By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MILFORD - Steve Heck is one step closer to a lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut. The Milford Main Middle School teacher and retired Air Force command pilot has been nominated along with 1,600 other teachers for NASA's Educator Astronaut Program.

Steve Heck is surrounded by his sixth-grade homeroom class. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

The new program is designed to train qualified K-12 teachers to travel in space and perhaps live on the International Space Station.

"I always wanted to be an astronaut," said Heck, who teaches sixth-grade math and science.

"When I was in school, I can remember when John Glenn went up. School basically stopped for the day. Everybody sat in front of the television set. I can even tell you where I was on July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon."

Ohio's two space pioneers inspired him to learn to fly at age 16, and sparked his dream of becoming an astronaut.

From now through December, the 51-year-old Milford man and other applicants will be screened by a panelof experts from the K-12 education community outside of NASA. The applications of 200 to 300 teachers will be sent to the Astronaut Selection Board at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where the field will be narrowed to 30 to 60 finalists.They will be invited for interviews and physicals.

Heck has started lifting weights and running again.

In early 2004, the Astronaut Selection Board will select three to six teachers with science, technology, engineering or mathematics backgrounds to join NASA's first class of Educator Astronauts, who will become permanent employees. They will begin intense training in summer 2004 before being assigned to a shuttle mission.

The Educator Astronauts will perform the jobs and responsibilities of mission specialist astronauts on space shuttle and International Space Station missions. The teachers will be trained to perform spacewalks, operate the shuttle's robot arm and lead research experiments. They'll share their experiences with millions of students and other teachers.

"I've taken that first small step. I'm very confident and hopeful this summer I'll be in that 30 to 60 group," Heck said.

Before becoming a teacher, Heck spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring in 1996 as a lieutenant colonel. He flew jets, including a B-52, logging 2,700 hours of jet time.

After retiring, he taught at Mariemont Schools before coming to the Milford Schools two years ago.

Weslie Ostendorf, a special-education teacher at Milford Main, was one of two people who nominated Heck for the Educator Astronaut Program. "When I first heard about the program, I got goose bumps because it was such a perfect job description for Steve," Ostendorf said. "He teaches science in ways that integrate technology and excitement.... He really has the 'right stuff' - solid in science, enthusiastic and creative, well-spoken, caring and accustomed to flight."

NASA hopes the selected educators will become a direct connection to classrooms by sharing with their fellow educators and students the talents and disciplines necessary to make history, to break barriers and to explore frontiers.

"If one of my students decides to seek a career in space exploration because of something I've done, that would be the most rewarding accomplishment of this entire journey," Heck said.

The kids in his school and neighborhood are caught up in the excitement. At a school book fair in May, students bought a book called Space Station Science and asked him to autograph it.

"I walk in my neighborhood, and little kids come up and they'll say, 'Hey, you're going to ride the white rocket.' I hope so."

E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com

About the Educator Astronaut Program

• NASA established in January to help lead the agency in developing new ways to connect space exploration with the classroom and to inspire the next generation of explorers. Applications were due April 30.

• Qualifications: U.S. citizenship; certification to teach grades K-12; three years' in-classroom teaching experience within the past four years; bachelor's degree in education, mathematics, science or a science-related discipline. Applicants with a bachelor's degree must have a concentration (minimum 18 credit hours, 24 preferred) in a math, science or technology-related field.

Applicants must be able to pass a NASA Class II Space Flight physical. The physical requirements and training are the same as for all other astronaut candidates.

• If selected, Astronaut Educators will become full-time employees of NASA. They will be required to leave their current positions and move to Houston for training.

• When not in training, Educator Astronauts will be on a technical assignment with the Astronaut Office and working with NASA's education programs to convey their experiences to educators and students across the country.

• The Educator Astronaut Program grew out of the Teacher in Space Program of the mid-1980s, when teacher Christa McAuliffe was selected to be the first civilian in space. This program, however, is the first that seeks teachers with specific experience and expertise in K-12 education.

Source: NASA