NASA Helps Students Train Like Astronauts in Mission X Challenge
WASHINGTON -- Fourth-grade students in the College Station Independent School District (CSISD) in Texas have completed six weeks of a NASA health and fitness challenge known as "Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut."The United States, Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Colombia, Spain and United Kingdom hosted teams for the first Mission X challenge. NASA selected CSISD to participate on behalf of the U.S., along with 3,700 other students from more than 25 cities worldwide. The initiative supports the goals of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, Sports and Nutrition, and First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" program announced in February 2010.
Both efforts are designed to encourage Americans to adopt a healthy
lifestyle that includes regular physical activity and good nutrition.
At a final event Thursday at College Station Tiger Stadium in Texas,
NASA Associate Administrator for Education and former astronaut
Leland Melvin and astronaut Rick Linnehan shared their space travel
experience with students. They also discussed the importance of
science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) studies.
"The physical fitness portion of Mission X is vital, because fit kids
can make better students," Melvin said. "But, the team-building
aspect is essential to what we do at NASA, from constructing the
International Space Station to launching complex science missions.
Helping students excel in science and engineering and encouraging
them to pursue those careers helps NASA develop future explorers, who
will reach higher and take us on the next grand exploration challenge."
At the finale to Mission X, students also toured the "Driven To
Explore" NASA trailer and participated in exploration-inspired
activities. Certificates of participation were presented to each of the schools.
"Mission X is all about inspiring and educating our youth to live a
healthy lifestyle, with a focus on improving their overall daily
physical activity," said Dennis Grounds, NASA manager of the Human
Research Program at Johnson. "All of the countries involved saw this
as a national concern. The program was an outstanding success due to
a truly inspired effort by the NASA team, the European Space Agency
team and the national space agencies of France and Germany."
During the six-week Mission X, participants completed physical
activities modeled after the real-life training requirements of
humans traveling in space. Students practiced teamwork while
participating in training missions targeting strength, endurance,
coordination and balance. They also gained an understanding of the
science behind nutrition and physical fitness by participating in
hands-on activities involving human energy requirements, hydration
and bone strength.
Mission X enabled several space agencies and various partner
institutions to collaborate to address the quality of health and
fitness education and challenge students to be more physically
active. The program increased awareness of the importance of lifelong
fitness and its vital role in human performance for exploration. As a
result, students may be motivated to pursue careers in STEM fields.
The global challenge is coordinated online, where countries can post
updates and submit points. The public is invited to track the
progress of the teams. The 18 core activities of the challenge are
available for download at the site in seven languages.
Visit the site at:
http://www.
In the future, participants hope to expand the pilot program and offer
more schools and countries the opportunity to participate. NASA's
Human Research Program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston
sponsored the U.S. component of the challenge.
To follow the progress of Mission X teams, visit:
http://www.
For more information about NASA's Human Research Program, visit:
http://humanresearch.jsc.nasa.
Source: NASA
