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: Mary Beth Murrill or Jane Platt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 22, 1998

NASA COMET AND JUPITER MISSIONS OFFER EDUCATOR FELLOWSHIPS

       Two NASA space missions are seeking candidates to apply for educator fellowships to help field-test educational modules and to plan and participate in teacher training workshops developed by the projects.

       NASA's Stardust mission, which will launch in 1999, fly to a comet and collect a sample for return to Earth, is seeking applicants for 10 educator fellowships. As part of a nationwide teacher training initiative, the Stardust project is developing educational modules, targeted at grades 4 through 8, that will be tested by the Stardust Educator Fellows chosen from around the country.

       In late spring/summer 1998, a second announcement of opportunity will be distributed to solicit candidates from which an additional 15 Stardust Educator Fellows will be selected and trained in fall 1998.

       Those selected for the educator fellowships will receive an all-expenses-paid intensive training workshop about the comet sample return mission this spring at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, CO. Fellows will also receive guidance on presentation strategies and a complete teacher training presenter package so they can conduct their own Stardust teacher training workshops.

       Ideal candidates are actively teaching or conducting teacher training in a formal or informal science environment (school district, science center, museum, educational organization, etc.). Selected candidates will be announced by March 6, 1998. Additional information for Stardust Educator Fellowship applicants is available on the Stardust home page at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov

       Candidates are also being sought for the Galileo Europa Mission Educator Fellowship Program for 1998 and 1999. A team of 15 Educator Fellows will be selected for training at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. Individuals selected will receive a complete workshop package and educational materials to conduct their own teacher training geared toward middle and high school teachers. More information is available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/

       The fellowships will focus on the Galileo Europa Mission, a two-year extension of the Galileo Mission to Jupiter, which will study two of Jupiter's moons with opposite and extreme conditions. Icy Europa may have liquid oceans hidden under its surface, while Io is dotted with volcanoes.

       Applications for the Galileo Europa Mission Educator Fellowships must be received by Feb. 16, with selected candidates to be announced on Feb. 27.

       Application information for both Stardust and Galileo Europa Mission programs may be requested by contacting Kerri Beisser, Challenger Center for Space Science Education,1029 N. Royal Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314; or by sending a query via fax to (703) 683-7546. Applicants should specify for which program they wish to apply.

       The Stardust Mission and the Galileo Europa Mission are managed for NASA's Office of Space Science by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

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