Wendover » A banner bearing the initials of Wendover High School and the signatures of the school's NASA Club is back at its home base following a proud stint in the International Space Station 250 miles above the Earth's surface.
Astronaut Sandra Magnus, who lived on the station for nearly five months, spoke to the 150 students Tuesday afternoon. In addition to returning the school flag she carried into space, she also gave the graduation address for the high school's 17 seniors.
During her November through March stay, Magnus helped install two sleep stations, a new water recycling system and conducted several science experiments. It was an experience that seemed light years away from when she was a seventh-grader in a small Illinois town.
"I thought, I'm an ordinary girl in an ordinary town, and becoming an astronaut happens to someone else, not to someone like me," she said.
"But I didn't want to live a life where I looked back and asked, 'What if?' and have to wonder what it would have been like."
That inspiration is why Wendover math teacher Carolyn Bushman decided to make Wendover High School Utah's sole NASA Explorer School.
"Sandra first visited our school the day before school got out in 2004, and to have her back on the day before school gets out five years later is just amazing," Bushman said.
She has taken students to New Mexico and Virginia to let them watch launches of experiments the students helped design.
Sean Carter, a graduating senior, was able to do more than watch. He traveled with fellow students to NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to serve as a countdown controller for the launch of a weather balloon.
"It was the coolest thing to be part of an actual launch," he said.
Ashton Kennedy, also a graduating senior, attended an ATK rocket launch in New Mexico. He also helped make the banner that Magnus raised at the space station, and said it was cool to look for his name in January when Magnus conducted a live downlink to talk with students.
"It's amazing to be discovered by this program," he said. "Students at little schools can do the same amazing things students at big schools can do. I'm just happy to be a part of it."
During Magnus' visit, she showed a 20-minute movie of the various activities she and her fellow astronaut and cosmonaut did while in space. She answered nearly half an hour of questions from students, ranging from how an astronaut uses the toilet in space to how laundry gets done to how fans work to circulate air. She also told students to "find their dreams and follow them."
"Don't put limits on yourself. Try doing whatever it is you want to do," Magnus said. "It will take time, patience and hard work, but guess what? You might just make it."
The International Space Station is a partnership of the U.S., Russian, European, Japanese and Canadian space agencies. The station has been continuously occupied since Nov. 2, 2000.
Orbiting 16 times per day at 17,500 miles per hour 250 miles above the ground, it passes over 90% of the world's surface.
When complete in 2010, it will weigh more than 800,000 pounds and have a crew of six conducting research and preparing the way for future exploration to the moon and beyond.
Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
