ELEANOR, W.Va. -- A George Washington Middle School teacher is about to get his space legs. He starts astronaut training Friday at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

David Wandling, 55, will take part in mission training simulations as part of a program geared to help middle school math and science teachers provide a more dynamic angle to teaching children about astronomy. Wandling will participate in the five-day program beginning Friday.

"I'm very excited," he said. "I'm always looking for things to bring back into the classroom."

The program is for educational purposes -- Wandling is not expected to blast off into the final frontier any time soon.

He was selected along with 220 teachers from 17 countries and 44 states out of a pool of about 1,300 applicants. The project is sponsored by technology giant Honeywell Inc., which partnered with the space center six ago years to provide educators space training applicable to the classroom.

While at the space center, Wandling and his colleagues will take part in high-performance jet simulation, mission control simulation and water rescue training. Teachers also will simulate repairing the Hubble telescope, working in a frictionless environment and walking on the moon.

Some of the simulations, like the water rescue and jet simulation are expected to be physically taxing. Wandling said he is in good shape, and will be able to handle the exercises.

The Honeywell program began as a way to generate interest in the sciences for middle school-age children. Since 2004, the company has provided funding for teachers to learn what it takes to operate on a space mission. Teachers applying to the program submit essays explaining how they motivate students to pursue science and technology related careers.

"We're looking to inspire the next generation of explorers," Honeywell spokeswoman Barbara Sause said, adding that they selected middle school teachers because students of that age are more prone to becoming interested in space.

Wandling's wife encouraged him to go back to college for a degree in education after the local chemical plant where he worked closed in 2004. He started teaching at George Washington Middle in 2007, after graduating from West Virginia State University.

He suspects that his propensity for using technology in the classroom was a factor in his selection for the space program. Because of his intense interest in astronomy, Wandling routinely displays a live feed to the construction of the International Space Station while he is teaching. He also took his students on several field trips to the space simulator at Wheeling Jesuit University to show how geology, meteorology, and physics play into space missions.

Much of what Wandling teaches relates to astronomy, like the gravitational pull of the sun and moon, and planetary orbit. Having space training under his belt is a great way to tie all of those things to the classroom, he said.

He hopes that the end result of his excursion will be to inspire his students to stay in school and get formal educations. These days, that's what matters, he said. 

Reach Zac Taylor at Zachary.Tay...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5189.