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Week 3: NASA Astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel William G. Gregory

1. Daniel, Insoll Avenue Primary School

Do rockets have motors? If so, what kinds?

Yes the rockets have several types of motors. If you’ve ever had an opportunity to shoot off a model rocket with a little solid rocket motor, that is similar to what we have on board - the solid rocker booster. In addition, we have the space shuttle main engine and the liquid fuel engine in the back, and the orbiter itself which does all of the main thrusting from launch all the way to orbit, which takes about eight and a half minutes. Then we’ve got orbital manoeuvring system engines on the back and we use those to circle orbit and also to de-orbit. Then there’s a variety of reaction control jets surrounding the orbiter that we use to adjust the orbiter while it’s up in space. So there’s a great number of rocket motors on board.

2. Andrew Plimmer, Marewa Primary School

Why were you interested in becoming an astronaut?

Well. I thought it would be fun to fly in space. When I was your age the space programme had just started, in fact the Russians launched the satellite ‘Sputnik’ the year I was born so as I was growing up the heroes in America were the Mercury astronauts. I was 12 years old when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon, so they were important things that were happening in America and being watched around the world. My Dad and his two brothers had been pilots in the military and so I wanted to be a fighter pilot and then a test pilot. As a test pilot I had the opportunity to submit an application so I did and I am very happy that I became an astronaut.

3. Pita Veitch, Ohope Beach School

How long does it take for a rocket to get through the Earth’s atmosphere?

It actually takes about a minute to get up to 50,000 feet (which is as high as normal airplanes get). All the way to orbit takes us about 8 and a half minutes. It happens very, very quickly. Most of it is done by accelerating in a straight ahead fashion. You launch towards the horizon at a fast speed.

4. Danielle Williamson, Queen Charlotte College

What is the best thing about being in space?

I would say probably being able to float around in micro gravity – it’s very interesting to fly up and down. After about a day and a half it is very comfortable, you feel like you’ve been there your whole life. Second would be the view. The view of the earth is absolutely gorgeous.

5. Harriet Sherratt, Rere School

When did you first go into space and how many times have you been back?

So far I’ve only flown the one mission in March of 1995 and I am patiently waiting for another chance to go.

6. Ursula, Insoll Avenue Primary School

How do astronauts eat in space?

We eat like you do at home. In fact a lot of the foods are the same like instant oatmeal. Much of the food is snack pack puddings, M&Ms, liquorice whips. Some of the stuff is different like we have tortillas instead of bread, as bread doesn’t keep very well. We can’t use cups as the drinks would go all over.

7. Mana Mita, Marewa Primary School

What tasks do you do in space?

We do a variety of things in space, it really depends on the type of mission. The mission that goes to the Russian station is a logistics one. Basically they’re taking cargo up and bringing things down. Our mission was a science mission. We had three ultra violet telescopes on board in the back end of Endeavour. What we did was point the telescopes at different galaxies out in the universe and my job was to type the coordinates into the computer so that the shuttle was pointed in the right direction. We recorded many pictures of the different galaxies. In fact one of the galaxies was one hundred and thirty light years away! We did protein crystal growth experiments and medical experiments.

8. Phillip Godfrey, Ohope Beach School

Has anything ever gone wrong while you have been in space?

Our mission was very clean, considering we were up for two and a half weeks - our orbiter Endeavour had very few problems. In fact I was really surprised that it was so carefree. The most traumatic thing for me was that I lost my teaspoon which is the most important thing – for two days I didn’t have my teaspoon! Everything has velcro on it to hold everything down.

9. Monique Hill, Queen Charlotte College

Have you seen anything unusual in space?

One of my crew mates sneezed while eating scrambled eggs and it looked like a nuclear explosion inside the cabin – but as far as aliens and UFO’s go, all I can say is that I have never seen anything and no-one I work with has ever seen anything either. It’s best not to believe everything you see on TV and in the movies.

10. Paul Stevens, Rere School

How many times are you allowed to go into space and for how long?

It depends on the individual. Some people from my mission have been up a few times. I can’t really give you a reason why. It depends on how long you are willing to stay with the programme and how lucky you are. There are no real limits - we’ve had people fly in space at 60 years old.

11. Rachel, Insoll Avenue Primary School

How many people does it take to control a spaceship?

The minimum number has been two. You need a commander and a pilot. Normally for a scheduled mission, we have a crew of 5, four on the flight deck and one downstairs. The maximum number we fly with is seven.

12. Malcolm Jones, Marewa Primary School

Why are the outer planets bigger than the inner planets?

I can’t give you a good answer. You need to remember that Pluto is actually really quite small. The size and the make-up of the planets has to do with the fragmentation of the solar system, and different moons. Jupiter has some good size moons. Obviously the bigger the planet the greater the pull it has.

13. Peter Rust, Ohope Beach School

What is the maximum number of people that can fit on-board a space shuttle?

Right now the maximum number is seven. You could fit more on board.

14. Hudson Steale, Queen Charlotte College

What would happen if you got sick in space?

You have to clean it up – we carry heavy duty sickness bags. A good number of people feel unwell their first time in space.

15. Jacque White, Rere School

When you travel into space does it get darker or lighter?

It depends what time of the day it is. It takes 90 minutes to travel one orbit around the earth. We actually spend 50 minutes in daylight and 40 minutes in darkness. You see a sunrise or a sunset every 45 minutes approx. In addition while you’re in the sunshine the vehicle gets quite hot – about 200% close to the boiling point of water. In contrast in the darkness it’s about 200% below zero.

16. Samuel, Insoll Avenue Primary School

How much oxygen do you need to go to the moon and back? How do you store it?

Our mission on the shuttle lasted longer than the Apollo trips to the moon. We store the oxygen by cooling it down so it becomes a liquid. It’s much more dense than the oxygen you breathe. We store it in tanks and it takes up a bit more space than the volume of a car. It’s broken up into different tanks in case there’s a leak in one. It lasts quite a long time.

17. Noel Elliott, Marewa Primary School

Why are rocks in space a danger?

If you were driving down the road at about one mile an hour and a rock landed on you car then that wouldn’t matter. If you were travelling about 100 miles per hour on the car and a rock hit you it would break your windscreen. When travelling through space you’re travelling 17,500 miles per hour, so not only is a rock dangerous, a little washer, or nut can do quite a bit of damage, not only to windows, but to the skin of the vehicle as well. It makes a big impact.

18. Julian Verstegen, Ohope Beach School

Will you ever go to the moon?

We talked about that earlier – I would jump at the opportunity to go to the moon. I think it will be a while before we go back there.

19. Melanie Kelt, Queen Charlotte College

Do you get nervous before you take off?

We launched on an evening when it was bad weather. It was raining and we had only been offered a one in five chance of launching. So we were calm and didn’t think we’d launch, so when we did it was quite a surprise.

20. Dean Te Are, Rere School

What does it feel like when you are lifted off the launching pad?

On TV it looks like it’s a smooth slow process. It’s really like being rear-ended in a car. I don’t know if you’ve ever been hit from behind in a car, or on the bumper cars, but that’s what it’s like. Suddenly you go from your normal weight to two times your weight. The vehicle vibrates quite a bit for a couple of minutes because of the boosters. When the boosters come off it’s like a normal ride.