The Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center had its door open for free on Saturday to celebrate its 23rd year and to put kids in touch with the awe-inspiring forces that shape the universe.
Named for the iconic astronaut who died in the ill-fated and unforgettable 10th launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986, the center has sought to carry forward messages of inspiration and exploration from the Konawaena High School graduate. Around 10 a.m. Saturday morning, area children and adult guardians were checking out interactive displays of the solar system, building computer models of space stations and learning how a gyroscope works.
“What we have tried to do is have a number of interactives so kids can have fun and still learn the principles of science and math,” said curator Nancy Tashima.
Keiki had the opportunity to be photographed in a real NASA space suit, examine chunks of nickel and iron meteorites and see the principles of orbital motion at work in a gravity well, among other activities. In the center’s movie theater, a small group of adults laughed at a grainy movie reel showing pioneer astronauts trying to fumble scrambled eggs into their mouths in zero gravity.
Dylan Murata, 6, of Kailua-Kona, used a throttle that adjusted air pressure to guide a ball through a series of hoops, then ran to use a robotic arm to pick up and move objects.
Other adults stood in front of more thoughtful displays on Onizuka, whose mission on the Challenger was to deploy a large communications satellite to observe Hailey’s Comet. The shuttle program had its last launch in July 2011.
On U.S. passports, a message from Onizuka has been printed on page 28 for years.
“Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds…to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.”
The words are from a commencement speech he gave at Konawaena High in 1980.
“Space shuttles are all finished now,” Tashima said to a student who will be attending Kahakai Elementary School. Together, they watched compressed air launch a model shuttle toward the ceiling.
“You know the principle that makes it go up. See? The gravity brings it down.”
