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September 26, 2008
HOUSTON – It will be Earth vs. space in a unique chess match, and you can
help Earth win. NASA and the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) are teaming up to host
the first public chess match between International Space Station astronaut Greg
Chamitoff and the inhabitants of the Earth, beginning Monday, Sept. 29.
Key players in the game will be the kindergarten through third grade U.S. Chess
Championship Team and its chess club teammates from Stevenson Elementary School
in Bellevue, Wash. The K-3 champions will select up to four possible moves on
Earth's turn. The public then will vote on the move transmitted to orbit. The
USCF will facilitate the match on its Web site at
http://www.uschess.org/nasa2008.
The weightless astronaut Gregory Chamitoff ponders the position on the ISS
[Photo NASA]
"For the past 10 years, the International Space Station has been an important
platform to learn about living in space. We're excited to have the opportunity
to engage not only young students, but the public at large in this unique chess
match," said Heather Rarick, lead flight director for the current space station
mission at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
"We hope the
excitement and interest this game generates will inspire students to become
interested in chess," said USCF Executive Director Bill Hall. "Chess is a
valuable tool to lead students to become interested in math and to develop
critical thinking skills, objectives we focus on in our work with schools
nationwide."
Chamitoff, a space station flight engineer speeding about
210 miles above the Earth at five miles a second, is a chess aficionado. He
brought a chess set with him when he arrived at the complex on the STS-124 space
shuttle mission in June. Chamitoff has added Velcro to the chess pieces to keep
them from floating away in weightlessness. He has been playing long-distance
chess during his mission in his off time with station control centers around the
world. So far, he is undefeated.
The game against the public will move at
a pace of one move per day on weekdays only. Play may be slower, however,
because Chamitoff only makes moves when his workload permits.
For more
information about the USCF, visit:
http://www.uschess.org
For more about Chamitoff and the space station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station/a>
