Teachers fly experiments on NASA flights

Last week more than 70 area teachers spaced out in the Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

The teachers brought experiments proposed and designed by their students onboard with them while they experienced what astronauts-in-training go through when they took a ride in an aircraft that flies along parabolic flight paths, which results in periods of weightlessness.

Teachers who experience this event then use what they learn with their students and how it applies to science, technology, engineering and mathematics by discussing the results of what happened to the experiments while onboard the flights.

The teachers were selected for the flights through NASA's Teaching from Space and Explorer Program. This program uses assets of NASA's human space flight mission to bring awareness and educational opportunities to the community.

"The enthusiasm among our teachers participating in the reduced gravity flights is contagious," NASA associate administrator for education and astronaut Leland Melvin said in a press release. "I know it will add a new dimension to their teaching as they engage their students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics studies."

NASA offers a variety of educational activities. Learn more by visiting nasa.gov/education.