Dr. George Fatolitis Ed.D.

Middle School Science Teacher

Clearwater Fundamental Middle School

Dr. George P Fatolitis, Ed.D.

Palm Harbor, Florida

fatolitis@aol.com

My bio starts as a young boy in the steel mill town of Campbell Ohio in the early 1960's. Everyone at that time was infected by the space bug, watching the Mercury astronauts lift off then onto the Gemini missions. When the Apollo program of the late 60's came around the enthusiasm for human space flight died down until the moon landing. After the Apollo 11 mission interest in moon missions by the general public and NASA decreased to the point where Apollo 18, 19, and 20 missions were canceled, but not for this young boy.

Forty years later and the interest in the space program has bloomed to an obsession. I've been to every NASA facility in the country, met many of the early astronauts and consider myself a space historian. My home has been transformed into a mini space museum.

Currently I am a twenty year middle science teacher in Clearwater Florida who uses NASA education materials and curriculum in many of my lessons. I have an engineering degree in fire and safety technology and a masters degree in education. My doctoral degree dissertation was based on my research proving that the use of NASA education materials can improve the attitudes of students learning secondary science. I am continuing my education at St. Petersburg College on the path to an astrophysics degree.

Sessions in which Dr. George Fatolitis Ed.D. attends

Thursday 7 February, 2019

Time Zone: (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

8:00 AM

Keynotes Session- Vanessa Wyche

1 hour 30 minutes, 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Space Center Theater

Keynote

11:30 AM

Lunch 1 Thursday

1 hour, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Astronaut Gallery - Lunch 1

12:45 PM

Expert/Educator: InSight: Taking the Vital Signs of Mars

45 minutes, 12:45 PM - 1:30 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Silvermoon

Session

Catherine Walker, Space Center Houston (Participant)

Phyllis Friello, Space Center Houston (Participant)

UCLA and Lunar and Planetary Institute scientist Caroline Beghein will update participants on NASA’s historic InSight Mission, the first robotic ex...

1:45 PM

Mission Control Center (Tour)

1 hour 30 minutes, 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Signup required

Tours Off-Site locations (take bus) - Mission Control Bus

Tour

3:45 PM

How To Talk To An Astronaut 250 miles Above Us

1 hour 30 minutes, 3:45 PM - 5:15 PM

Signup required

Gilruth Center - Off-Site Location (take bus) - Discovery

Session

Joanne Michael, Wiseburn Unified School District (Participant)

Kathy Lamont, Prince William County Public Schools (Participant)

Want to talk to an astronaut while they are in space? Learn from us how it's possible, through a FREE program called ARISS (Amateur Radio on the In...

5:30 PM

Starlight Social

3 hours, 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Available

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Main Plaza

Elevate your evening and network with young professionals during Space Center Houston’s Starlight Social 5:30-8:30 p.m. Feb 7. Mingle with other pr...

Friday 8 February, 2019

Time Zone: (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

8:00 AM

Keynote- Dr. Alan Stern

1 hour, 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Space Center Theater

Keynote

Dr. Stern is a planetary scientist, author and the principal investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. He will p...

9:30 AM

Mars MAVEN and Planetary Magnetism

1 hour 30 minutes, 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Signup required

Gilruth Center - Off-Site Location (take bus) - Destiny

Session

Kristen Shollar, Fort Worth ISD (Participant)

Angela K Groves, McLean Middle School Fort Worth ISD (Participant)

In a collaborative classroom setup, Participants will act as scientists discovering magnetic fields and electromagnetism through inquiry and mea...

11:15 AM

Expert/Educator: Space Rocks!

45 minutes, 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Learning Innovation Center- Lab 4

Dr. Nicholas Castle, Lunar and Planetary Institute (Participant)

Mary Vaughn, School District of Hillsborough County (Participant)

Session participants will learn about Martian meteorites including sediments from the Gale Crater from a meteoriticist and geochemist working as th...

12:00 PM

Lunch 2 Friday

1 hour, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Astronaut Gallery- Lunch 2

12:15 PM

Expert/Educator: InSight: Taking the Vital Signs of Mars (copy)

45 minutes, 12:15 PM - 1:00 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Boardroom

Session

Dr Caroline Beghein PhD, UCLA (Participant)

Catherine Walker, Space Center Houston (Participant)

UCLA and Lunar and Planetary Institute scientist Caroline Beghein will update participants on NASA’s historic InSight Mission, the first robotic ex...

1:15 PM

Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disk Certification- Double session

3 hours, 1:15 PM - 4:15 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Learning Innovation Center- Lab 4

Suzanne Foxworth, JACOBS @NASA Johnson Space Center (Participant)

bridget mcinturff-burt, ARES (Participant)

Lunar and Meteorite Sample Disks are real geologic samples in a Lucite disk. The Lunar Sample Disk has samples returned from Apollo astronaut...

7:00 PM

SEEC Banquet

4 hours, 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Main Plaza

Saturday 9 February, 2019

Time Zone: (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)

8:45 AM

Launching Student Dream: Ballooning to the Edge

45 minutes, 8:45 AM - 9:30 AM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Learning Innovation Center- Lab 1

Session

Joules Webb, LUNAR CAVE ANALOG TEST SITES PROGRAM (Participant)

Ronald Wells, UTSA- College of Engineering (Participant)

A fun filled Physics investigation of near real time data acquisition showcasing the efforts of LCATS students to develop, build and collect the da...

10:00 AM

Explore Our Solar System Using Thermal Energy and Magnetism!

1 hour 30 minutes, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Learning Innovation Center- Lab 3

Session

Laura Tomlin, Salado Middle School (Participant)

Karen Ewton, Salado Junior High School (Participant)

Engaging activities explore how spacecraft are used to map the solar system. Using Juno spacecraft as a guide, participants investigate infra...

1:45 PM

Expert/Educator: Martian Meteorites: Providing clues to the Red Planet's Past

1 hour 30 minutes, 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Learning Innovation Center- Lab 1

Session

Prajkta Mane, Lunar Planetary Institute (Participant)

Renee Gamba, Museum of Natural History and Planetarium/Providence Parks (Participant)

Learn about martian meteorites and all the exciting things they reveal about Mars. How did Martian meteorites get here? How do scientists know they...

3:30 PM

Featured Keynote- Gene Kranz

1 hour, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Signup required

Space Center Houston (Hosting of all events take place on-line-virtually) - Space Center Theater

Keynote

An iconic NASA flight director, Gene is best known for his leadership in bringing Apollo 13 safely back to Earth and guiding Apollo 11 into hist...