FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPACE
MEDIA EXPANDS STARS ACADEMY FOR NEW SCHOOL YEAR
SPACEHAB
Subsidiary’s Education Program Adds Cultural Component for 2001-2002
August 14, 2001, Washington,
D.C. - SPACEHAB, Inc. (NASDAQ/NMS: SPAB), a leading provider of commercial space
services, today announced that its Space Media, Inc.™ (SMI) subsidiary
is expanding the scope of its STARS Academy™ global education program to
include a cultural component along with science, math, and technology studies
for the new school year.
The STARS Academy (www.starsacademy.com) is an online interactive cultural and scientific exchange program for ages 8-18. The program is a yearlong adventure that takes students across the Earth and oceans and into space on a quest for learning. Endangered species is this year’s theme for the "Earth Defenders" component of the program. STARS Academy students will be tracking the movements of endangered leatherback turtles around the world, using data collected and transmitted via satellite. Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute is collaborating with the STARS Academy on this research project.
The space segment of the program, "To Mars and Beyond," will engage students in real space research that will lead to exploration of the planets, and more. STARS Academy will fly nine experiments this school year, two aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and seven aboard upcoming NASA Space Shuttle mission STS-107.
The "Team PlanIt Earth" segment will bring together students from around the world in joint research. Working in five teams, these students will focus on leading issues related to endangered species. The teams will produce collaborative essays that will be presented to the United Nations at the end of the school year. The U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs has endorsed the STARS Academy and is working with Space Media to build participation in the program throughout the developing world. Currently more than 40 countries are interested in participating in this year’s program.
A fourth component of the expanded STARS Academy program, "Sonic Earth," is intended to add the international language of music to the program. Space Media officials are in discussions with music producer Lou Pearlman’s Trans Continental Records in Orlando, Florida, about a possible role for Pearlman’s new pop band Natural and others in the STARS Academy. Natural (www.naturalofficialsite.com) could contribute a music element to the STARS Academy program.
In partnership with Pearlman, SMI arranged for Natural to sing the national anthem at NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin’s VIP briefing preceding the April 19 launch of Space Shuttle mission STS-100 at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). (Pearlman is widely known for discovering and developing the popular groups *N SYNC, Backstreet Boys and O-Town.) This connection between Natural and NASA, enabled by Space Media, has recently drawn global media attention, from the Wall Street Journal to The Times of London.
"We’re excited about linking the international language of music with our STARS Academy program," said Dr. Shelley A. Harrison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of both SPACEHAB and Space Media. "We share NASA’s enthusiasm for using arts and entertainment as well as science and technology to convey the excitement of space exploration — especially to young people, all over the world."
The first STARS experiments flew aboard Shuttle mission STS-93 in July 1999. The experiments included a study of the development of butterflies in microgravity. Artifacts of this experiment were donated to the National Air and Space Museum in May 2000 and are now on permanent display there. (The June 2001 issue of Smithsonian Magazine features a story about these STARS butterflies.)
Another Space Media activity that has drawn media attention of late is the sale of space station foods. Space Media’s online retail business, The Space Store (www.thespacestore.com), is now offering a selection of the very same dishes that crewmembers are dining on aboard the International Space Station. This microgravity menu has garnered coverage ranging from the Houston Chronicle to the Financial Times, Newsweek, and South Africa’s SA-FM Radio.
Founded in 1984, with more than $100 million in annual revenue, SPACEHAB, Inc., is a leading provider of commercial space services. The company develops, owns, and operates habitat and laboratory modules and cargo carriers aboard NASA’s Space Shuttles. It also supports astronaut training and configuration management at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. SPACEHAB’s Astrotech subsidiary provides commercial satellite processing services at facilities in California and Florida. SPACEHAB’s newest strategic growth initiative, Space Media, Inc.™, brings space into homes and classrooms worldwide with television and Internet broadcasting from the International Space Station, interactive education programs through STARS Academy (www.starsacademy.com), and space merchandise from The Space Store (www.thespacestore.com).
This release contains
forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in
such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
whether the company will fully realize the economic benefits under its NASA
and other customer contracts, the timing and mix of Space Shuttle missions,
the successful development and commercialization of new space assets, technological
difficulties, product demand, timing of new contracts, launches and business,
market acceptance risks, the effect of economic conditions, uncertainty in government
funding, the impact of competition, and other risks detailed in the Company's
Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
For more information, contact:
Linda Billings
Director of Communications
SPACEHAB, Inc. - Washington Office
Phone 202/488-3500 x. 201
Fax 202/488-8251
billings@hqspacehab.com