Inspiring Flight
Posted by Nicole Sharp on 26 July 2005 at 18:14I watched Discovery's launch from my lab today via AOL's live webcast. It may well be the first and only time I've been impressed with AOL. Between simultaneously broadcasted views and brilliant footage from the camera mounted on the external fuel tank, my co-worker and I spent a good half hour glued to the webcast. At first we excitedly discussed the launch; then came the moment when AOL switched to the fuel tank camera and we watched the edge of the earth appear, the black of space in the background. Even with the image pixilated and over-exposed, it was astounding. How thrilling was it to catch a glimpse of a shock wave coming off the shuttle's wing, vindicating in a single instant an entire third of one of last semester's classes? Watching quite simply brought back every ounce of enthusiasm and excitement I have ever had for space flight.
I was in third grade when I received an issue of Weekly Reader, a "newspaper" geared toward elementary age kids, whose cover was graced with an artist's conception of the International Space Station. I took one look at it and declared to my classmates that I would be living there one day. From that moment onward, the manned space program inhabited a special place in my imagination and dreams. I have no doubts that I would not be an aerospace engineering major--perhaps not even an engineering major--were it not for my fascination with space flight. To judge from other students, my experience is not unusual.
Of course, time and maturity wear down the romantic view of space flight that children have. But beneath all of that, there remains a level of fascination and a sense of adventure that cynicism can't touch. It's that spirit that quickens at the sight of a shuttle launch. Remote images and vehicles will probably tell us everything we want to know about the universe beyond our doorstep, but there's something about going there ourselves that excites us far more. Yes, there is danger. There will always be danger. But that rush--that sense of pure wonder--that comes from manned space flight provides motivation and enthusiasm far beyond that of imagery.
NASA's website, I know from experience, is a treasure trove of useful information for educators. With all the hype around Discovery's latest mission as our "Return to Flight", I suspected that there would be a special amount of coverage, and, in this, I was not let down. Pictures, crew profiles, video, status reports (supposedly available via RSS, but the feed hasn't been updated since the 12th)--a wealth of information. But, I asked myself, what would be most likely to excite school-age kids? You've guessed it. A blog. Imagine sitting in your classroom hearing daily updates from crew members on how the mission was going, what it was like to live in space, and how the dehydrated ice cream tasted from low-earth orbit. If I'd had something like available to me when I was younger, I would have been in low-earth orbit myself. Maybe I've been encouraged a bit too much by Weblogg-ed's blogvangelism, but NASA is really missing out here! Grab the next generation's attention with a launch and then hold it there with something longer term. That's the way to inspire kids to pursue science and engineering. Having been thusly inspired, I should know.
Trackbacks
- Google and NASA
Posted in Nicole Sharp's Blog on 29 September 2005 at 07:22
I should really be working on the vestiges of my homework (as always) right now, but it's my birthday, so...
Comments
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Mark said
On 09 August 2005 at 15:27Well, they're inching in that direction... I just came across an item at NASA's website: Mission Specialist Steve Robinson is the first podcaster from space.
Now to convince them to go the rest of the way and set up a blog. ;-)
kelley said
On 29 July 2005 at 22:57Honestly, I never truly thought of Space Travel like that. I've always been interested in the mythology surronding things and not neccesarily the facts. Maybe if I had that "treasure trove" of information I would have been turned to the factual side sooner... But you're right about one thing, it truly is 'An Inspiring Flight'.
Kelley