Astronaut Lands In Schools
The GSDLN Programs Subcommittee, working cooperatively with Liz Chamberlin (Senator John Sununu's office) and Paula Chessin (Londonderry Middle School), coordinated an exciting event, bringing an astronaut to schools via videoconference.
Astronaut describes experiences to NH students
By Katherine Davidson, Union Leader Correspondent
Manchester Union Leader, May 31, 2006
From the International Space Station, Earth resembles a painted orange peel; the Nile river is just a thin, green line; and a nighttime thunderstorm erupts like a burst of firecrackers in a dark alley, astronaut Lee Morin told Londonderry Middle School students yesterday.
"It really was humbling," he said.
The Manchester native served on the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis. During his 10-day mission on the space station, he logged more than 14 hours of EVA, or extravehicular activity — activity performed outside the aircraft — and was able to see Earth from a truly awesome perspective, he told students.
Yesterday's presentation to the youngsters was coordinated by the Granite State Distance Learning Network (GSDLN) and was broadcast to students throughout the state via videoconferencing equipment. Five Londonderry Middle School classes sat in on the presentation, which included a slide show of pictures from space; examples of how space was depicted before space travel was possible; space food; and questions from each school.
"I'm very proud to come back here to New Hampshire wearing a blue flight suit," Morin said.
After receiving his bachelor's degree at the University of New Hampshire in 1974, Morin earned advanced degrees in medicine, biochemistry, microbiology and public health. He joined the Naval Reserve and became a medical officer and flight surgeon, and he served in Bahrain during Operation Desert Storm before joining NASA in 1996.
Students were wide-eyed, and they giggled when he showed them 1950s comic books about space travel and told them about space exploration during his youth.
"This was before we had anything in space," he said. "We had no satellites at all, and nobody had ever been to space. But we had big ideas."
Morin and his fellow crew members delivered to the space station the S-Zero Truss, a robotic arm that allowed spacewalkers to maneuver around the station and make repairs. They were the first group to use the arm, and Morin became one of the first grandfathers to engage in the extravehicular activity.
During yesterday's talk, he stressed what he saw as the importance and miracle of space expeditions today. Especially touching was the opportunity to place his picture in the ship log of the first international space station, sure to be an historic document of tremendous significance, he said.
"This is a miracle that's happening in our lifetime," he said.
The astronaut was introduced by Sen. John Sununu, who has visited several schools with Morin. He said the presentation helps young students realize the connection between science and real life and hear firsthand how a science background can lead to amazing possibilities.
"It's great for the students to be able to see the direct connection between the sciences and work that's being done by NASA in space," Sununu said.
Participating schools included Groveton Elementary School, Groveton High School, Linwood Middle School in Lincoln, Merrimack Middle School, Nute Middle School in Milton and Bow Middle School .
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Screen shot of participating schools |
Dr. Morin explaining how to eat a hamburger in space |