…is now Citizens In Space:
“The development of low-cost reusable suborbital spacecraft will be the next great enabler, allowing citizens to participate in space exploration and space science.
“Citizens have told us that education is not just a process that occurs within the public schools. Science fairs, hackerspaces, museums; private, religious, and home schools — all have a role to play. Today, we are listening to those citizens.
“We want to put a thousand astronaut teachers into American schools . We want to engage America’s students and reach out to the public through museums, science centers, and other venues. We want to make space research and space exploration part of the mainstream, not treasures locked away in the ivory tower.
“When Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad was asked what it was like to fly in space, he said, ‘Everyone should go!’ We agree.
I agree, too. At least those who want to. It’s too bad the people in charge of the government space program don’t agree.
[Update a few minutes later]
Here’s the new web site.
It would be cool to see regular people from all walks of life in space. They could send up a plumber, a martial arts expert, or an accountant. Sure, there might not be a lot of science done but it would go a long way to bridge the gap between the elitist NASA and the people who pay for their programs.
On the other hand, just think what it would mean if an accountant could do their payroll from the ISS. You don’t need to be on Earth to do business here.
Teachers in Space is still a top project of the Space Frontier Foundation. All 7 original Pathfinder teachers remain with us and are delivering the 2012 Summer Professional Development workshops for US Secondary School STEM Teachers. We still have flight commitments from our original sponsors including XCOR, Masten, Armadillo and more, plus new ones in the works. Information for applying to our workshops is available at tis.spacefrontier.org.
Citizens in Space is a spinoff: a new project by our former project manager. It in NO way replaces Teachers in Space, which continues fully intact. I am honored to be the new project manager of Teachers in Space.