Seek the Highest, Astronaut Advises

Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria flew in from Houston on Monday to bring his alma mater a gift from NASA.

Introduced at an assembly as Mission Viejo High School’s most famous graduate, Lopez-Alegria presented the school with a plaque signed by his crew mates on the space shuttle Columbia and gave students an account of piloting a 4.5-million-pound vehicle traveling 5 miles per second.

“Not too many things in life are better than you expect them to be, but this was one of those things,” Lopez-Alegria said of his first space flight last fall.

The 1976 Mission Viejo High graduate and U.S. Navy commander was mission specialist and flight engineer for a 16-day flight on which the crew conducted crystal and other physics experiments. They also snapped 6,000 still photographs from space.

“The view of Earth is spectacular,” Lopez-Alegria said. “The Himalayas make the Rockies look like hills.”

The astronaut also encouraged students to take advantage of all educational opportunities available to them.

“High school is a big part of your life,” he said. “It’s important to work hard and do the best you can now for tomorrow.”

After the assembly, students were able to speak with Lopez-Alegria, get his autograph and have pictures taken with him.

Said junior Jodee Favello: “He went to our school. He’s an inspiration.”

Kayla Belanger, a junior who is a reporter in the school’s TV production class, asked Lopez-Alegria the most important lesson he learned from his first flight.

“The things you learn have nothing to do with science,” he replied. “What we learn is a more human lesson like we need to take care of the Earth.”

Lopez-Alegria also visited Santa Margarita High School and La Paz Intermediate School during a one-day trip to California as he awaits his next assignment.