The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) and Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) are contributing to efforts to train the "brightest and best" for the future US science workforce by supporting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) education mission to provide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational opportunities for students and teachers, and to inform the public about the benefits that space exploration hold for life on Earth.1' 2

This presentation will reference a ten-year MSM-NASA-NSBRI collaboration to describe: (1) teacher professional development programs that employ best practices to impart science content to elementary-secondary teachers, (2) strategies that produce rigorous space life sciences curricula materials to inspire students; (3) outreach activities that promote science literacy, and (4) collaborations with science educators across the globe that promote space exploration education and shared visions for how space exploration can benefit people on Earth. Also, the presentation will briefly reference the NSBRI's 2008 senior education fellow initiative and its graduate and postdoctoral fellowship programs.

MSM-NSBRI educational outreach activities address the following four major themes: (1) help teachers understand space life sciences and change their practices and behaviors to improve the learning experiences they provide students, (2) engage science educators to develop curricular materials that are aligned with national/local science education standards, provide rigorous, effective inquiry-based instruction, and expand students' understanding of space life sciences, (3) promote access and science career awareness among students and teachers, and (4) increase public/parental awareness of the real-life impacts of space exploration through after-school clubs, science/center fairs, and multimedia outreach that translate space science concepts into language that ordinary citizens can understand.

These themes will illustrate how effective educational outreach program design can use knowledge generated by space life sciences to launch students and teachers on a journey of discovery, catalyze interest in STEM careers, and inform parents and communities about the real-life benefits of space exploration for everyday lives. Investing in today's science educators is central to the development of a future US science workforce that is innovative and capable of competing in a 21st Century knowledge society.

1 Rising Above the Gathering Storm, National Academy of Sciences Report, 2007.
2 NASA Education Strategic Coordinating Framework, NASA Report 2006.

The Atlanta Educational Telecommunication Collaborative Inc.-Public Broadcasting Atlanta has sustained a decade-old partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) to use television (TV), radio and the Internet to: educate teachers and students about the marvels of space exploration; transfer space life science knowledge to millions of ordinary citizens; create innovate venues for digital journalism for civic engagement; and has contribute to global space exploration conversations on how best to translate the mysteries of space exploration science into language that ordinary citizens can understand.

This unique partnership has informed millions of ordinary citizens about the benefits of space exploration technologies for people on Earth. It produced and distributed the TV documentary, Exploring Two Frontiers: the Neurolab Space Shuttle on NASA's Neurolab mission, STS 90; an award-winning six-part public radio documentary, Biomedical Science for Space Travelers, and the recent National Public Radio series, Sleep and Space, featuring astronauts and NSBRI circadian scientists. AETC-PBA's innovative Internet design, Local Education Network System (LENS), is entering the second phase of its development. LENS will be comprised of eight multimedia platforms including the Electronic Classroom Atlanta, which focuses on Kindergarten-secondary science education and global citizenship; University E-Learning, which focused on higher education; and Public Square, which creates a new venue for digital journalism and civic engagement. This cutting edge communication system holds promise for even greater future dissemination of space exploration knowledge.

The proposed presentation will share some of the lessons learned from this decade-long collaboration between academia and the US telecommunications industry. The presenters will describe challenges associated with: producing TV and radio documentaries that capture space life sciences knowledge; reframing complex science into language that ordinary people can understand; convincing scientists to consider new ways of sharing their research findings with the public; collecting usable data on listening/viewing audiences that satisfy the rigors of academic research; and copyright law and multimedia regulations in a rapidly evolving 21st Century telecommunications industry.

The presenters will describe the major challenges and successes of this collaboration, which will be illustrated by video clips from the NASA-Neurolab mission documentary, the NPR radio series, and the new LENS project. Also, they will reference the space life sciences film archive, which is a considerable repository for space life science multimedia materials.

With JAXA�fs status as a public-funded organization, education has always been a main cornerstone of our mandate. In 1992, with the first Japanese astronaut going to space, JAXA commenced a series of educational programs to help educate and motivate people of all ages about the wonder of the microgravity environment. While of course we focused on space the larger aim of these progress was to trigger an interest in science that would not only benefit JAXA but Japanese society as a whole.

To teach students about the uniqueness of the microgravity environment, the phenomena that happen in that special environment, and the effects on living organisms due to a lack of gravity, the student version of the experiments relating to the actual space experiments conducted by the scientists were developed. For example, in some Fish Experiment conducted on board the US Space Shuttle in 1994, the students could observe the swimming behavior, mating and fertilization, development of the fish, hatching and the swimming behavior of the space-born fish in microgravity. Some off-spring of space-born fish was distributed to about 300 elementary schools in Japan for continuous observation after the flight. Now, we are at around 15th generation of the space-born fish and they are still being kept by children in many schools. Through this program, the students have and can learn not only the gravity effects on the living organisms but also the importance of life by sharing the excitement of looking after and cherishing the fish. Plants were also used since plant roots respond to gravity and also to an applied electrical field. As a microgravity environment allows us to eliminate the effect of gravity on the roots, through the Corn and Bean Roots Experiment, the students could observe a sole relationship between these root-tip bend and applied electric fields by using a time lapsed recording method. The ground-based educational version of this experiment was conducted by pupils to see how electrical fields with different voltage levels change the growth direction of these root-tips. The Cucumber Seedlings Experiment taught students about the formation of a �epeg�f which is a protrusion between a stalk and a root. Only one epeg�f is formed in 1-g environment but two in microgravity environment. A scientist who conducted a space experiment helped this educational program discovered that the �gpeg�h formation was negatively controlled by gravity through the intervention of auxin which is a plant growth hormone.

