"NASA has fulfilled a promise made 6 years ago when the space agency opened up its astronaut selection process to professional educators," said Matthew Travis, Executive Director of ARES Institute, Inc. The agency has ensured that teacher and mission specialist Barbara Morgan's flight in 2007 was not the last spaceflight by a teacher. In doing so, NASA has demonstrated, in the most visible way possible, the value of educators in America's space program and, indeed, the whole of society."

"It is no secret that NASA is facing a generational challenge as older civil servants and contractors are leaving the program at an increasing rate at the same time that engineering, math and science graduation rates in the country's universities is on a decline. The problem is exacerbated by the coming retirement of the space shuttle fleet, which does little to attract young engineers and scientists fresh out of college and beginning their careers."

For NASA to maintain the level of skill that will be required as the nation works toward a return to manned lunar missions and then flight to Mars, the agency will need to be more effective at attracting young talent who will spend the majority of their careers working on Constellation and related projects. A basic factor in NASA's ability to attract young workers will be the size of the workforce pool from which to draw, a direct result of the success or failure of the nation's educational system to attract students to engineering fields.

NASA's Educator Astronauts can play a valuable role in bringing students into science and engineering. Their combined experience as teachers and astronauts enable them to connect with students across the country and, at the same time, communicate the excitement of space exploration and value of engineers and scientists. In doing so, they are uniquely positioned to present young students with career options they might not have considered before, opening the door to science and engineering in the nation's new drive toward human exploration of the Solar System.

Rather than being a hopeless situation, the current state of the global economy and dismal prospects for fulfilling careers in traditional service-centric industries, combined with the President's call to service for the good of the country, presents NASA with a tremendous opportunity to engage, enlighten and recruit young talent into its ranks by leveraging the unique skills and experience of its Educator Astronauts.  This could become a vital part of NASA's recruitment plans which the agency will need to ramp up to high gear in the coming few years as the "brain drain" within the agency reaches a critical level.

The Aerospace Research & Engineering Systems Institute, Inc. encourages NASA to utilize its corps of Educator Astronauts, and all astronauts, in a concerted effort to bring the wonder of space exploration, and the engineering and science behind it, to the nation's schools and recruit the talent the country needs, not only in the space program but across most industries. Failure to do so will render the United States a second-rate economic and technological power for decades to come, but success will ensure that the nation remains the leading economy in the world and the leader in science, engineering and exploration.

The Aerospace Research & Engineering Systems Institute, Inc. is an IRS 501 (c) 3 tax exempt not-for-profit corporation formed in the state of Florida in 2003. ARES is working to develop a series of innovative research programs involving academia, industry and government in order to protect and grow the aerospace workforce in the state. The primary purpose of the Institute is to engage students at all levels of their studies in exciting space-related projects and spur interest in math, science and aerospace careers. For more information, visit www.aresinstitute.org.

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Media Contact: Matthew Travis, press@aresinstitute.org
Website: http://www.aresinstitute.org

Aerospace Research & Engineering Systems Institute, Inc.
Attn: Matthew Travis
418 Adams Ave., #4
Cape Canaveral, FL. 32920