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AO For 10 STARDUST Educator Fellowships



ANNOUNCEMENT OF OPPORTUNITY FOR 10 STARDUST EDUCATOR FELLOWSHIPS

STARDUST

STARDUST is the fourth of several flight missions in NASA's Discovery
program. The goal of the Discovery program is to design small, less
expensive spacecraft with specific scientific goals that can be built in 36
months or less. Mars Pathfinder and Lunar Prospector are examples of
Discovery missions chosen in the past. More information on this exciting
project can be found on the Internet at:

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/top.html

The spacecraft will launch in February 1999 on board an expendable launch
vehicle and rendezvous with Comet Wild 2 in January 2004, coming within 150
kilometers (93 miles) of the comet's nucleus. The spacecraft will be the
first ever to collect dust spewed from a comet and return it to Earth for
detailed analysis. The comet samples are made up of ancient pre-solar
interstellar grains and material that condensed in the solar nebula, a
diffuse cloud of gas and dust from which the Sun and planets were formed. A
sample return capsule will reenter Earth's atmosphere and land on a dry lake
bed in Utah in January, 2006.

STARDUST WORKSHOP/STARDUST PRESENTERS

Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) STARDUST Outreach Opportunity Program is
implementing a nation-wide teacher training initiative and developing
educational modules. This effort is targeted at grades 4-8.

Initially, 10 STARDUST Educator Fellows will be recruited from around the
country to help field test the STARDUST educational modules and Teacher
Training Workshop. This initial group will help test and modify the workshop
presentation. An additional Announcement of Opportunity will be distributed
in late spring/summer 1998 to solicit candidates from which an additional 15
Educator Fellows will be selected and trained in fall 1998.

Candidates selected for the STARDUST Educator Fellowship will receive:

   * an all-expenses-paid intensive training workshop on: the STARDUST
     mission; science and educational aspects necessary to effectively
     present the STARDUST related topics; and comets and other small Solar
     System bodies. This will take place on three to-be-determined days
     during April 26-May 2 in Denver, Colorado at Lockheed Martin
     Astronautics.

   * a crash course on presentation strategies and a complete teacher
     training presenter package to use for STARDUST workshops

   * priority updates and mailings on the latest STARDUST mission
     information and materials

   * materials to help plan and promote STARDUST workshops

   * continued contact with the STARDUST science team to answer questions
     and to facilitate discussion

The STARDUST Educator Fellowship Team will reflect a geographically and
institutionally diverse mix of presenters from a variety of environments -
science centers/museums; school districts; universities; educational
organizations; etc. - to ensure a diverse team and reach.

In return, selected Fellows must commit to conducting a minimum of two
educator training workshops per year (approved by the STARDUST Education
Outreach Team) and to sharing evaluation information from those workshops
with the STARDUST educational partners.

The training will provide Fellows with a unique opportunity to interact with
STARDUST Project scientists and engineers. The Education Outreach Team will
serve as a liaison for the Fellows to facilitate the dissemination of new
information and continued contact with the STARDUST Fellowship Team.

While a variety of factors will be used in the final selection, the profile
of ideal STARDUST Educator Fellows includes:

   * actively teaching or conducting teacher training in a formal or
     informal science environment (e.g., school district, science center,
     museum, educational organization);

   * willing to conduct a minimum of two STARDUST Teacher Training Workshops
     on their own during each year they are involved with the program;

   * has a written commitment from their host institution (current employer
     or sponsoring organization) to provide release time for the Teacher
     Training and an expressed willingness to support the candidate in
     conducting at least two STARDUST Teacher Training Workshops per year;

   * willing to submit a resume, two letters of reference and a two-page
     proposal outlining their interest in STARDUST and how they envision
     sharing the educational activities for which they will be trained; and

   * a commitment to provide timely reports and assessment information back
     to the STARDUST Education Outreach Team.

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SELECTION

STARDUST Educator Fellows will be chosen from extensive networks of
classroom teachers, curriculum specialists, and museum/science center
educators. The STARDUST Educator Fellowship Team will be selected in order
to provide a geographic and institutional mix of presenters from a variety
of environments: science centers/museums; school districts; universities;
educational organizations; etc., ensuring a diverse team of STARDUST Fellows
across the country. An announcement of those selected will be made by
March 6, 1998.

Please contact Kerri Beisser at 703/683-9740 for applications to the
fellowship.

Attn.: Kerri Beisser - STARDUST Educator Fellowship Proposals
Challenger Center for Space Science Education
1029 North Royal Street Suite 300
Alexandria, Virginia 22314

703-683-7546 FAX