The educational programs conducted in space have encouraged and motivated many students to discover an unknown world and enhanced their appetite for learning. Thus, education in space is a useful tool for continuously teaching students on earth. Since JAXA has started constructing its on-orbit module called gKibo�h, which is a Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), as a part of the International Space Station (ISS), and as we enter the era of JEM utilization, we expect more Japanese Astronauts will fly long-term. To enhance and to promote the utilization of space environment, the continuation of the educational programs is essential.

The presentation will address, in detail, the strategies and plans of future programs, and areas in which there is potential for international cooperation and collaboration.

Bioastronautics - at the interface of biology, medicine, engineering, and space - challenges the state of the art in human protection and integrative physiology.

This new program, (http://hst.mit.edu/bioastro) which leads to a PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, trains the bioastronautics leaders of the 21st century. Funded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), with support from NASA and its Johnson Space Center, this program combines the biomedical and engineering disciplines of MEMP with space life science, human factors specialization, and hands-on experience. In addition to the MEMP degree requirements, bioastronautics students take three space life sciences subjects, a bioastronautics elective, and attend specialized seminars conducted throughout the academic year.

They spend a summer experiencing practical space activities in a one month course at JSC followed by an internship at NASA or an industrial laboratory. They also participate in an Aerospace Medicine clerkship at NASA. Thesis research is normally conducted under the supervision of one of the Harvard or MIT faculty who are Principal Investigators of NSBRI or NASA Life Sciences grants. The program typically provides fellowship funding for two academic years. Admission to the program is via application to MEMP. Applications close on December 15 each year. For more information on the application process, see http://hst.mit.edu/memp-admissions. Supported by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NASA, NCC 9-58)

Today's students will compete in world made "flat" by rapidly advancing technologies. Yet, many students do not have access to educational opportunities that will allow them to be successful in future science, engineering or technology-based careers. The National Space Biomedical Research Institute is collaborating with multiple stakeholders to engage students from elementary school through postgraduate training in cutting edge science based on ongoing space-related research. For students in elementary through high school, project partners are collaborating with major urban school districts to provide teacher professional development that is aligned with state and national education standards. More than 15,000 teachers directly have participated in NSBRI Education and Outreach activities. These science teaching programs have led to documented, statistically significant gains in teacher and student science content knowledge. Furthermore, approximately 32,000 teachers (representing four million students) have requested NSBRI-developed inquiry science teaching units. Museum partnerships and collaborations with NASA to produce nationally disseminated educational broadcasts reach children and families with real science that is relevant to their own lives. NSBRI also provides science teaching materials and teacher professional development courses online, free-of-charge, to an international audience of teachers. NSBRI web-based resources include streaming video science content presentations and downloadable slide sets on space life themes-all available at BioEd Online (www.bioedonline.org). At the same time, NSBRI is fostering the development of the next generation of space researchers. More than 3,400 students have participated in summer research programs, after school science clubs, and family science festivals and fairs. A summer research internship program conducted in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center, for example, provides a 10–15 week laboratory research experiences for undergraduate, graduate and professional students. At the professional level, postdoctoral fellowships and a new Graduate Program in Bioastronautics are providing unique opportunities for students to pursue and succeed in research careers in areas related to the effects of microgravity on the human body.

DLR is Germany's national research centre for aeronautics and space, transportation and energy. As Germany's Space Agency, the DLR is also responsible for the forward planning and implementation of the German space programme. Approximately 5600 people work for DLR; the center has 28 institutes at 13 locations in Germany and offices in Brussels, Paris and Washington, D.C.

As the largest scientific and engineering establishment in Germany, DLR uses fascination with space to inspire young people to take an interest in science and technology. DLR has a social and public duty to encourage the next generation of young scientists and engineers, and it is for this reason that a wide range of programmes for children and young people is offered.

Since 1998, DLR has been producing attractive teaching materials for primary, secondary and high schools about space science for both teachers and pupils, designed to be used in the classroom.

In 2000, the idea of a laboratory for pupils was born and meanwhile it is the most prominent and successful project regarding education activities at DLR: the DLR_School_Lab.

Secondary and high school pupils can get to grips with the practical side of science and engineering through interesting experiments - motivating them to take these subjects further.

This presentation will give an overview of the DLR_School_Lab activities and show how pupils are inspired in a unique environment - for example by performing experiments next to the Long Arm Human Centrifuge at the DLR Institute of Aerospace Medicine.

Results of an evaluation of DLR_School_Lab activities will also be presented.
The Executive Board of DLR has recently decided to expand the DLR_School_Lab activities to provide to even more pupils and teachers the opportunity of experiencing the excitement of science research.