Barbara Morgan: Up Close and Personal

Coco and I traveled to Boise last weekend so she could meet Barbara Morgan, an astronaut who she spoke to this summer on the International Space Station. (See more information here and here.)

Morgan was gracious enough to come to Boise and meet with the 18 Idaho students who took part in the NASA downlink in August. 14 of the 18 students came. They got the opportunity to ask her any questions they wanted to ask her.

"What did you miss about earth when you were in space?" was Coco's question. Morgan said she really didn't miss that much since she was only gone for two weeks, except her friends and family. But she said some of the crew members on the International Space Station who had been there for almost six months did really miss their families, and could communicate with them through a type of computer satellite phone system.

She also shared about getting into space, and feeling disoriented for about a day and a half. Even though she knew her body was right side up, she felt as if she was upside down.

I really enjoyed her describing her last night in space. The astronauts get into sleeping bags to sleep, and are strapped in so they don't float around. She decided to stay awake for awhile the last night on the shuttle to see what it was like at night.

"It was like the stories of all the toys in the nursery coming alive after dark," said Morgan. "Things started floating around and moving."

She was particularly concerned about a pair of scissors she had lost earlier, that was floating near one of her crewmates heads that evening. She wanted to get out of her bag to retrieve the scissors, but didn't want to disturb the other crewmates. So she watched them float around as long as she could. The next morning they were stuck in the wall of the bathroom.

Always the teacher, Morgan also shared how she used geometry skills to use the robotic arm to move things on the outside of the spacecraft.

Coco said it was fun meeting her in person, and to learn more about what it was like to be in space.

Later that day, Morgan spoke in front of about 2000 Treasure Valley students at the Morrison Center at Boise State University, and also spoke to the public that evening. Then she was going back to McCall, Idaho, where she taught school for many years, to spend some time in that community.

Day Two--One Giant Step For Coco

President John F. Kennedy had many great quotes about space exploration and was a strong advocate of the program.

One of his quotes is, "We go into space because whatever mankind must undertake, free men must fully share."

Last Tuesday, my daughter Coco had the unique opportunity to fully share in the years and years of space exploration began well before her mother and father were even born.

Tuesday was the day Coco would get to talk live to four astronauts in space and ask them a question. Her, along with 17 other students from the state of Idaho, would participate in this historical event.

This event took place at the Discovery Center of Idaho in Boise. DCI received a grant to have this NASA downlink and involve the children from across the state. To see a video of the event, go here. Coco is the second student to ask a question. In fact, she got to ask it twice!!

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, a NASA astronaut there for the day, spent about an hour talking to the students. She also did the "warm up" in the VIP room before the the downlink began. She was one of the most interesting parts of the whole day. I was very impressed with her.

Here Coco is practicing asking her question again. I had to take pictures at this time, because I was videotaping during the event, and I couldn't use flash photography.

Here are all the students who asked the questions, with Dottie in the middle in the back row.

The downlink was scheduled to begin a little after 3 p.m., but we were told to be in the VIP room by 2 pm, because then the doors would be closed, and nobody would be allowed to enter after 2 p.m.

The program began with some Idaho dignitaries taking the podium, including Lori Otter, the first lady of Idaho, gave a proclomation, Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Bill Sali addressed the crowd, and Superintendent of Schools Tom Luna and Boise Mayor David Bieter also talked to the kids.

Then Dottie did the "warm up" until the downlink. Then the big event started.

The DCI staff made the NASA connection, and it was a go. As we watched the big screen TV, the four astronauts were introduced by Idaho teacher Barbara Morgan, who was the main reason all of this was made possible.

"Good afternoon, we're happy to be here with you. This is Al Drew, Clay Anderson, Dave Williams and I'm Barb Morgan and we're ready for your first question. Welcome on board the International Space Station."

From asking how fast a baseball can be thrown in space, to how do you prepare for a space walk, the students asked question after question, until all of a sudden, DCI staffer Woody Sobey was making a signal. We thought the downlink was getting cut off before the final students could ask their questions. But the International Space Station did a gimble roll to realign with the satelite signal so they could finish the questions. And they did. There wasn't a dry eye in the place when it was finished.

I received an email from Woody today, and here is what part of it said: "NASA said it was one of the best downlinks they'd seen, so well done to you."

I thought it couldn't have gone any better. Everyone involved was so wonderful from Woody to the Idaho science teachers Kevin and Barbara.

So, once the program was done, the students were sent into the media frenzy, with newspaper, T.V. and radio reporters vying for their attention.

Here is Coco being interviewed by Spokeman Review reporter Betsy Russell. She was also on FOX-12 TV in Boise, and Channel 6 TV station in Boise did a voice over with her question. A crew from an outfit that does documentaries for NASA also interviewed Coco.

And now it is done. Coco is at a friends house in Clarkston, Washington for a few days, and they she'll be home Sunday.

But I know she will always remember the day she talked to the astronauts on the International Space Station.

It is the policy of the United States that activities in space should be devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all mankind.

— P. L. 85-568 U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958.

Space....the final frontier--Day One

On Monday, August 13 we took Coco to the Discovery Center of Idaho to get her ready for her big chance to talk to the astronauts in space. She got to explore the DCI for a while, and become an astronaut herself for a little while.
The head of NASA education greeted all 18 students.
A NASA public information specialist prepped the students on how they should handle the media interviews.
Coco got her question, and the kids started practicing how they would ask their questions. Coco's question was, "When you were a kid, did you think about becoming an astronaut?" Unfortunately she didn't get to ask the questions her dad and I thought up, which was, "Did watching Star Trek as a kid inspire you to be an astronaut?" or"Can you see the Starship Enterprise from outer space?"

Somehow these questions didn't make the cut!

Here is Coco practicing into the microphone with Idaho Science Teacher Kevin Collins who was a big part of why the everything went to smoothly.

Next up.....day two....talking to astronauts in space.

Shuttle Endeavor Has Special Meaning for Kiki Aru

In about an hour and a half we will be watching the take off of the space shuttle Endeavour. This shuttle has special meaning for my youngest daughter Cosette.

She is one of only 18 students in the state of Idaho chosen to be a part of a student panel that gets to asks the astronauts questions on Tuesday via a NASA downlink.

There is a story about it in the Spokesman-Review today that can be found here.

We head off to Boise tomorrow, and go to the Discovery Center on Monday for preparation and a trial run, then the downlink should be around 1:30 pm on Tuesday. I think there will be a live feed on NASA TV that can be accessed from the Internet.

Coco is very excited and so are we. What an incredible opportunity for her, and something she will never forget.

We'll blog again about this on Tuesday after the downlink, and get some reactions from Coco.