REMEMBERING COLUMBIA: RC student project was supposed to go up with shuttle
The Columbia shuttle disaster touched all Americans, but it hit closer to home for students in the Rogers City Area Schools who worked on polishing small aluminum mirrors as a part of NASA?s ?Starshine? project. The mirrors, about the size of quarters, were polished and sent to NASA, where they were mounted on a satellite called Starshine.
The students started polishing the mirrors with diamond polish and oxide polish last March, so they would be ready for the January 2003 launch of the shuttle Atlantis.
NASA changed its plans and decided to send the satellite up with the ill-fated Columbia instead. But according to sixth grade teacher Vicki Bruder, because of budget problems, the satellite didn?t travel with NASA?s oldest shuttle, which broke up over Texas. It sits in storage.
THE STARSHINE project brought a greater awareness of the NASA space program to the students, and while many of the sixth graders Bruder guided through the project last year are now at the high school, she was prepared to discuss the tragedy on Monday morning, two days after the disaster. And some of the students had questions to ask.
?We talked about how important space exploration is,? said Bruder. Bruder discussed previous disaster?s such as the Challenger explosion, but some weren?t aware of that because it occurred before they were born. Bruder said the students did remember the feeling from September 11, which brought about the same emptiness. ?Some of the students kept to themselves,? she said. ?They are still digesting this. We talked, that this isn?t terrorism, but it?s traumatic.?
GRAMBAU CENTER instructor Terry Cox said his class recited the Pledge of Allegiance and had a moment of silence. ?My mom told me,? said Kevin Fairbanks, remembering when he heard the news. ?I was shocked and terrified.? Fellow sixth grader Joshua Curtis said with today?s technology he didn?t expect something like this to happen. Some of the students expressed their concerns about the space program. Teacher Paula Pietsch said she heard one student say, ? ? I don?t know if I want to be an astronaut.? ?
Not all the students believe what happened Saturday should stop the exploration of space. ?They (NASA) have to keep going,? said sixth grader Jacob Vogler, who believes the cause of the disaster needs to be learned, and future missions should proceed. ?I hope they keep going,? said student Jesse Ripper, who didn?t know the shuttle was in space, but was surprised by the news.
VOGLER?S THOUGHTS went out to the families of the seven crew members, especially the Israeli
Congressman Bart Stupak sent his condolences to the families. ?The loss of seven lives in front of a worldwide audience brought immediate grief to everyone who saw or heard about the Columbia disaster when it happened.? ?Reflecting on our loss, we as a nation must give thanks to the men and women of our space program who bravely journey from our earthly boundaries to explore the heavens,? said Stupak. ?We…send our deepest regrets to the families of the Columbia crew members and the entire NASA family.?
THE STARSHINE project was born from former Rogers City citizen Troy Hammond, who heard about the program, gathered information on the Internet, and sent away for a kit. Each mirror on the satellite had a number engraved on the back in order to keep track of where each one came from. The Grambau Center was one of only a handful of schools in Michigan to work on the mirrors, but part of a larger group of 800 students from around the world who participated.
