RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Students at nine Virginia middle schools are participating in a NASA program to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Virginia Department of Education says the state is one of ten chosen by NASA and the U.S. Department of Education to participate in the 2014-2015 Engineering Design Challenge. Officials say students will take on after-school challenges designed by NASA aimed at solving real-world problems such as how to successfully parachute a spacecraft onto the surface of Mars. The Virginia schools participating are: Caroline Middle in Caroline County, Falling Creek Middle in Chesterfield County, Holmes Middle and Key Middle in Fairfax County, Peabody Middle in Petersburg, Thomas H. Henderson Middle and Thomas C. Boushall Middle in Richmond, Stonewall Jackson Middle in Roanoke and Southampton Middle in Southampton County.
