Educational Payload Operations (EPO)
Research Area: Educational Demonstrations
Expedition(s): 4-5, 7-9
Principal Investigator(s): ● Jonathan Neubauer, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston,
Texas
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Education Payload Operations (EPO) includes curriculum-based educational activities that
demonstrate basic principles of science, mathematics, technology, engineering, and geography.
These activities are videotaped and then used in classroom lectures. EPO is designed to support
the NASA mission to inspire the next generation of explorers.
EARTH BENEFITS
EPO is part of NASA's continuing effort to use space as a unique educational tool for K-12
students. Everyday items, such as toys and tools, are given a new twist by combining them with
the allure of spaceflight and the unusual weightless environment to produce educational
materials that inspire interest in science and technology and encourage curiosity and creativity.
SPACE BENEFITS
EPO introduces the next generation of explorers to the environment of space.
RESULTS
EPO has been a successful education program on the International Space Station (ISS). By using
simple objects and the microgravity environment, NASA is able to produce videos that
demonstrate physical properties, such as force, motion, and energy that might be obscured by
gravity on Earth. To date, over 500 videos, DVDs, and video clips have been produced and
distributed to science teachers and schools throughout the United States. About 1 500 teachers
each year are trained to use the materials in their classrooms. An additional 30.9 million
students have had the opportunity to participate in live downlink events where their classmates
pose questions of ISS crews in orbit.
This investigation is complete and all results are published.
Images of education demonstrations conducted by crewmembers on board the International Space Station.
NASA images.