Urges Kids To Be More Active, Eat Well, Study Hard
NASA and 14 international space agencies are challenging
students to complete a nutrition and fitness program known as
"Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut." Approximately 3,700 students
from more than 25 different cities worldwide are participating in
this six-week pilot project.
NASA's Human Research Program is sponsoring the U.S. component
of the international challenge that began Tuesday. Teams of
students between eight and 12 years old will learn principles of
healthy eating, exercise and compete for points by finishing
training modules. Students also will practice scientific reasoning
and teamwork while participating in hands-on training that targets
strength, endurance, coordination, balance and spatial awareness.
The exercises will involve the same types of skills astronauts
learn during training for spaceflights.
"A part of the human space exploration mission is to inspire our
youth to stay in school and master professions in the sciences and
engineering fields to carry on this important work well into the
21st century," said Charles Lloyd, NASA's Human Research Program
Education and Outreach Project manager. "We believe this starts
with our youth in elementary school. We hope this international
fitness challenge will assist them with that lifelong
Mission X challenges students to be more physically active;
increases awareness of the importance of lifelong health and
conditioning; teaches students how fitness plays a vital role in
human performance for exploration; and inspires and motivates
students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and
The U.S., Netherlands, Italy, France, Germany, Austria,
Colombia, Spain and United Kingdom are hosting teams for the
challenge. Team USA is hosted by the College Station Independent
School District (ISD) in College Station, Texas. It consists of
more than 800 fourth-grade students. After six weeks of training,
the U.S. challenge will culminate in a March 24th event, called the
Fit Explorer Hometown Hullabaloo, to celebrate the students'
"Mission X is an exciting way to actively involve students in
learning the importance of nutrition and physical fitness," said
Becky Burghardt, director for curriculum, College Station ISD.
"Children are fascinated by the training experiences of astronauts
and are motivated to mirror what real-life astronauts do to prepare
for space missions. Teachers and administrators are hopeful the
rich science and physical education experiences designed by NASA
will help students become aware of the importance of living a
Upon completion of this pilot, the goal is to expand the program
to more schools in additional countries. The 18 core activities of
the challenge are available for download in seven languages.