GARDEN GROVE : Kids Explore Space With Astronaut

The kids at Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School--members of a generation that some day may colonize the moon and explore Mars--got a close-up picture of life in space Thursday from Charles (Pete) Conrad, a space pioneer and moon explorer.

About 350 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders, gathered in the school auditorium for a special assembly, spent about an hour peppering Conrad with questions: “What do you eat on a space mission? How do you go to the bathroom? How do you feel at liftoff? Have you seen any living animals on the moon? Have you seen any UFOs?”

“The most intelligent questions come from children--they usually surprise me with their knowledge,” said Conrad, who also visited Rosita and Thomas Paine elementary schools Thursday. “I enjoy talking to them. They are the ones who will be doing (space exploration) later. I’m always encouraged by them.”

Conrad, 61, set records for space endurance and altitude in separate missions in the 1960s. He and fellow astronaut Alan L. Bean spent 31 hours on the moon, arriving in their lunar lander on Nov. 19, 1969.

They collected rocks and soil samples and parts of an unmanned space craft brought back for scientists to examine.

Conrad is now a vice president at McDonnell Douglas Space Systems in Huntington Beach, where he is on a team that is developing a new orbiting vehicle.

Jayzar Naguiat, 11, was one of about 30 youngsters who shot up their hands when Conrad asked if any of the students wanted to be an astronaut.

“I want to see what the stars are like and how other planets are formed,” Jayzar said.

Denyel Brassell, 12, said she’s often thought about traveling in space, too. “It would be neat to be an astronaut,” she said.

“I would like to go into space some day and find out what’s up there,” said 11-year-old Sara Waggener.

As for the questions the student’s asked, Conrad’s answers included:

* On food--at the start of the space program, astronauts ate condensed, high-processed food from tubes. Later, the space capsules were equipped with hot water and freezers, and the space diets broadened to include steak, spaghetti and rolls.

* On how astronauts go to the bathroom--”Pretty much like you do down here,” Conrad told a boy.

* On the commute to the moon--it takes 3 1/2 days to get there, Conrad told the curious youngster. The moon is an important destination because it’s a good place to study other planets, he added.

* On UFOs and alien life forms--Conrad said he’s never seen animals or any other living thing on the moon or anywhere else in space, but nonetheless, he believes that other life exists. There are 100 billion suns in space and somewhere there has got to be a planet where there is life, he told the students.

* On his greatest thrill--completing a successful flight.

“It was such an honor to have him at the school,” Eisenhower Principal Fran Murphy said. “It’s something the kids always will remember. We won’t be around to see some of these (space exploration) things in our life, but these kids might.”