October 08, 2009

Atlantis shuttle astronaut Rex Walheim discusses space travel with middle and high school science teachers when he visited campus May 10.

Atlantis shuttle astronaut Rex Walheim visited California State University, Fresno’s NASA Educator Resource Center May 10. Col. Walheim shared his experiences as an astronaut, including "walking" in space during a workshop for middle and high school science and mathematics teachers.

Walheim, an Air Force colonel, has participated in five spacewalks during 12 years as an astronaut, most recently during the STS-122 mission earlier this year.

He was joined by NASA education specialist Anthony Leavitt for the workshop, “Space Exploration: Earth, Moon, and Beyond,” presented by the Kremen School of Education and Human Development. Leavitt is in charge of NASA education programs in the northwestern United States and Hawaii and has presented other workshops at Fresno State.

The Kremen School NASA center was established in 1996 as part of the space program’s educational outreach to help teachers learn about and use NASA's educational resources. It is one of six such centers in California and the only one established at a university.

Astronaut Col. Rex Walheim is shown with some of the middle and high school science teachers who attended a conference on campus May 10.

Walheim’s Fresno State appearance was one of three stops in the central San Joaquin Valley that began May 9 in Visalia. His father, Lawrence M. Walheim Jr., resides in nearby Exeter. He also will visited Kastner Intermediate School in Fresno and that evening was the guest of honor at a reception hosted by Fresno State President John D. Welty.

On May 10, Walheim spent the day at Fresno State presenting an afternoon workshop on “Weightlessness in Space” and speaking at a luncheon hosted by Dr. Paul Beare, dean of the Kremen School of Education.

Leavitt discussed “Puffy Head, Bird Legs – Effects of Living and Working in Space” during the morning phase of the workshop.

The free NASA workshop was open to middle and high school science and math teachers who registered in advance. Other educators also were welcome as space permited, said Otto E. Benavides, an associate professor in the Kremen School, and director of its NASA Educator Resource Center and Instructional Technology and Resource Center in Kremen Education.

“This rare and innovating workshop [was] a unique opportunity for local educators to interact with an astronaut who has been in space, conducted spacewalks and can provide a firsthand account,” Benavides said.

For more information about the Fresno State NASA center, contact Benavides at 278.0379 or ottob@csufresno.edu.