Aug 30 2010
From The Space Library
RELEASE: 10-234
NASA AWARDS $3.3 MILLION TO TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
WASHINGTON -- NASA will award $3.3 million over three years to support academic excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at tribal colleges and universities. The awards are part of a Cooperative Agreement Notice released by the NASA Office of Education's Minority University Research and Education Program for the Tribal Colleges and Universities Project (TCUP). Three institutions were selected through a merit-based, peer-reviewed competition for funding. Awards will go to Kiksapa Consulting, LLC of Mandan, N.D.; Salish Kootenai College of Pablo, Mo.; and the American Indian Higher Education Consortium in Alexandria, Va. The awards have a three-year period of performance and range in value from $215,000 to $592,000. NASA's TCUP is a STEM education grant and mentoring program specifically targeting tribal colleges and universities. The goal of the project is to expand opportunities to academic institutions that prepare Native Americans to enter the nation's STEM workforce through internships, fellowships, research experiences, outreach, information exchange, capacity building and infrastructure development. The first round of awards is valued at $1.107 million. Each award is expected to use NASA's unique contributions in STEM education to enhance tribal college academic experiences and improve educators' abilities to engage their students.
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RELEASE: 10-143
NEW SPACE STATION CREW MEMBERS LAUNCH FROM KAZAKHSTAN
HOUSTON -- NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin launched to the International Space Station aboard their Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft at 4:35 p.m. CDT Tuesday (3:35 a.m. Wednesday local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Wheelock, Walker and Soyuz commander Yurchikhin are scheduled to dock with their new home at 5:25 p.m. Thursday, June 17. They will join Expedition 24 crewmates Tracy Caldwell Dyson, a NASA astronaut, and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov, the station commander, and Mikhail Kornienko aboard the orbiting laboratory. On Thursday, coverage of the Soyuz docking will begin on NASA Television at 5 p.m. NASA TV will return at 9 p.m. for coverage of the hatches opening and the welcoming ceremony aboard the station. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv During Expedition 24, the six-person crew will continue scientific research investigations and station maintenance activities. On June 28, Yurchikhin, Wheelock and Walker will climb back into their Soyuz spacecraft and move it to the newly-delivered Mini-Research Module-1, or Rassvet. The mission also includes three spacewalks, one conducted by Russian cosmonauts Yurchikhin and Kornienko on July 26 and two by NASA astronauts Wheelock and Caldwell Dyson on Aug. 5 and 17. Skvortsov, Caldwell Dyson and Kornienko, who launched to the station on April 2, are scheduled to return to Earth on Sept. 24. Before departing, Skvortsov will hand over command of the station to Wheelock for Expedition 25, which begins when the Soyuz TMA-18 undocks Sept. 24. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka will join Wheelock, Walker and Yurchikhin in orbit on Oct. 10 to complete the Expedition 25 crew. Their launch is set for Oct. 8. Expedition 24/25 crew member Walker will blog about her experiences in orbit. To find her blog and
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