Supplements

archive ISSUE

astronaut returns home to talk about space

Story and photo by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

It was more than “home town girl returns” when astronaut Sandy Magnus spent time Oct. 15 at Cathedral Grade School in Belleville.

The Cathedral parish native spoke earlier to youngsters from NASA’s space station as she orbited the earth in January of this year. She wanted to meet some of the young people in person, and students from Cathedral were joined by those from St. Teresa’s in Belleville and Immaculate Conception School in Columbia.

Students asked a whole range of questions from “How do you sleep in space?” to “What is the most fun?” to “What is most dangerous about living on the space station?”

Magnus patiently answered every question from every student.
Her favorite thing to do on the space station was to “look at the planet earth. We have a beautiful planet,” she said.
Magnus not only saw the beauty of the planet, she saw how fragile it is.

“It is really evident how fragile our planet is, with such an incredibly tiny, thin layer of air surrounding us — we really need to take care of it,” she said. “That made a huge impression on me during my first mission and this longer stay just enhanced that impression.”

Looking back at what brought her to the astronaut program, she said: “I have always liked science and math and trying to understand how the world works. One of my favorite questions was ‘why.’ So it seemed natural to turn that focus to the exploration of space and be a part of the team of people who work to push the boundaries of human capability in space forward.”

Her mother, Rose Hall, a member of St. Peter's Cathedral, so proud of her daughter's accomplishments, said her children believed what their parents said: "You can do anything you want to do with your life."

The scariest part of space travel for parents, Rose Hall said, is lift off and return. In the Christmas issue of The Messenger, we will talk to Rose about a Christmas in space last year when the family gathered and shared two hours with Magnus during her stay aboard the space station.