NASA Challenges Students To Train Like An Astronaut

NASA's Human Research Program is sponsoring the U.S. component of the
international challenge that began Tuesday. Teams of students between
eight and 12 years old will learn principles of healthy eating,
exercise and compete for points by finishing training modules.
Students also will practice scientific reasoning and teamwork while
participating in hands-on training that targets strength, endurance,
coordination, balance and spatial awareness. The exercises will
involve the same types of skills astronauts learn during training for spaceflights.

"A part of the human space exploration mission is to inspire our youth
to stay in school and master professions in the sciences and
engineering fields to carry on this important work well into the 21st
century," said Charles Lloyd, NASA's Human Research Program Education
and Outreach Project manager. "We believe this starts with our youth
in elementary school. We hope this international fitness challenge
will assist them with that lifelong endeavor."

Mission X challenges students to be more physically active; increases
awareness of the importance of lifelong health and conditioning;
teaches students how fitness plays a vital role in human performance
for exploration; and inspires and motivates students to pursue
careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The U.S., Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Colombia,
Spain and United Kingdom are hosting teams for the challenge. Team
USA is hosted by the College Station Independent School District
(ISD) in College Station, Texas. It consists of more than 800
fourth-grade students. After six weeks of training, the U.S.
challenge will culminate in a March 24th event, called the Fit
Explorer Hometown Hullabaloo, to celebrate the students' success.

"Mission X is an exciting way to actively involve students in learning
the importance of nutrition and physical fitness," said Becky
Burghardt, director for curriculum, College Station ISD. "Children
are fascinated by the training experiences of astronauts and are
motivated to mirror what real-life astronauts do to prepare for space
missions. Teachers and administrators are hopeful the rich science
and physical education experiences designed by NASA will help
students become aware of the importance of living a healthy lifestyle."

Upon completion of this pilot, the goal is to expand the program to
more schools in additional countries.

To see NASA astronaut Cady Coleman kick off the challenge from the
International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=46235751

The 18 core activities of the challenge are available for download in
seven languages.

To view country updates and Mission X teams' progress, visit:

http://trainlikeanastronaut.org/en

For more information about other NASA education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

Source: NASA

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