Hillary, a 5th grader at the Bernice A. Ray School

I have a friend in space!

April 16, 1998. It was supposedly the day of the launch, and my family and I were excited. We were guests of Astronaut Jay Buckey at the launch of STS-90. We left our hotel in Cocoa Beach to go to the launch. We got to the Kennedy Space Center, and there were a lot of people. As we went into Room 2001, we saw people crowded under a TV. My mom said, "Sounds like a postponement." As we watched, our hearts sank. A man from NASA on the TV was having an interview with some reporters. "The problem is that one of the computer's hardware systems isn't working. All our staff is trying to fix it, and we are hoping that it will be cleared up by tomorrow."

"So where do you want to go?" my mom asked us. "To the hotel and then swim," we answered. So we spent the rest of the day swimming and body surfing in the Atlantic Ocean. All the while we were hoping the launch would happen the next day.

Finally: April 17. We looked on the NASA channel and saw that everything was in working order. As we got in the car I said, "We need to get there early." As we drove, we were getting excited to see the launch. As we got to the Kennedy Space Center, the guards checked our car for the special pass. Then we stood in line for the buses which took us to Banana Creek which is 3 miles from Launch Pad 39-B. It took a whole hour just to be let on the buses, and guess where we were standing? Right in back of the buses and their gas fumes!

Finally, after the hour in back of the buses, we started moving forward. We got our guest badges as we boarded the double decker bus. As we drove along, we listened to a person telling us that after the launch we were supposed to come back to the same bus and get on, but we weren't really thinking about after the launch.

At Banana Creek, we looked for the Space Shuttle, and there it was! We were three miles away, and it still looked big. Then we started the long wait. We first just sat on the bleachers in the sun, but my mom and I went inside the building that had food and a lot of information and displays on the Apollo missions, including a Saturn V rocket which was HUGE! There we got lunch.

It was only 12:00 and the launch was at 2:19. After my mom had finished her lunch, she said she would send my brother, Max in to have lunch with me. He never came, so three big men came and sat down with me. It wasn't that much fun. When they left two other people came. I was still waiting for Max. Finally I went looking for him. He was reading on the bleachers, eating a sandwich. I got mad at him. But not for long.

Finally, it was 30 minutes to the launch; that is, T minus 30. An announcer said, "If there is a mishap with the Shuttle during the first minute after launch, everyone should go inside a bus or building because of the danger of gas fumes that might result." That was a scary thing to think about.

Max and I went to sit on the fence. My mom was taking a video, Max was taking still photos, and I was just watching. Nine minutes and holding. Everyone was waiting. Five minutes and counting. Three minutes. I waved to my mom to come up to the fence. She said she would come in a second. One minute. Thirty seconds. 10-9-8-7-smoke was coming from the bottom 6-5-4-3-it started shaking-2-1-we have liftoff! The Space Shuttle shot off the ground. White smoke was billowing. It produced 7 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. The bright light was intense. The Shuttle was already 32 miles away in two minutes. "Everything is GO!" said the announcer. Everyone clapped.

As we were going to the buses, it finally sunk in: "I have a friend in space!"

DOWNLINK from STS-90

April 25, 1998. I was lucky enough to be in a group of students who went to the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium. I was going to ask my question to the three astronauts from New Hampshire: Jay Buckey, Rick Linnehan, and Richard Searfoss. I had to sit in a special spot with kids who were asking questions. As I sat, I started to get butterflies in my stomach because I was excited to talk to astronauts in space! I was also going to be on the news.

As the three astronauts came into view in the dome of the planetarium, I thought, "This is so cool!" The first question people were brought up to the stand. The first question was, "What, when you were a kid, made you want to be an astronaut?" As the questions filtered through, I listened intently. Finally, another girl and I were called up. The person in front of me went.

The moderator of the question and answer session said, "I think we are out of time." I didn't like that and felt a little sad. Even though I didn't get to ask a question, I was herded to a roped off area where the press asked us questions and took our pictures many times. I thought it was remarkable that people could talk to astronauts in space. It has been one of the most incredible things that I have ever been a part of.

By the way, my question was: "What surprised you about the launch?" and since I couldn't ask it via the downlink, I sent it through the NASA web page! Maybe I will get an answer that way!