Recently, five Wheatley students, Kaitlyn Ducroiset,Sanjana Khana, Megan Kirschner, Arham Sheraz, Justin Vega, Sharon Zhong, attended a small presentation by Sen. Bill Nelson at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City. Nelson, currently the senior senator from Florida, spoke to students about his experience aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in January 1986.
At that time, then U.S. Rep. Nelson became the only second sitting member of Congress to fly in space where he served as a payload specialist.
During Nelson’s presentation, he described some of his personal reflections on his time aboard the Space Shuttle such as the feeling of zero gravity, the overview effect, the loss of bodily fluids and the challenge of conducting experiments in space. He discussed the 2010 NASA Authorization Law, which continues to guide NASA’s direction.
Finally, Nelson took questions from the students in the audience.
