Welcome Home, Flat Stanley

by Sonja Alexander at Washington Headquarters for Kennedy Space Center

After orbiting the earth for 14 days aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour and visiting the International Space Station in June, Flat Stanley -- a cutout image of a Virginia student -- will return home to the Potomac Elementary School in Dahlgren, Va.

Media representatives are invited to join NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe and astronauts Sandra Magnus and Leland Melvin at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 2 when they return Flat Stanley to his owner, student Vernon Tate. Potomac principal DeBorah Bushrod and Dr. Candace F. Brown, King George County School Superintendent, will also attend the ceremony in the school's gymnasium at 16495 15th Street, Dahlgren, Va.

Astronauts Magnus and Melvin will give presentations highlighting NASA's astronaut program and recent shuttle missions and will answer students' questions.

Flat Stanley came to life in 1964 in the imagination of author Jeff Brown. Character Stanley Lambchop had an accident that left him flat. Undeterred by being depth-disadvantaged, Flat Stanley travels the globe by mail.

Children all over the world have taken part in Flat Stanley's adventures by making cutouts of themselves. The students color the cutouts and send them by mail to friends, relatives or total strangers afar. The students and their teachers write letters requesting the recipients to take the cutout on an adventure. In this case the adventure was out of this world. Once the adventure is complete, the recipient sends back a letter or postcard describing the adventure and sends the cutout on another adventure.

NASA is committed to educating the next generation of explorers, scientists and researchers as only as NASA can. For information on NASA's educational programs go to: http://education.nasa.gov/

For additional information on the Flat Stanley project go to: http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/