NASA TO HOLD FUTURE FORUM IN BOSTON

NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale will deliver a keynote address at 8:45 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Sept 18, at Boston's Museum of Science to kick off next week's Future Forum. The event is part of a year-long series celebrating the agency's 50th anniversary. The Future Forum in Boston will focus on how space exploration benefits Massachusetts' economic and academic sectors.

During the forum, astronaut Nicholas Patrick will present highlights from his latest shuttle mission. Stephen Cook, manager of Ares projects at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will provide an overview of the agency's plans to return astronauts to the moon and travel beyond. Other NASA participants include Joyce Winterton, assistant administrator for education.

NASA will be unveiling a new educational product, NASA eClips, during this Future Forum. NASA eClips is an on-demand, web-based, free service targeted at educators, students and the general public.

Dale and other participants will take part in a news media question and answer session following the morning event. Reporters who would like to attend should contact Sonja Alexander at 202-358-1761 or sonja.r.alexander@nasa.gov.

Event schedule for the NASA Boston Future Forum: (Subject to minor changes)

- 8:30 a.m. - Welcome by Dr. Iaonnis Miaoulis, president and director, Museum of Science
- 8:45 a.m. - Remarks by NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale
- 9 a.m. - Overview of the NASA Exploration Program: ARES manager Stephen Cook
- 9:55 a.m. - News media question and answer session with presenters
- 10 a.m. - Innovation Panel: "Unleashing the power of technology and creativity"
- 11:15 a.m. - Discovery Panel: "Pushing the limits of knowledge to inspire new generations"
- 12:30 p.m. - Luncheon speaker: STS-116 mission highlights by astronaut Nicholas Patrick
- 1:45 p.m. - Inspiration Panel: "Building idea factories for the future"

For more information on NASA's 50th Anniversary Future Forums, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/50th/future_forums

For complete biographical information about Dale, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/dale_bio.html

For more information about Museum of Science, visit:

http://www.mos.org/