UPDATE # 21 - April 18, 1998

PART 1: We did it!
PART 2: Calendar of events
PART 3: Student Stumpers, an easy classroom project.
PART 4: The launch from Banana Creek!
PART 5: Subscribing & unsubscribing: How to do it!

WE DID IT!

These words express a spirit that sums up many of the sentiments of
those around me this past week (and I must include myself).  The ups and
the downs of a scrubbed (postponed) launch and then the thrill of a
successful launch are documented in my journals from here at Kennedy Space
Center in Florida. Because I wanted to include pictures, I've gotten a tad
behind, but I promise between today and tomorrow, I'll catch up! This has
truly been a group effort and all of us have been made to feel a part of
the success.

I want to thank those of you from whom I have received such positive
feedback on this shared experience.  I'm not going to duplicate here the
materials available online, I just to want to drop a teaser or two to
encourage you to visit the NeurOn at the launch site and perhaps try some
new technologies for the first time. See:
	http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/events/launch

Last Monday as I was watching the crew of STS-90 arrive with great fanfare
to KSC from Johnson Space Center in Houston, sharing the audience with me
was Alternate Payloads Specialist, Alex Dunlap. He graciously agreed to
join us live on the Web for our presentation on Tuesday. You don't want to
miss this terrific chance to get to know a motivated, talented guy who did
all the training together with the other crew members plus he trained for
the Mission Management side of the operation, because he and Chiaki (the
other alternate payloads specialist) will be the only points of contact
between the crew on board Neurolab and Earth. In real life Alex is a
veterinarian and a medical doctor, but most impressive to me, he is a really
nice person! 

Another exciting part of being here for me has been having my daughter,
Darlene come here from Auburn University, to experience her first launch
as well. I have included a journal I coerced her into writing below,
describing the launch as seen from Banana Creek where the crew's family
and other VIP's watch. She's certainly a VIP in my books! Hopefully her
journal will help you feel a bit like you were there.

Here for you,
Linda

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

	Please join us for following two bilingual chats:

->Wednesday, April 22 at 11:00 a.m. 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time
Angel Plaza, Payload Project Engineering Manager
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/plaza.html
Angel is payload project engineering manager for NASA, at the Johnson
Space Center. He oversees the development of all the hardware for certain
life science experiments for the mission. Born and raised in Ponce, Puerto
Rico, Angel is completely bilingual.

->Friday, May 15 at 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time
Jose Limardo, Hardware Project Engineer
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/limardo.html
Jos is currently working on three experiments for the STS-90 Neurolab
mission. Born and educated in Puerto Rico, Jos is completely bilingual.

To see a complete list of bilingual chats featuring scientists and
engineers from other Sharing NASA projects:
        http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/common/bilingual

All NeurOn chats are listed at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/chats

STUDENT STUMPERS, AN EASY CLASSROOM PROJECT

This past week I received a new Student Stumper and was reminded of this
somewhat neglected area of our website. It's a simple activity that will
work on the communication skills of your students while challenging them
to think creatively.

The basic idea is this: kids make riddles for other kids to solve.
Students will create a question about Neurolab that they think will
be difficult but fun to answer. Pose that question (we'll put it online
in the Kids' Corner of the Web), and others will email their responses
directly back. The question creator gets to decide if the respondent is
correct. Then, we'd love to see the results if you'd like to share.

We expect the result to be a bunch of kid-to-kid email exchanges which
heat up the Internet.

An example question might be: What are some reasons that the Shuttle's
delay could alter the results of the mission science.

That question isn't too tough; we know you can do better than that!

Send your original Student Stumpers to Linda at
lindac@quest.arc.nasa.gov. Also, visit the web at
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/kids/stumpers.html

THE LAUNCH FROM BANANA CREEK
by Darlene Conrad

April 17, l998

At T - minus 32 minutes and 15 seconds (meaning 32 minutes and 15 seconds
on the count down clock) I take my seat in the bleachers.  The sun is hot
yet the sky is cloudy and there is a cool breeze that makes the sun
bearable.  I have butterflies in my stomach thinking about how the
astronauts must feel right now.  People around me are talkative.  Family
members of the astronauts (the people with the yellow buttons rather than
the green one I possess) seem anxious with anticipation for their loved
ones but also seem calm and unworried.  I wonder if I was in their place
if I'd feel the same.  I'm reminded that space exploration is an
international event as I watch a Swedish couple take a seat in front of me
and hear two men to my right speak intensely in Japanese.  

T - minus 20 minutes and 30 seconds.  The shuttle hasn't taken off yet,
but it has already been an eventful day.  The buses picked us up at
11:00am and brought us here to Banana Creek where the countdown clocks
read over 3 hours until departure.  Near the viewing site there is a large
building called the Apollo/Saturn V Center.  There I spent most of my
morning examining the Saturn V (the huge rocket responsible for Apollo
11's trip to the moon) replica and reading about each Apollo mission.  

T - minus 20 and holding?  The clock has stopped at 20 minutes.  I don't
understand.  A plane flys overhead.  This is confusing because the airways
are supposed to be closed.  It must be for the shuttle I think to myself.

10 minutes later the countdown is resumed.  I look up at the sky.  What
happens after take off?  Will the shuttle seam to disappear suddenly as
it leaves the earth's atmosphere or does it simply appear smaller and
smaller until we can't see it anymore?

I see a helicopter fly by the site.  The bleachers are filling up.
Another green helicopter flys over us as the countdown clock reads 9:36.  

"T - minus 9 minutes and holding for 10 minutes" the loud speaker
announces.  They are checking to see if the Neurolab is ready to fly.  

I am awed at the display before me as I view from the bleachers.  A large
body of water separates us from the launch site.  The delicacy of nature
represented by the wildlife in the water contrasted with the most powerful
man-made object in the background astonishes me and overwhelms me.  

We hear the speaker switch to mission control in Houston.  "We'll see you
in 16 days," someone says to the astronauts.  Things must be checking out
okay I think to myself.  The crowd cheers as the countdown clock starts
again at 9 minutes and counting!

The speaker announces: they are preparing the engines at T - minus 300 (3
minutes).  The oxygen system is being pressurized.  There's no turning
back now.  All I can feel are butterflies in my stomach as I put my pen
down and stand up and prepare to witness this spectacular display.  

SUBSCRIBING & UNSUBSCRIBING: HOW TO DO IT!

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