Date: June 26th 2006

June 26, 2006

Staci Johnson/Sonja Alexander Headquarters, Washington 202- 358-7232/1761

Debbie V Nguyen Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111

RELEASE: 06-248

NASA'S "WEIGHTLESS WONDER" HOST EXPERIMENTS

NASA has selected six proposals from museums and science centers to fly their experiments aboard NASA's "Weightless Wonder," a C-9 aircraft that flies a series of rollercoaster-like dips and climbs to produce periods of weightlessness

The selected institutions have partnered with their local communities to propose and design experiments for NASA's new Reduced Gravity Museum and Science Center Flight Opportunities Program The museums and science centers promote science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and education careers to students in their neighborhoods

The program began with a successful test flight in 2004 This year, six teams from across the country will fly during the summer from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Museums and science centers will have similar opportunities available annually

"Museums and science centers engage students and the community to learn about science and space Through this program, participants will have a chance to experience the same processes used by NASA researchers to fly experiments in space and bring that experience back to their communities," said Chuck Lloyd, Program Manager for NASA's Human Health and Performance Education at Johnson This is a part of NASA's Informal Education program

NASA's informal education efforts provide stimulating experiences for learning outside of formal classroom environments Our nation's museums and science centers use NASA content to inspire youth and engage them in NASA's mission

The selected teams, their experiments, and the dates they will arrive in Houston to begin their flights are:

July 6: The St Louis Science Center in Missouri -- Testing Gene Expression in Reduced Gravity through Microarray Technology - Aug 3: Boonshoft Museum in Dayton, Ohio -- Emergency Severe Wound Containment/Treatment Device Evaluation: An Effective Deployment Feasibility Experiment
Aug 3: Hands On! Regional Museum, Johnson City, Tenn -- The Sustainability of a Spherical Soap Film (Bubbles) in Microgravity
Aug 3: McWane Center, Birmingham, Ala -- Effects of Microgravity on Fluid Distribution in a Porous Material
Aug 10: The Coca Cola Space Science Center in Columbus, Ga -- Predicting Heat Flow in Microgravity
Aug 10: Space Center Houston -- Fluid Dynamics in Flight

For information about the Reduced Gravity Museum Flight Opportunities Program, visit:

http://microgravityuniversity jsc nasa gov/museum/

For information about NASA's education programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov/education

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