SAVE Student Spaceflight Opportunities
Every voice counts. Take a few minutes to send a note to your representatives and let them know why you think it is important to continue student involvement with spaceflight opportunities through our nation's space program.
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Over the summer of 2005, several high school students were working
on experiment proposals to submit for the Glenn Drop Tower competition (called
DIME) and also a life science experiment for the Ames centrifuge (called Hyper-g).
A couple of months before the deadline, we learned that those programs were
cut for good. An experiment we had selected last year to fly on the International
Space Station was dropped when that program was cut. Another group of students
continued forward with their proposed experiment to fly on a sub-orbital rocket
this summer. Their experiment was selected for a June flight in January, and
we were told in February that the funding for travel was cut, and that the
sub-orbital rocket experiment competition would not be continued in the future.
A fellow educator has compiled a list of other programs that have disappeared
this year on the following site:
http://hypertextbook.com/eworld/nasa-education.shtml
It seems that the NASA Education "actual" budget has been cut 50%.
Apparently, some members of Congress will dictate where they want NASA Education
money spent after the budgets are made. Most of these earmarks are unfunded
mandates. Other NASA divisions are handed these unfunded mandates, but the
total is small by percentage. For NASA Education, it comes to 50% of everything
they get. Many of the earmarked programs are good ideas, but the process has
gone awry. There are a considerable number of highly motivated educators who
would love to use our space program to motivate and inspire the next generation.
I think the Space Flight Opportunities are a great carrot on the stick for
the most motivated students and teachers, and with more of a substantial press
effort, could make real connections to the American public. To quote James
Cameron, NASA needs to "tell the story better -- and have a better story
to tell." ( http://neat.columbus2space.org/Cameron/)
Until there is a better story in educational opportunities, my students and
I are will try to start our own high altitude balloon program to fly our own
experiments to the edge of space.
