Click to enlarge

SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York USA — James Nair can pinpoint one of his life's driving enthusiasms to a moment in second grade: Seeing the Apollo 16 land in the Pacific in 1972.

But as an asthmatic, Nair, 41, of Stillwater could never qualify for astronaut training himself.

"I was heartbroken," he remembered.

Still, Nair kept his passion for space, incorporating it in the science curriculum in his fifth grade class at Greenfield Elementary School and sponsoring the after-school Astronomy and Rocketry Club. He also builds and launches scale model rockets.

And this year, Nair will have a new opportunity this year to reach out to the teachers in the Saratoga Springs City School District's six elementary schools. He will be the district's new instructional technologist for the elementary schools.

"This position will give me the ability to get more teachers excited about math and science," Nair said.

Nair's excitement for astronomy, meanwhile, remains as strong as ever.

In 2002, he attended an educational workshop at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"It was inspiring. The amount of intelligence and the level at which they think and problem solve is amazing. They are unbelievably goal driven," Nair said.

Then last year, Nair became a member of NASA's first Airspace Systems Education Cohort. This summer, he returned to NASA to mentor the new class of 20 teachers at the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.

The participants go back to their home school districts around the country as airspace systems educators with information and NASA's research and educational technology. Nair came back to brief his colleagues at Greenfield Elementary School and to reach out to 75 other teachers at different schools.

"Jim should have been an astronaut. If there was a position open on the shuttle, it would have his name on the seat," Greenfield Principal Michael Hewitt said.

"Jim was my perennial science teacher here. He's going to be sorely missed. He was very popular with students and parents."

Nair, who obtained a master's degree in elementary education from the College of Saint Rose, also lectured at an elementary education conference in China and spoke at Woodlawn Commons in Saratoga Springs.

While Nair never expects to make it into space, his involvement with NASA's educational programs may help him inspire someone else to make the journey.

"Students sitting in front of us are going to be the ones who will be solving the problems," Nair said. "Someone in elementary school today will be the first one on Mars."