Signatures are space bound During their last week of school, students at Delphi Community Elementary School signed a poster that will make its way into space with a NASA crew. This is part of the Student Signatures in Space program sponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin. Photo provided Students at Delphi Community Elementary School joined more than 500 other schools around the world by signing Student Signatures in Space® posters to celebrate "Space Day 2008!"

Student Signatures in Space (S3) provides elementary and middle school students the opportunity to send their digitized signatures into space and feel a personal involvement with the crew and the mission. Jointly sponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin, S3 is one program of the aware-winning Space Day educational initiative.

"Our goal with Student Signatures in Space is to spark kids' interest in technical studies by giving them a personal connection to the space program," said Barbara Reinike, Space Day program manager for Lockheed Martin. "Classes usually follow their signatures mission together from launch to landing, so it really piques the students' interest in the whole process."

When informing the students about signing the poster, many students became excited about the prospect of a piece of them being in space commented principal Bill Shidler.

After the signatures return from space, the poster will be returned for permanent display to Delphi Community Elementary School along with a flight certificate and picture of the crew that carried the signatures into space.

Since the program began in 1997, nearly 4.5 million students have participated in Student Signatures in Space. There is no cost to schools to participate. However, because of space constraints on each mission, participation is limited to approximately 500 schools each year.