FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Further information, Don McKendry, director, 740-826-3305

John and Annie Glenn Historic Site and Exploration Center hosts NASA Mobile Aeronautics Education Laboratory May 5-9

NEW CONCORD, OHIO – Science education for students at area high schools is about to take flight, thanks to an upcoming exhibition at the John and Annie Glenn Historic Site and Exploration Center.

From May 5 through May 9, area students will take advantage of the Mobile Aeronautics Education Laboratory (MAEL), a 53-foot tractor trailer housed laboratory sponsored by the NASA Glenn Research Center and Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland.

The huge unit, which will park next to the Glenn site in downtown New Concord, allows students to simulate the process of a cross country aeronautical flight. Students will participate in aircraft design, weather calculations and virtual reality flights simulations using ten different workstations housed in the trailer.

The MAEL program was developed by a team of NASA engineers, staff and contractors, working closely with Cuyahoga Community College, to support the Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy (SEMMA), a K-12th grade program designed to peak students’ interest in and curiosity about science and math.

Area high schools participating in the program are Zanesville High School, Meadowbrook High School, Cambridge High School, Tri-Valley High School, Maysville High School, West Muskingum High School, John Glenn High School Philo High

School and Buckeye Trail High School.

Students will move between the mobile unit and the Glenn site, so all will have experience in both the NASA program and the history taught at the site.

“We just couldn’t be more pleased to have a program of this magnitude coming to this area,” said Don McKendry, director of the Glenn site. “This is a very unique, almost once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these students.”

The John and Annie Glenn Historic Site and Exploration Center is located just off Interstate Route 70 at exit 169. From the exit, take Route 83 North to Routes 40/22 (Main Street in New Concord). The site is located on the south side of Main Street, two blocks from Route 83.

For general information, or to schedule a tour or private event, call the site’s administrative office at 740-826-3305, or visit the website at www.johnglennhome.org. --30--