Astronaut Brings Allure of Space to Classroom

Kids still want to be astronauts when they grow up.

That, despite the tragic Challenger explosion nearly two years ago, is one thing that astronaut and Marine Corps Col. James F. Buchli has learned in speaking to students like those he met Friday at Hawthorne Intermediate School.

Suited up in his blue NASA jump suit, Buchli talked with eighth-grade science students, fielding a barrage of questions that ranged from how much astronauts earn to the logistics of taking a shower in space. (The answers: not enough and technology hasn’t met the challenge of the weightless shower.)

But Buchli had an unequivocal message for the young scientists: Each of the 100 astronauts now in the space program was “just like you. We all went to public schools, so we’re not different from anyone else. The message is there are opportunities for everybody. No one’s going to stop you from doing what you want to do.”

In speaking to groups of the school’s eighth-grade students, including about 30 students from the Young Astronaut’s Program, Buchli espoused the importance of math, science and good study habits. Being an astronaut is “hard work, but fun.”

The fun part appealed to eighth-grader Ricardo Lois, 12, who, just maybe, wants to be an astronaut. But first, he said, he has to improve his math skills. Fear of flying a shuttle, however, presents no problem for him: “Why should you be afraid?” he asked.

Janet De La Concha, 12, admitted to being somewhat less intrepid: “I might be afraid, but it’s worth the risk to do something interesting and nice, and find out something that may help people.”

And Anna Higareda, 13, was also ready: “I’d do it. If you get to see the moon, that would really be something special.”

Buchli, 42, a nine-year National Aeronautics and Space Administration veteran, was a mission specialist on the January, 1985, Discovery flight that placed a $300-million spy satellite in orbit. “I can’t tell you exactly what we did,” he told students. He was also a crew member on the space shuttle Challenger in November, 1985, the shuttle’s last mission before it blew up after being launched in January, 1986.

Rommel Manjares, 14, vividly remembers that day. “I felt sad,” he said. “My teacher was crying in class. I still think about it sometimes.”

Buchli said questions about the Challenger disaster have dwindled recently.

“Initially, there were a lot of different questions about the mechanical circumstances” that led to the tragedy, he said, followed by inquiries about when the program would get back on track. Younger listeners especially, he said, have increasingly looked to the future instead of the past.

“I don’t think that kind of thing really concerns them a lot,” Buchli said. “Kids tend to have a short time consciousness for grieving. Then they press on with the problems of growing up.”

Although a cross section of science students met the astronaut, Buchli’s visit was of special interest to students in the Young Astronauts Program, said science teacher Mary Swartz. The club, sponsored by the PTA, takes science-related field trips, assembles science projects for fairs and hosts guest speakers on space exploration, said Principal Cheryl Lampe.

“Students come to see someone like an astronaut as a real-life person, someone who started in elementary or intermediate school just like they did,” Lampe said.