10-22-98

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES SPACE WEEK

	COLUMBUS -- A series of campus lectures and symposia, a 
statewide rocket-launching competition at Ohio Stadium, the John 
Glenn Fitness 5-K Run and live campuswide coverage of the Shuttle 
Discovery mission highlight Space Week activities at The Ohio State 
University.  

	More than 60 university units and off-campus businesses and 
organizations are collaborating on Ohio State’s celebration of space.  
Space Week includes a series of events from Oct. 26 to Nov. 7 and 
other “satellite” events that have been held throughout October. 

	Ohio State’s events coincide with Sen. John Glenn’s mission 
aboard the Shuttle Discovery, which is scheduled to begin its nine-
day journey from Cape Canaveral, Fla., at approximately 2 p.m. 
Oct. 29.

Glenn, a University Honors Distinguished Fellow and an adjunct 
professor, will join a crew of eight aboard the Discovery.  Glenn has 
donated his collections of papers to Ohio State, which will be a 
resource for the new John Glenn Institute for Public Service and 
Public Policy at the university.  Ohio State announced the creation 
of the institute in September. 

	Ohio State President William E. Kirwan said Space Week was 
created to acknowledge Glenn’s continuing contributions to the nation 
and to highlight space-related research of Ohio State faculty and 
students.

	“Senator Glenn is an authentic American hero whose life serves 
as a model of citizenship and service,” Kirwan said.  “We are indeed 
proud that he is our senator and even more proud to have him as an 
adjunct faculty colleague here at Ohio State.

	“We also have organized our Space Week activities in order to 
highlight the extraordinary space-related research being conducted by 
our faculty and students.  Ohio State faculty are at the forefront of 
some very important research that is increasing our understanding of 
our universe and our place in it.”	 

	In calendar year 1997, Ohio State researchers worked on projects 
exceeding $20 million in funding from NASA, according to the Ohio 
State University Research Foundation.  A plant-growth experiment, 
developed by Ohio State plant biologists Mike Evans and Hideo 
Ishikawa and students, will be conducted on the Discovery shuttle 
flight.
	
	The experiment focuses on how plants extend their roots down 
into soil to reach water and nutrients, and whether mild electrical 
fields direct the growth of roots in lieu of gravity.  The research 
may raise the possibility of low-gravity farming and offer clues to 
how roots on Earth respond to stressful conditions such as drought.

	The Ohio State Space Research Exposition, an exhibition of 
space-related research at the university, opens on the second floor 
of the Bricker Hall lobby area on Thursday (10/22) and runs through 
Nov. 30.  Kirwan introduced many of the researchers at a news 
conference at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Bricker Hall.

	Ohio State’s University Technology Services and UNITS, the 
campus telecommunications center, will provide live coverage of the 
shuttle mission via cable television at multiple locations throughout 
campus.  The university will sponsor a Campus Shuttle Launch 
Celebration that begins 30 minutes before the launch on Oct. 29 in 
the Bricker Hall lobby.  The gathering is open to Ohio State faculty, 
staff and students.
	
	UTS and UNITS will provide broadcast coverage throughout the 
shuttle flight in Bricker Hall, in all residence halls, and at some 
12 other campus sites, including the Fawcett Center lobby, Drake 
Union, Ohio Union, Wexner Center and the Faculty Club.  UTS also will 
carry NASA’s continuous coverage and several Space Week events on its 
Web site, using Internet video technologies.  Visitors at the UTS Web 
site at www.osu.edu/realvideo/ can download free RealVideo software 
to watch events on their office computers.  An update on Space Week 
events and events available for Internet broadcast are available on 
the Web at www.osu.edu/spaceweek/. 	

	Most events throughout Space Week are free and open to the 
public.  Other highlights include:

	-- Oct. 26: Kathryn Sullivan, former astronaut and president and 
CEO of the Center of Science and Industry, will address the “The Ups 
and Downs of an Oceanographer/Astronaut” in a speech as part of the 
Honors Conference on Space at 7 p.m. in the Ohio Union Conference 
Theater.

	-- Oct. 30: Economics Nobel Laureate Douglass North of 
Washington University in St. Louis will discuss the ability of the 
U.S. economy to finance space exploration from 3:30-5 p.m. in the 
Wexner Center.

	-- Oct: 31: The John Glenn Fitness 5-K run begins at the north 
entrance of Ohio Stadium and will follow a course adjacent to the 
Oval beginning at 8 a.m.  Registration is $5 and begins at 7 a.m. the 
day of the race at the stadium.  Preregistration is available at 106 
Larkins Hall or by calling 292-7671.

	-- Oct. 31: The John Glenn Aerospace Invitational, a rocket-
building and launching event, is expected to attract more than 400 
children from around the state from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Ohio Stadium.  
Water-fueled rockets will be used.  Registration is required by 
calling 292-6942.

	-- Nov. 1: The Rocket Rally on the Oval, where children ages 8 
to 12 and families will build their own model rockets, runs from noon 
to 4 p.m.  Advance registration is required by calling 688-3334.

	-- Nov. 2: Ghassem Asrar, associate administrator for earth 
science for NASA, and Prasad Gogineni, manager of NASA’s Polar Oceans 
and Ice Sheets Program, will discuss the commercialization of space 
at the Columbus Rotary Club meeting from 11:45 a.m.-1:10 p.m. at the 
Hyatt Regency in downtown Columbus.  Lunch is $10.25; call 221-3127 
for reservations.	

	-- Nov. 2: Professor Lonnie Thompson, of the Department of 
Geological Sciences and Byrd Polar Research Center, will present a 
University Distinguished Lecture on “Past and Current Global Climate 
Change: Implications for Our Future” at 4 p.m. in the Wexner Center’s 
Film/Video Theater.  

	-- Nov. 7: Bob Dixon, senior research engineer for emerging 
technologies in UTS, will discuss “Scientific Search for Intelligent 
Life Outside of the Earth” from 7 to 9 p.m. in Independence Hall 
Auditorium.

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Contact: Dave Ferguson, Academic Affairs, (614) 292-6743