July 26, 2007
A taste of space
By GAIL WESSON
The Press-Enterprise
BEAUMONT - The M&Ms didn't float, the macaroni and cheese smelled like Stouffer's but had an undercooked crunch and the creamed corn and Italian vegetables got mixed reviews.
With grimaces and smiles, more than 40 youngsters sampled astronaut food -- reconstituted freeze-dried -- Tuesday at Noble Creek Community Center in Beaumont as part of their summer study of space and astronauts.
NASA makes educational materials available for lessons about the space program, but at the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Recreational and Park District site, the children in the extended care program are getting a little insider information.
Their program director, Mary Ellen Caldwell, is the mother of astronaut Tracy E. Caldwell, a 1987 Beaumont High School graduate and mission specialist 1 on the STS-118 space shuttle, scheduled to launch Aug. 7 and rendezvous with the International Space Station.
Some children in the program have met the astronaut in past years while she was visiting her family, her mother said. This year, they'll watch her on NASA cable television at Noble Creek.
This week, Mary Ellen Caldwell was explaining to the children that the food packages have little Velcro patches so they can be affixed to flight suits or Velcro patches attached inside the shuttle Endeavour. A machine that looks like a small microwave is equipped with a tube that injects hot or cold water into the packet to reconstitute the food.
Astronauts do taste tests to come up with their own menus.
And the M&Ms?
"Astronauts take these kind of things and float them back and forth to each other," Tracy Caldwell's mother said.
Curtis Dolan, 7, tried the macaroni.
"It was a little hard," he said.
The Italian vegetables reminded Tyler Wicks, 4, of mashed potatoe. Krista Cabrera, 7, said they tasted "sour and sweet at the same time."
Long lists of questions about space and the shuttle are posted on the doors and the children are thinking about what to ask the astronaut when she returns.
"I want to see how they go up and the zero gravity doesn't pull them down," Curtis said.
The astronaut's nephew, James Tockerman, 12, said he once thought about becoming an astronaut, but decided he'd rather avoid the queasy feeling that comes with such training as parachute jumps and rotating in a gyro.
Tyler said he wants to know: "What does space look like?"
Tracy Caldwell has the same curiosity. During an interview on NASA television, she said that during her free time in space, she will "definitely look out the window" at stars, the earth's atmosphere and the aurora borealis. She also hopes to catch a view of home, she said.
It will be her first time in space. U.S. Navy Commander Scott J. Kelly will command the seven-person crew and U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col Charles O. Hobaugh will be the pilot. Veteran astronauts Richard A. Mastracchio and Dr. Dafydd "Dave" Williams of the Canadian Space Agency will be on their second missions. Barbara R. Morgan, Caldwell and Benjamin Alvin Drew are mission specialists.
Caldwell earned a bachelor's in chemistry from Cal State Fullerton in 1993 and a doctorate in physical chemistry from UC Davis in 1997. She was selected by NASA for astronaut training in 1998.
In a NASA interview, Tracy Caldwell compared her role to that of a liaison or quarterback who will keep an eye on space-walking astronauts and communicate with ground control. Three spacewalks are scheduled during the 11-day mission, which could be extended by three days.
Endeavour will deliver a starboard truss segment, a stowage platform and other supplies to the space station.
Her family will visit Tracy Caldwell in Houston next week, where they will celebrate her 38th birthday early. They will watch the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Mary Ellen Caldwell said she expects to ask questions that would be on the mind of any mother whose child is away from home.
"My questions are how does she physically feel and how is the food," she said.
The Beaumont connection
Astronaut Tracy E. Caldwell, who graduated from Beaumont High School in 1987, is a mission specialist 1 on the space shuttle Endeavour, scheduled to launch in August.
Background: Caldwell developed some of her mechanical skills while working with her dad, Jim, in the family's business, J.C. Electric. Her mother, Mary Ellen Caldwell, is teaching space lessons this summer at the extended-day-care program she directs for the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Recreation and Park District.
The launch: About 4 p.m. Aug. 7, subject to change.
Watch it: The Beaumont Civic Center gym will be open for residents to watch the televised launch.
Information: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts118/index.html
NASA TV on the Web: Prerecorded and live coverage: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html