HOUSTON -- As part of NASA's celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Space Station, the agency is providing a special 2009 calendar to teachers and the public.

The calendar contains photographs taken from the space station. It highlights historic NASA milestones and fun facts about this international construction project of unprecedented complexity that began in 1998.

The calendar can be downloaded and printed by visiting:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

"We hope this calendar will inspire the next generation of explorers and provide interesting and challenging information for educators, students and anyone interested in space," said International Space Station Program Manager Mike Suffredini at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "As we near the completion of space station assembly, we are doubling the crew size, increasing our knowledge and operational experience, and continuing our quest of exploration and discovery."

Nearly 100,000 copies of the calendar will be delivered to schools in all 50 states. The calendars are distributed through NASA education programs and NASA-affiliated education networks such as the NASA Central Operation of Resources for Educators, NASA Education Resource Centers, NASA Explorer Schools and the Challenger Center for Space Science Education of Alexandria, Va.

For more information about NASA's education programs, visit:

http://education.nasa.gov