News & Events
Parlin Students Speak with NASA Astronaut
June 16, 2009
The New Road School of Parlin was one of the fifty schools chosen to participate in a conference call with a retired astronaut, Colonel Mike Mullane. The conference call was part of a special Discovery Channel six part video series, “When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions”. This cross curriculum educational program focused on NASA’s goal of putting an American in orbit around the earth. Through original source materials and interviews, this spectacular program reviews the history of the space program, while supporting the study of the technology and engineering design process. Science teacher, Mrs. Amy McVey, chose twelve students to participate in this wonderful and exciting opportunity to speak with and ask questions of Astronaut Mullane.
Colonel Mullane was born in Texas, graduated from West Point, and was commissioned in the United States Air Force. Colonel Mullane was selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions and logged 356 hours in space aboard the Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis before retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1990. Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards, including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal. As a professional speaker, Colonel Mullane has thrilled tens of thousands of adults and a half-million children with his inspirational, motivational and humorous descriptions of his astronaut experience.
