Students get suprise visit from NASA astronaut

By Gloria Austin  
Staff Writer
    Editor’s note: Jessica McLaughlin is a sister to Brian Cook, who teaches at the Greater Houlton Christian Academy. McLaughlin’s niece and nephew also attend the school. She was home to attend a wedding. She had a day open and arranged to come and speak to the students about space exploration.
    Looking at the sky, do you ever wonder, what’s out there?
    That very thought drives the work behind the National Aeronautics and Space Administration better known as NASA.
    Last week, fifth- and sixth-grade students at Greater Houlton Christian Academy were a captivated audience to Jessica McLaughlin, who works in the Extra Vehicular Activity office of NASA.
    NASA’s mission in simple terms is what’s in space? How do you get there? What will we find? And of course, what can we learn to help make life better on earth.
SPECIAL VISITOR – Jessica McLaughlin, far left, who works in the Extra Vehicular Activity office of NASA was a special visitor to the Greater Houlton Christian Academy. After her presentation to the 5-6 graders, several stayed behind for a photograph including McLaughlin’s niece, Hannah, who is sitting on her lap and classmates, from left, Dana Brown, Brandon Bennett and Dylan Greenier, along with sixth-grade teacher Miss Sarah Pelletier and Peter Hurd, who heads the Aerospace Lab at the school.
    McLaughlin explained why America believes in the space program, its history and its future.
    “We talked about the benefits of flying in space,” she said. “We discussed orbital mechanics. Why we launch rockets and once they are launched how do we keep things in space, such as the satellites, space station or the shuttle, and why they don’t fall back to earth.”
    A highlight of the presentation was talking about life aboard the space station. McLaughlin talked about the differences of living in space than on earth, such as how to eat, how to go to the bathroom, how to shower, how to do work since everything floats, and is that a hindrance or help to an astronaut’s performance.
    But, floating in space causes side affects to the human body. When in space, a person can grow two inches taller, but when coming back to earth, they “shrink” back down.
    “Being without gravity affects our bones, body and our muscles,” said McLaughlin.
    For being fifth- and sixth-grade students in rural Maine, the classes had a handle on space progress thanks in large part to the Aero-Space Lab conducted by Peter Hurd at the Academy.
    “The students were very well behaved and responsive,” said McLaughlin. “I found it interesting hearing the different questions from a state that is [not closely associated] with the space program. Despite being in different parts of the country, kids have the same general questions — how do you eat, what do I eat and the most famous question, how do you go to the bathroom — those questions don’t typically change from students.”
    McLaughlin said usually NASA members speak in Florida, Texas or California where the big space centers are, and many of those students have family members who work for NASA.
    “It is rare we get to go to other states,” she said.
    At the end of the session, McLaughlin, who lives in Houston and works at the Johnson Space Center, explained a variety of career options with the space program — it’s not just about the astronauts.
    There are around 10,000 true civil servants and contractors who support the astronauts at Johnson Space Center, which houses Mission Control and is responsible for all the onboard operations, as well as astronaut training. Then, Kennedy Space Center in Florida is actually where the vehicle resides. The meat of the space program is in its support personnel such as engineers, biologists, botanists, cardiac surgeons, doctors and nurses, lawyers, businessmen and more.
    “We are like any other company except we have a high-profile product,” she said.
    For McLaughlin, she is one piece of the pie. She works in the Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) office and her job is making sure the Extra Vehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) operates properly in space for the astronauts.
    On her next trip to the County, she hopes to address older students, who are starting to choose careers.
    “NASA has internship programs,” McLaughlin said. “There are ways we try to touch the school systems so that they can become a part of the program.
    “There are only 80 astronauts. We pick five or six every two years. So, there are very small classes, but that doesn’t mean [you have no contact]. I have an astronaut I work with every day. They understand there are so many behind them. There are 200 or 300 people supporting each one of them on every mission. They talk to [support personnel] on a daily basis. That’s part of their job. And, we understand we are there to support them. But, we also need to launch rockets and satellites [to keep up with the rest of the world].”