and Founding Chairman of Challenger Center, said, “The MESSENGER mission to Mercury promises to be an exciting exploration of a familiar yet still mysterious planet. I’m thrilled that students, families, and teachers are being given the opportunity to learn about Mercury right alongside the mission’s scientists. I encourage everyone to use the MESSENGER Launch Celebration Package as their passport to a distant neighbor in our Solar System.”

For more information on the mission, visit http://messenger.jhuapl.edu.

About Challenger Center for Space Science Education

Challenger Center is an education organization created in 1986 by the families of the astronauts from mission 51-L, the last flight of the Challenger Space Shuttle. Dedicated to the educational spirit of that mission, Challenger Center develops Learning Centers and other educational programs that continue the mission to engage students in science and mathematics education. These programs use the excitement of space exploration to create learning experiences that foster lifelong learning in mathematics, science, and technology, and develop critical communication, decision-making, team-building, and collaborative skills. For more information, visit http://www.challenger.org.