CLEVELAND - Some of the 300 students from schools in Northeast Ohio participating in Young Astronaut Day at NASA's Glenn Research Center on Nov. 8 may one day travel to Mars.

This is the 16th year that Glenn is hosting members of Young Astronaut Clubs, other school science clubs, and scouting troops for a day of activities and a visit with a NASA astronaut. The event begins at 9:30 a.m. Ohio Astronaut Michael Foreman will address the students at 10 a.m.

Between noon and 2:30 p.m. teams of "pilots" from grades 1 through 6 will compete in challenging events including in-space repair, space shuttle tile design, rover races, and balloon rockets. Teams of "commanders" from grades 7 through 12 will be working on wind power, computer simulations and constellation rocket transportation. Glenn engineers and scientists will provide guidelines and instructions to the students with regard to the various activities, which are designed to help them learn more about science and engineering.

Projects will be judged and announcement of the results will take place at 2:30 p.m.

Foreman is a graduate of Wadsworth High School, Wadsworth, Ohio, and the U.S. Naval Academy. Earlier this year Foreman was a member of the crew of space shuttle Endeavour mission STS-123 to the International Space Station. While on the station Foreman performed three spacewalks during the mission's 250 orbits of the Earth.

The event is sponsored by Glenn and the Northern Ohio section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, also known as AIAA. More than 50 volunteers from Glenn, AIAA, local aerospace companies and universities support this event. Following is a list of the schools and scouting groups participating, along with the city they are located in:

• Ashland: Girl Scout Troop #1394
• Auburn Township: Girl Scout Troops #305 and #515
• Avon: Girl Scout Troop #882 and Cub Scout Den #18
• Bay Village: Bay Village Middle School
• Berea: Ford Middle School and Midpark High School
• Brecksville/Broadview Heights: Girl Scout Troop #1578
• Chagrin Falls: Brownie Troop #1401
• Cleveland: Birchwood School
• Fairlawn: Our Lady of the Elms
• Mentor: Shore Middle School-Shore Explorers
• Montpelier: Montpelier Middle School
• Oberlin: Mt. Zion Youth Ministry
• Parma Heights: Girl Scout Troop #1497 and Parma Heights Christian Academy
• Rocky River: Magnificat High School
• Shaker Heights: St. Dominica School
• Sheffield: Sheffield Middle School
• South Euclid-Lyndhurst: Girl Scout Troop #794
• Strongsville: Girl Scout Troop #1403
• University Heights: GESU Elementary
• Warrensville Heights: Girl Scout Troup #351
• Westlake: Lee Burneson Middle School
• Westerville: Edison Academy

For more information on NASA Glenn on the Web, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/home/index.html