Guest post by Girl Scout Kaitlyn
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Kaitlyn at Kennedy Space Center. |
The Parker Solar Probe launched at 3:31 a.m. ET on August 12 from the beautiful Delta 4-Heavy rocket. The probe, named after Dr. Eugene Parker, is the size of a small car and will reach a speed of 430,000 miles per hour in 2024. It will study the sun closer than any other man-made object, as it samples and measures solar wind. It is now on its mission to “touch the sun”!
Dr. Parker was the guest of honor at the launch. I was ecstatic to meet and talk to him. He is such an inspiration because he predicted solar wind 60 years ago.
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Dr. Eugene Parker and Kaitlyn before the launch of the Parker Solar Probe |
I am currently a Girl Scout Ambassador, and I serve as a student member of the board of Girl Scouts of Gateway Council in northeast Florida. GSUSA CEO Sylvia Acevedo is an out-of-this-world role model—30 years ago she worked on the probe as a NASA rocket scientist! Receiving an invitation from Dr. Acevedo was incredible and offered me a truly life-changing experience.
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Denise Ryan, Girl Scouts of the USA; SETI Institute CEO
Bill Diamond; SETI Institute Acting Director,
Center for Education, Pamela Harman;
and Girl Scout Kaitlyn
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Kaitlyn and former astronaut and
director of the Kennedy Space Center,
Robert Cabana
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Kaitlyn and the countdown clock at Operations Support Building II |
Everyone pulled out their cameras and silence filled the air. We could only hear the faint counting at T minus 1:00. All eyes were on that launch pad. 3…2…1…0! Suddenly there was so much light, it was as if the sun had risen from below. The launch pad was engulfed in flame. It began to die down as the wave of sound hit us—then the rocket appeared from the fire! It soared higher into the sky, gracefully pacing through a cloud, which flowed with light. At T plus 4:00, it was no longer in view.
The sight was absolutely breathtaking. I am now 100 percent determined to become an engineer and astronaut—it would be amazing to ride a rocket into space.
After some sleep, I traveled home and met up with the Girl Scout FIRST LEGO League robotics team that I mentor. This year’s FLL competition is all about space—so I shared my experience with the girls to further excite them about space and engineering.
This is just the beginning of the Parker Solar Probe mission. In November the probe will start one of its many orbits around the sun to send information back to Earth. In the meantime, we Girl Scouts can go earn some Space Science badges!