On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, as well as the space race between itself and the United States.

Fifty years have passed since that historic date. The world has changed a considerable amount. Today, the U.S.S.R. no longer exists, and Russia and the U.S. are working together on space exploration.

Students and staff at Saratoga Springs High School celebrated World Space Week, which runs annually from Oct. 4 - 10, by welcoming Russian educators visiting from Chekhov, the Spa City’s “sister city.” The highlight of the visit was a videoconference held on Tuesday afternoon in the high school's distance learning center.

Paige Valderrama Graff and Dr. Joshua Banfield, representatives from NASA’s Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University, unveiled new images of Mars at the videoconference and discussed them with students from the high school’s NASA Club. Also in attendance were school faculty, the Russian educators and members of the press.

Charlie Kuenzel, a science teacher at the high school and adviser for the NASA Club, said the two images on the surface of Mars were targeted using the Odyssey satellite, which orbits the Red Planet every two hours. The students were among the first people to see the images, which won’t be released to the public for another six months.

“It’s actually very spectacular if you start to think about it,” Kuenzel said.

During the 2003-04 school year, NASA Club members and Chekhov students cooperated in a joint Mars research project that culminated in a trip by both student groups to the Arizona State facility. Over the next few months the two groups of students will team up again.

Andy Wine, Rory Korathu-Larson and Tim Nangeroni, three juniors at the high school, are all anxious to get started on the project. Tuesday’s videoconference was the third one with ASU for Wine, who said they keep getting better and better.

“The pictures last year and this year have been really good,” Wine said. “When I started out I wasn’t very interested in Mars. Now I love it.”

Korathu-Larson said this was the first time links for the images have been directly sent to them. Previously, only a select few students were able to go to ASU to retrieve the pictures.

“The quicker we get the images, the quicker we can decipher them. Time is of the essence,” Korathu-Larson said. The students only have until the end of December to finish their research.

Tim Nangeroni said SSHS is the only high school in the country doing the joint research project. Nangeroni believes he’s learning skills he’ll be able to apply in college and later on in his career.

Kuenzel said the joint project is a chance for students to build relationships and learn more about a different culture. He said the experience will also set them apart in a good way for college.

“This makes it a little different. It adds another dimension to the science,” he said.