Last month's crash of space shuttle Columbia was a national disaster. But, an earlier crash of the Challenger space craft is leading to a new science education tool for St. Louis kids.

Later this year, a Challenger Learning Center will open. This will provide simulated space mission experiences for local kids.

The St. Louis center will be one of almost 50 such kids' space learning centers in the U.S., Canada and England. This education program was started by relatives of the crew members who died in the Challenger explosion.

That space craft blew up on lift-off in 1986. The first Challenger Learning Center was opened in 1988.

The relatives of the Challenger crew members wanted to show support for a continuing space program. They didn't want the crew deaths to slow the nation's efforts to be No. 1 in space exploration.

The Challenger Learning Center-St. Louis will open next November. It will be on the campus of the new McClure South-Berkeley High School. That's in the Ferguson-Florissant School District.

Director Tamsyn Front

Tasmyn Front has been named director of the center. She said the center primarily will serve 6th through 8th grade kids in both Missouri and Illinois.

Ms. Front said the center's mission is to strengthen "space exploration, science, math and technology." The center will focus primarily on providing unique space experiences for St. Louis area youngsters, she said.

"The center is a fabulous opportunity for kids. It's fantastic that St. Louis will have this," she said.

She said kids ought to talk with their teachers now about reserving times at the center next fall. Although the local center won't be open for nine months, "time slots for the flight simulations will fill up fast," she said.

This would be a good time to call for a reservation in the next school year. Your teacher can call Ms. Front at (314) 506-9144. She has an office in the Ferguson-Florissant District headquarters now.

You also can learn more about the Challenger Learning Center program by logging on to www.challenger.org.

Once open, the center's program will feature classes that will last four to six weeks. The first series of classes will be called "Voyage to Mars."

Other class series will focus on comets, the moon and Earth itself. In the first year, the center will only offer the Mars classes, Ms. Front said.

The series starts with a teacher orientation. Then, the teacher will lead classes emphasizing science, math and technology. The main focus will be on how these subjects impact space exploration.

During the classes, the students will divide into various teams, just like at a NASA space facility. There will be teams that work in mission control as well as teams for the space station itself.

The lesson series climax is a trip to the new Challenger Learning Center's flight simulator.

There, the kids will have both a space station experience as well as work in mission control. All students will experience both parts of the flight simulation. One hour, they'll by in the space station and the other hour in mission control, Ms. Front said.

Startup costs of the new Challenger center are covered by a $1 million grant from NASA. However, operating funds to continue the center's program must be raised locally.

In addition to classes for kids, the center will offer after-school programs. There also will be times when adults can take part.

The local center is sponsored by the St. Louis Science Center, the Ferguson-Florissant School District and the Cooperating School Districts (CSD). The CSD is an organization of many school districts in the St. Louis area.

The local Challenger program has a very unusual human resource. He's Doug King, the current director of the Science Center.

Before coming to St. Louis, King was the first director of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. That central office administers the 50 local centers. King personally helped to establish about half of those local centers before coming to the Science Center.