Leo's Report on the Planetarium Field Trip

On April 29, Stella and I went with some friends to the Planetarium. The first exhibit we were told about, while we were taking a tour, was a replica of the Freedom 7. This was the space shuttle in which flew Astronaut Alan Shepard Jr. Now before take-off astronauts eat a breakfast consisting of Orange juice, Coffee, steak, and eggs. Alan's capsule remained stationary with, cramped, Alan Shepard, waiting inside. His wait turned out to be a six hour wait! The space engineers were waiting too. Tiny sweat beads soaked their faces. They kept on waiting, with fear of trouble swarming through their heads. They waited with the beads of sweat dripping down their faces, until an anxious call from Alan Shepard came that he had to use the bathroom. Now the idea came to them that if he came down from the shuttle, flight would be delayed. This would be a great catastrophe, so the men told Alan to go in his space suit. A few minutes later, the take-off was accomplished and 15 min. later, Alan's small capsule was floating in the water. In a later meeting held by NASA, Alan strongly suggested to have some way to use the toilet while in space. They did! The absorbent material used in disposable diapers, was manufactured. That's right! Astronauts wore diapers in space. The products were given to the public.

The next thing we were taught about was the space shuttles now used to launch equipment and people into outer space. The first thing I will highlight is the food used in outer space. Food is contained in small plastic pouches. The food is dry, but cannot contain crumbs. The crumbs could not be in food because, as you well know, there is no gravity in space; therefore, the crumbs could damage the delicate equipment. Droplets of water can also damage the highly regarded machines. This is why the means of getting water is to use the water dispenser. Every once in a while, astronauts will have need of someone to get out of the space shuttle, to perform a task. Though astronauts have many protections, when performing a task in outer space, the fact still remains that this, as all astronaut duties, is a very dangerous job. As we see the progress we have made in space exploration, we continue to raise questions. Over outer space there remains a Veil, a Veil that has not yet been uncovered, even as we discover every day.