Chosen from a pool of 10,000 candidates, Miami University alumus Steve Heck spoke Tuesday afternoon about his unique experience participating in the Teachers in Space program.

Heck, currently an eighth grade science teacher in Milford, Ohio, shared photographs and videos with the crowd gathered in the third-floor auditorium of McGuffey Hall.

The presentation documented his time in training, all of which takes place during school breaks. Previous programs permanently removed teachers from the classroom, but this is not the case with Teachers in Space.

"The goal is to keep you in the classroom as science and math teachers," Heck said. "So far this year I've missed two actual days (of school). Most of my talks are on the afternoon or the weekend."

Heck said he will not be in space for quite some time, 18 months or perhaps more, and he will only spend about an hour to 75 minutes in space. What he will do in space, however, was greatly impacted by his students.

Part of the application process for Teachers in Space asked for a proposal for an experiment to be performed in space, so Heck turned to his students.

Heck said he has always told his students to be dedicated to what they do.

"If you're not going to be a risk taker in life you've got to do something else," Heck said. "When I think about my risk I'm going to take, I'm going to do it because I know I'm going to motivate some kids down the road."

Heck said his flight, along with 14 others, have been donated or paid for through various organizations. The cost, about $90,000 for each flight, taken on a plane called a Lynx seating two people, is much less than other space travel options.

"It's $20 million to go with the Russians to space," Heck said.

Though the planes only seat two people, Heck said developments are being made for planes to seat hopefully five or six people.

He also said the Lynx is convenient because it can make about four trips into space per day. If something goes wrong with an experiment, he said there is a chance a couple hours later to just try again.

Heck spent 20 years as a military pilot and was the department chair of aerospace studies at the University of Cincinnati.

He said one of his dreams in life was to become an astronaut and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Heck discovered he had been accepted into the program and was introduced July 20, the 40th anniversary of landing on the moon.

Heck said experience as a pilot has been very useful during training.

"You can write down all the stuff, you can have all the knowledge, but the one thing you need is practical experience," Heck said.

His lecture even brought back Robert Wendel, chair emeritus of the teacher education department.

"Steve and I came at the same time to Miami University," Wendel said. "He did just about anything anybody could ask."

Heck praised his Miami education.

"The best time of my life was here at Miami, without a doubt," Heck said.