To infinity and beyond: Athboy students boldly go... to the Helix

Athboy students went 'to infinity and beyond' to learn about all about space exploration recently when American astronaut, Colonel Shane Kimbrough, visited The Helix at DCU as a guest of the US Embassy. Fourteen chemistry students from Athboy Community School and their teacher, Mr McHugh, traveled to Dublin for this very special occasion. There were 1,100 students from both primary and secondary schools the length and breath of Ireland waiting to hear a very informative lecture from an astronaut who has recently been to space. Col Kimbrough flew to the International Space Station aboard Shuttle STS-126 Endeavour in November 2008. The purpose of this 16-day mission was to deliver supplies and equipment to the space station and also to pick up an astronaut who had been on the space station for six months. During the mission, Col Kimbrough performed two spacewalks, logging almost 13 hours of extra-vehicular activity. The NASA astronaut allowed the students to view the highlights of his voyage, using PowerPoint slides and video, from the preparation stages for lift-off to the landing of the shuttle Endeavour 16 days later at Edwards Air Force base, California. Space travel can be a long and complicated process of docking with the space station which, he said, involved a very logical mind, serious mathematics and brilliant perception. In the last part of the lecture, he left time for lots of questions from a very interested audience. The Athboy students said the event was a brilliant experience and they look forward to seeing more astronauts visiting Ireland in the near future.