Alexandria, VA - Richard Garriott is a preeminent game developer and son of NASA Skylab Astronaut Owen Garriott. As the next civilian to fly into space, Richard plans to engage with students, teachers and the 50 Challenger Learning Centers around the world through interactive activities before, during and after his flight currently scheduled for lift-off to the International Space Station on October 12, 2008.

Space exploration encompasses all facets of the human experience including our need for creative expression. Students of all ages are encouraged to submit their design for a student patch or t-shirt that celebrates the educational aspect of Richard Garriott’s upcoming flight. The student design should symbolize the adventure and discovery of spaceflight from the student’s point of view. The winning student design may appear on both a patch and a t-shirt. Challenger Center for Space Science Education plans to post some of the submitted student’s designs on their national website, and will award the winner with a certificate and t-shirt with his/her design later this year. The design may even get flown into space!

This student activity is open to the general public, visit http://www.challenger.org to submit your design. Deadline is April 18th for submissions.

Richard Garriott plans to spend time before, during and after his flight conducting interactive webcasts about his spaceflight training in Russia; holding amateur ham radio conversations with students during his flight; and performing experiments that can be replicated by students using everyday objects to demonstrate important concepts in physics. For more information, visit the Challenger Center for Space Science Education at http://www.challenger.org .

Challenger Center for Space Science Education was founded in 1986 by the families of the astronauts of the space shuttle Challenger 51-L mission. It is dedicated to the educational spirit of that mission and impacts over 300,000 students and 25,000 teachers each year. Challenger Learning Center programs at 50 centers around the world continue the crew's mission of engaging teachers and students in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. To locate a Challenger Learning Center near you, visit http://www.challenger.org

For program information, please contact:
Shannon Rush, Development and Communications Associate
Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, VA
888-683-9740; [ mailto:srush@challenger.org ]srush@challenger.org

To request an interview with Richard Garriott, please contact:
Stacey Tearne, Space Adventures
703 894 2192, [ mailto:stearne@spaceadventures.com ]stearne@spaceadventures.com