Discovery mission carries posters into space

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES DEANERY - Students at Nativity School were part of a space mission when their personal signatures were launched aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-120. The event is a culmination to the students' participation in the NASA and Lockheed Martin sponsored "Student Signatures in Space" program, a key component of the Lockheed Martin Space Day celebration held annually on the first Friday in May.

Last May, students signed Space Day posters. Their signatures were then scanned onto a disk that was carried on the Space Shuttle Discovery launched October 23. This mission marked the 120th Space Shuttle flight and the 23rd Space Shuttle mission to go to the International Space Station.

"The poster signing events on Space Day are always a lot of fun for the kids," said Barbara Reinike, Space Day program manager for Lockheed Martin. "However, the launch of their signatures is even more exciting because it makes it all real. And the launch and mission itself provide wonderful teaching opportunities for educators, as they can bring the science of 'their mission' right into the classroom."

The poster will be returned for permanent display to Nativity School in Pleasant Ridge along with a flight certificate and picture of the crew that carried the signatures into space.