St. Olaf Catholic School: to the moon and beyond

by the Faculty of St. Olaf School

BOUNTIFUL — A cold, windy, and snowy May 1 found 100 St. Olaf Catholic School students, faculty, and parents standing in a barren parking lot outside the ATK facility in Corinne in northern Utah. Our long-awaited field trip to watch the test firing of the FVM-2 Space shuttle rocket motors had finally arrived.

We joined thousands of on-lookers chanting in one chorus: "TEN – NINE – EIGHT – SEVEN – SIX – FIVE – FOUR – THREE – TWO – ONE." Silence lingered while the missile laying on its side like a small white line on the mountainside burst into a brilliant streak of fire. We watched in awe.

Eight seconds into the firing of the test, the deafening roar blasted our ears and the ground beneath our feet trembled. As the plume of dust and smoke rose into the air, our imaginations recalled the many times we had watched the shuttle missions lift off for their journey into space.

Our own journey began in mid-December when Kindergarten teacher, Laurie Jacobs, issued an invitation for our students to attend the test firing. Laurie and Michael Jacobs, Deputy Director of the Ares I First Stage, prepared DVDs and written materials so that we could study information about the space program and ATK.

Rocket boosters are engineered at the ATK facility in Corinne. They are transported to Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. After shuttle take-off, the booster falls away from the spacecraft; it is then retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean. After retrieval, the booster is cleaned and recycled for the next launch. The future space program will feature the Ares I spacecraft which will begin new explorations to the moon and beyond.

It is our hope that the passion for space exploration was ignited in our students. The dream of working on the next mission can truly become a reality with our next generation of rocket scientists.

Before going to the test viewing area, we toured the ATK Rocket Garden. On display were Patriot, Minuteman, Trident I and small ICBM missiles, as well as many motors and rocket boosters. Students found it incredible to imagine the importance of each part of the engine as they are prepared for launch, let alone the progression and advancement of the missile technology. Questions gave way to awe and wonder about the future of space explorations.

Our trip to ATK was sponsored by Teleperformance Communications through our dedicated parents, Marcie Ballard, Miranda Collard, and Beth Kavoukas who work for Teleperformance. The company sponsored transportation and provided T-shirts with the logo "Our Children Are Our Future". Students continue to wear the shirts with pride. The stories of our "field trip of all field trips" continue to surface as students remember details of the day, the bus ride, and the knowledge they gained from the experience.