June 10, 2003
Johnson Space Center, Houston
Educators to Learn How Human Body Functions in Space
The effects of the space environment on the human body will be the focus of discussion during the second annual Bioastronautics and College of the Mainland Professional Development Conference June 16-20 at the Johnson Space Center.
Media members are invited to attend the conference. Those interested should contact the JSC newsroom at (281) 483-5111 no later than noon Friday.
JSC and College of the Mainland have partnered to host this weeklong conference that will provide 30 selected fourth- to eighth-grade educators with an in-depth look at NASA educational materials focusing on the human body in space. Scientists and engineers will discuss topics ranging from the potentially harmful effects of space on the human body including renal stone formation and bone density and muscle mass loss and countermeasures being developed to treat them to exercise physiology and long-duration missions to Mars.
Teachers will participate in hands-on activities and receive customized lab kits filled will all the tools needed to introduce what they learn in their classrooms this fall to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and astronauts. They will tour the International Space Station mockups, the Mission Control Center and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory facilities at JSC.
Guest speakers include Barbara Morgan, NASA's first educator astronaut; Dave Williams, physician and Canadian Space Agency astronaut; Bernard Harris, physician and former astronaut; and Cheryl McNair, founder of the Ron McNair Educational Science Literacy Foundation.
text-only version of this release