Children of National Guard members gathered in Colorado Springs to watch history take flight Friday as the final space shuttle flight was launched.
“We’re not going to end the space missions, there’s too much to discover,” said 16-year-old Morgan Carrico of Craig.
The launch of Atlantis marked the end of an era for the chaperones and adult volunteers at the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado. For the 19 kids from Colorado and Missouri, it was a real-world start to their own simulated space mission, and a catalyst for future dreams.
For center volunteer Frank Bittinger, the launch and the young visitors made for an especially bittersweet mix. He recently retired from NASA, and his work dates to before the first space shuttle flight in 1981.
“I don’t have any words,” he said.
Bittinger said his new focus is helping to engage and encourage the next generation of engineers and scientists so space exploration will continue.
“It will change and go in a different direction,” he said.
At first, the launch wasn’t a big deal for the kids, said Tracey Tomme, Challenger center CEO. “Then they were, ‘Wait, you mean this it the last one ever? How will we get to space?’”
“It just doesn’t seem real,” she said. “You have to move on to develop new technology.”
The students are certainly looking forward. Some predicted designs would focus on smaller, more efficient spacecraft, while others said larger spacecraft with greater range would become reality.
Kaylah Owings, 18, of Buckley Air Force Base said she thinks the International Space Station will become a starting point for more space exploration and travel.
A few mentioned the possibility of colonizing the moon or Mars in their lifetimes.
“We can help discover what comes next,” said Justis Galloway, 15, of Buckley Air Force Base.
He said he was excited to watch the launch, and listen to the NASA radio comments, since he had never watched a launch before.
But in the end, even watching history unfold on a large screen is no match for a hands-on space mission simulation.
“It’s not like a video game,” Tomme said.
The students all had jobs, some in mission control and some in the “space station.” They were constantly focused on their tasks, whether it was using robotic arms to move objects for testing, monitoring communications between the two groups or dealing with emergencies that popped up.
Fifteen-year-old Alex Weis of Windsor said he was surprised at just how much was involved in the simulation.
“It tuned out to be a lot like an actual space mission, but a lot easier,” he said. “You couldn’t slack off.”
He said there is a big difference in learning about geometry and other math and science skills in class and knowing how they can be used in real-world careers.
“I wish I could come here every day and do this,” said Owings, who was navigation officer for the simulation and used math to determine the best launch coordinates for a space probe.
The time spent at the center watching the launch and experiencing a space mission was a fitting end to the three-day camp sponsored by the National Guard Family Program office. Kids stayed at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and spent time at Air Force Academy for a hands-on introduction to the academy’s satellite program, airfield operations and flight simulation facilities.
Science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education is very important, said Alice Nofziger, state youth coordinator for the program. it was the first time the program has worked with the Challenger Learning Center, but her organization definitely wants to set up other such camps, she said.
Although the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado, like its counterparts across the country, was built to honor the legacy of the astronauts who died in the Jan. 28, 1986 space shuttle explosion, its mission doesn’t end with the space shuttle program.
Lesson plans are always being updated and reflect current technology. For example one mission uses the yet-to-be-built Orion spacecraft to reach Mars.
While there are many unknowns as the space shuttle program comes to a close, the educators and volunteers at the center have no intention of ending their focus.
“It makes our mission more important,” Tomme said. “We have to get these kids engaged.”
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