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EDUCATION PROGRAM LAUNCHED ABOARD STS-93 Washington, DC, July 23, 1999 – SPACEHAB, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPAB) is helping students make their dreams a reality through today's launch of the Space Technology And Research Students (S*T*A*R*S™) Program aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Schools from around the globe will conduct research investigations and view on-line data about the effects of space flight on the development, growth, and behavior of Ladybugs and the Painted Lady Butterfly. Santiago, Chile-based Liceo No1 Javiera Carrera High School and the High School/High Tech students in the Dougherty County School System from Albany, Georgia are the first of many schools to design their own experiments through the S*T*A*R*S™ Program. SPACEHAB, BioServe Space Technologies and the Center for Microgravity Automation Technology, have worked closely with these talented students and teachers who have created scientific experiments for this pathfinder mission. The Chilean and Georgia schools completed a simulation run prior to launch and participated in the actual loading of insects into the flight hardware. After setting up the Earth-based experiment that will be compared to the orbiting payload, the students viewed the beautiful night launch from the Kennedy Space Center. The experiments are equipped with a video system for real-time imaging of the insects for downlink to the ground and Internet release to schools worldwide. This gives students an exciting hands-on means for discovering scientific principles and comparing results to those being collected by the astronauts just hours before. Kimberly Campbell, S*T*A*R*S™ Program Manager, is enthusiastic about this first mission. "Offering students an interactive means for learning about space and science is exciting. These students get the chance to see their hard work blast off into space and know that they made it all happen," says Campbell. SPACEHAB has developed the S*T*A*R*S™ Program as a commercial educational initiative designed to stimulate the imagination and encourage interest in science topics related to microgravity research. S*T*A*R*S™ challenges students to play the role of a Payload Specialist aboard the Space Shuttle and promotes interest in aerospace and science careers. Students of all ages can participate in the S*T*A*R*S™ Program on future missions such as STS-107 planned for late 2000. The program is partially funded through corporate and private sponsors who are encouraging students to participate in humankind's greatest adventure – space exploration. SPACEHAB, with its Johnson Engineering and Astrotech subsidiaries, is the world's leading provider of commercial payload processing services for manned and unmanned payloads. SPACEHAB is the first company to commercially develop, own and operate habitable modules that provide laboratory facilities and logistics re-supply aboard NASA's Space Shuttles. The Company also supports NASA astronaut training at the Johnson Space Center.
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