CANYON COUNTRY KIDS VIEW HISTORY FROM FRONT-ROW SEAT.Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer Jason Stewart
The sixth-graders from Rio Vista Rio Vista may refer to:
``It was like a BOOM! BOOM! You could hear cracks and pops,'' Jason recounted from a pay phone at Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral) U.S. launch site for manned space missions. [U.S. Hist.: WB, So:562] See : Astronautics about two hours after the liftoff. ``It was like a sonic boom. The ground was shaking a little bit.'' ``The sound was, like, so loud,'' Sarah concurred. ``The coolest part was when we saw the big red line going into space,'' she said of the glare from the shuttle's engine jets and booster rockets. Loudspeakers set up on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), Causeway viewing spot let the crowd eavesdrop eaves·drop intr.v. eaves·dropped, eaves·drop·ping, eaves·drops To listen secretly to the private conversation of others. on conversations between Mission Control and the seven Discovery astronauts, noted the kids, who were accompanied by teacher Sue O'Brien and Assistant Principal Jon Baker, a friend of astronaut Scott Parazynski. Parazynski arranged for Baker and three guests to come and view the launch, and the pupils were selected for the trip after writing winning essays on the importance of America's space program. ``They were just confirming and talking with them, making sure everything was all right. You really couldn't hear them very well, the astronauts,'' Jason said. ``Like: We copy. That's all they said, really.'' But the goose bumps goose bumps or goose pimples: see gooseflesh. came as the seconds ticked by. ``After the countdown, you could hear the engine start up,'' Sarah said. ``All of a sudden, the fire came out the bottom end. After they said, One, and it started up, you could see a huge amount of smoke.'' Shortly after the shuttle zoomed heavenward, fuel-filled rockets that propelled it were cut loose. They looked like ``just two teeny Teeny 1/16 or 0.0625 of one full point in price. Steenth. dots falling away,'' Sarah said. Discovery then became a distant speck in the sky. ``When it got far enough, it looked like a star,'' she said. Discovery's path from the Earth to orbit Earth to Orbit (ETO) describes the process or means of placing a payload into an orbit around the Earth. Traditionally this has used rockets, however ETO can also include much more exotic forms of transportation such as railguns and cannons. lingered in the sunny, cloudless Florida sky, Jason added. ``The trail of smoke stayed there for a long time,'' he said. The California kids liked being near the action. ``You could see really good,'' Jason said. ``It seemed far away, but actually it was pretty close,'' he said. ``We got about as close as you could get without being family of the astronauts, or President Clinton,'' Sarah added. CAPTION(S): photo PHOTO Sarah McIlvaine and Jason Stewart, shown leaving from Burbank Airport on Wednesday, were present for Thursday's launch in Florida. Michael Owen Baker/Daily News |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion