Serendipity, a rocket and poetry

Sometimes being in the right place at the right time is magical. Here I thought my time in Florida would be limited to traveling from ballpark to ballpark with an occasional meal to cap off the days.  Was I wrong!

We were unexpectedly offered a chance to watch the Atlas V rocket launch for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) project at Cape Canaveral on Thursday night. We joined several others for the bus ride onto the site. First we were introduced to Nikki Giovanni, an acclaimed American poet and activist, and Virginia Fowler, professors of English at Virginia Tech. I was both awe-struck and a bit embarrassed  because I immediately knew to whom I was speaking but I am not well-versed (pun intended) in poetry. Ms. Giovanni had been asked by the NASA administrator for permission to quote her poem “Quilting the Black-eyed Pea (We’re Going to Mars)” in materials about the proposed journey to Mars and was invited to the launch. Both women were so generous in sharing information about their life’s work and were pleased to talk books and the importance of sharing the joy of reading.

Next to join our group was Gregory H. Johnson, (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) who piloted 2 shuttle Endeavor missions to equip the International Space Station. While astronauts do retire from their military service, they continue as ambassadors and educators on the US space program. Greg welcomed questions about his experience, the space program and the launch we were about to see.  He answered questions on the impact of his career on his family, the physical strains of space travel and the most unexpected experiences while on Endeavor. Without a doubt, one of the requirements to become an astronaut must be warmth and joy in dealing with the public. There are few more personable or funny men around. In his latest career, Greg is the Executive Director of CASIS, a nonprofit with the goal of identifying additional ideas for science projects in space, including on the International Space Station.

Our evening began at the Apollo/Saturn V Building at the Kennedy Space Flight Center. After getting a bird’s-eye view of the Saturn V rocket (all 363 feet!) and the banners for each Apollo mission, we were among a large group at a MMS-mission briefing. We learned that the MMS project,composed of 4 identical satellites, will study the amazing (magical) magnetic connections constantly occurring in space.

We then headed to bleachers with a view of the launch pad, about 3 miles from our location. The same calm NASA voices narrated the countdown as they have for decades.  On site we hear only the audio but don’t see the hardworking people directing he final pre-launch efforts nor the close-up shots of the rocket. We do hear the excitement of NASA staff, contractors and families who have devoted years to this project. And we counted down the last few seconds before liftoff.

At the moment of liftoff, night turned to dawn and the sky and the water between the launch site and us glowed gold. It was completely awe-inspiring, unlike anything I’d seen before. I thought, “This is the dawn of enlightenment, humans thrusting machines into space to gather information to change how we operate on Earth and beyond.” And the science was infused with art, in the depictions of the magnetic elements and efforts to use the beauty of language to engage the non-scientist with the project.

Some days being lucky is as good as it gets.

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