May 18, 2005
Space mission comes true for second grader
Eight-year-old Zac Crowell Space Shuttle capsule commanding officer at Space Camp in Alabama
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Just eight-years-old, Zac Crowell has already been a capsule commanding officer on the Space Shuttle.
A second-grade student at the Grand Traverse Academy, Crowell recently completed a weekend of Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., following in the footsteps of an admired cousin. Joe Haines, Crowell's grandpa, attended the camp with his grandson, who was one of 250 elementary age students from around the nation there for the weekend.
The two talked about their experiences at Space Camp, sharing pictures and anecdotes, Friday morning at the Academy. Crowell's cousin, Jenn Whitworth of Huntsville, who is a flight controller for the International Space Station, joined them.
Whitworth spoke to the school last year about her duties and the space station. This year she again shoehorned a visit to the school around family gatherings during a Traverse City visit. She also brought a project for students that had them creating their own space stations on paper.
While at Space Camp earlier this month, Crowell portrayed the commanding officer during a mock mission between the shuttle and the space station.
"The space station goes around the Earth every 90 minutes," said Haines, a Traverse City resident. "This was a mock space station set up where we were in communication with the shuttle and in communication with the orbiter.
Crowell also conducted space experiments, such as mixing chemicals in a bag to determine the reaction. He also "walked" in a suspended seat that simulated moon's lower gravity, which is one-sixth's of Earth's gravity, and launched model rockets. Intellectual pursuits included exploring the Space and Rocket Center Museum and playing Space Bowl, a Jeopardy-like game for space junkies. Crowell's team placed second.
After a weekend immersed in all things space, attendees graduated from camp Sunday afternoon. They were able to turn the nametag on their jumpsuits right side up; before that camp protocol required them to keep it up side down.
"I got a Mercury team patch for the weekend," added Crowell, who hopes to return to Space Camp someday.
Crowell also proudly displayed his model of the Saturn V rocket that took the first astronauts to the moon in 1969. This model will join a 2,000-piece Lego Space Shuttle he assembled since receiving it as a Christmas gift last year.
"His brothers aren't allowed to touch it," noted Missy Crowell of her son's masterpiece.
Crowell became a space bug at such a young age thanks to the inspiration of his cousin. She, in turn, caught the spark in the fourth grade when someone from NASA visited her classroom and talked about the space program. Whitworth attended Space Camp in the sixth, ninth and 11th grades and later received a bachelor's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville
"She knew from the fourth grade on that that was her goal in life and she's carried it through," said Haines of his niece, who works at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
While enjoying the camp and learning himself, Haines relished watching young students such as his grandson delight in discovery.
"It was very enjoyable watching him come in and do something totally new and experience it," Haines said. "I think he learned very much, a lot of information, and if he pursues it he can learn so much more."