Sonja Alexander

Headquarters, Washington, DC January 21, 1999

(Phone: 202/358-1761)

John Bluck
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA
(Phone: 650/604-5026)

RELEASE: 99-5

NASA SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS WILL TALK TO STUDENTS

ON THE INTERNET DURING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Students from around the world will get the opportunity to

'chat' with NASA's African-American scientists, engineers and
others over the Internet during February, Black History Month.
During these chats, students with access to computers can type
their questions and receive answers from the experts.

The chat sessions begin on Tuesday, Feb. 2, at 2:30 p.m. EST

with Dr. Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, an aerospace engineer at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. During the chats,
Ericsson-Jackson and the other African-American professionals will
describe their contributions to the space program. "I feel
obligated to help spur the interest of minorities and females in
the math, science and engineering disciplines," said Ericsson-
Jackson. She received the "Women in Science and Engineering"
award as the best female engineer in the federal government in
1998.

Representing diverse careers, scheduled participants include

a NASA nutritionist, an aerospace engineer and an operations
specialist from mission control at NASA's Johnson Space Center,
Houston, TX. "NASA's African-Americans serve as role models for
students," said Oran Cox, who organized the chat series at NASA's
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. "These chats will enable
students to meet mentors via the Internet in a very personal way."

First-come, first-served pre-registration via the Internet is

required in order for students to participate. Others can observe
the conversations without registering. The Black History Month
chats are sponsored by NASA's Quest Project based at Ames. There
will be at least eight web chats during February.

The Black History Month chat sessions can be accessed at URL:

 http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk99/

Chat schedule - All times EST

Feb. 2, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Dr. Aprille Ericsson-Jackson, Aerospace Engineer, NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD

Feb. 9, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Janis Davis-Street, Nutritionist, NASA Johnson Space Center,
Houston, TX

Feb 11, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Tony Bruins, System Engineer/Integrator, Mission Operations
Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Feb. 17, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Jennifer Murray, Biomedical Engineer, NASA Kennedy Space Center,
FL

Feb. 18, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Janice Everett, Environmental Protection Specialist, NASA Kennedy
Space Center, FL

Feb. 24, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

Ruth Simmons, President, Smith College, Northampton, MA

Feb. 25, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

Oran Cox, QuestChat Project Manager, NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, CA.

Date/time to be determined for Dionne Jackson, Materials Science

Engineer, NASA Kennedy Space Center, FL

Please check Quest website for late additions:

http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk99/

-end-