CHICAGO, Oct. 22, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) Foundation launched 55 teachers into weightlessness yesterday as part of the Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery Program, marking the conclusion of the program's 2008 four-city tour.
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://media.primezone.com/noc/
Math and science teachers from accredited middle and high schools from across the United States took to the skies flying weightless over Wisconsin and Lake Superior, with the goal of inspiring and preparing the next generation of scientists, mathematicians and engineers -- critical areas where the U.S. has fallen behind globally.
To drive the United States' competitiveness in math, science and engineering for the future, the Northrop Grumman Foundation launched its Weightless Flights of Discovery program in 2006. By focusing the Weightless Flights program on teachers rather than students, the program has achieved maximum "reach" for the lessons of its microgravity "classroom," delivering inspiration to an estimated 25,000 elementary, middle school and high school students in its first two years. With 240 teachers that participated in this year's program, an additional 6,000 students will receive the message that "science is cool" from their teachers.
The Northrop Grumman Foundation Weightless Flights of Discovery Program is an innovative hands-on training initiative that gives teachers an "out-of-this-world" experience as a way to help them inspire their students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Teachers prepared for the zero-gravity flights this summer by attending workshops and designing experiments to execute while in zero-gravity in order to test Newton's Laws of Motion. Following the flights, the teachers will bring their in-flight experiences, enthusiasm, and videotaped experiments into the classroom, where they will be integrated into lesson plans.
For more information, visit: http://www.northropgrumman.com/community/weightless.html.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.
Editor's Note: Video, hi-res photos and teacher interviews available upon request.
