OXFORD, Miss. – Sometimes it’s really good to have friends
in high places.
That’s what eight University of Mississippi School of
Engineering faculty members and their spouses discovered
when they visited Kennedy Space Center and attended the
launch of the space shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-122, last
week.
The Ole Miss representatives were among the invited guests
of alumnus William W. “Bill” Parsons, director of NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. After a
two-month delay, the shuttle blasted into orbit Thursday
(Feb. 7) with Europe’s contribution to the international
space station, a $2 billion space lab named Columbus.
Following successful launch of the space shuttle, the group
got a comprehensive tour of NASA facilities.
“Both the launch of the Atlantis on Thursday and the
special tour on Friday were spectacular and awesome,” said
Kai Fong Lee, UM engineering dean. “Both were educational
and we learned more about the challenges and importance of
the space program along the way. We all pray for the
success of Atlantis and its safe return.”
Besides Lee and his wife, Alice, others from the university
included Alexander Cheng, chair of civil engineering, and
his wife, Daisy; Conrad Cunningham, chair of computer and
information science, and his wife, Diana; Allen Glisson,
chair of electrical engineering, and his wife, Elise; James
Vaughan, Frederick A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of
Mechanical Engineering, and his wife, Kathy; Sam Shui-Yi
Wang, Frederick A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of
Mechanical Engineering, and his wife, Jine; and Robert
Woolsey, director of the Mississippi Mineral Resources
Institute, and his wife, Maxine, education outreach
specialist for the engineering school.
Parsons, a 1979 engineering graduate and member of the UM
Engineering Advisory Board, suggested to Lee that he bring
a group from the university to KSC after he was named
director last January. Originally, the launch was to have
occurred last summer, but was rescheduled to December.
Unforeseen complications prohibited that launch until this
month.
“I am just so glad that the Ole Miss group was able to make
the trip, and we were able to launch Atlantis while they
were here,” said Parsons via an e-mail to Lee. “When I am
able to show people that appreciate what NASA does and what
I am passionate about, it is my pleasure.”
Lee said that the group also enjoyed seeing the space
station processing facility, orbiter processing facility,
vehicle assembly building, mobile launcher platform and
perimeter of the launch pad. He added that he expects that
the group will share the excitement they experienced about
the space program with present and future Ole Miss
engineering students.
Atlantis and its seven-member crew safely roared away from
the seaside launch pad after overcoming fuel gauge
problems that thwarted back-to-back launch attempts in
December. All week, bad weather had threatened to delay
the flight, but rain and thunderstorms remained off to the
west.
Twenty-three years in the making, Columbus is the European
Space Agency’s primary contribution to the space station.
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