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Log inMCI student's father prepares for launch
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MCI student's father prepares for launch
by Outspoken on Thu Nov 13, 2008 4:56 am
MCI student's father prepares for launch
BY SCOTT MONROE
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
PITTSFIELD -- Gillian Bowen is looking forward to Friday, when her father embarks on his journey.
But she's also "a little nervous." After all, it's not every day you get to watch your dad board a rocket and blast off into space.
"It's a little nerve-racking," Bowen said. "But I'm really excited for him; he's been training a long time for it."
Bowen, 15, is a first-year student at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield and a dancer with the Bossov Ballet Theatre, which is based at the MCI campus.
Originally from Boston, Bowen was drawn to the ballet program and is now living in an MCI dormitory. Her father, Steve Bowen, has been training to be an astronaut in Texas for eight years.
Last Friday, the ballet program's executive director, Michael Wyly, drove Bowen down to the Portland International Jetport so she could fly down to the launch site in Florida to be with her family.
MCI and Bossov Ballet granted Bowen a leave of absence so she could watch her father launch into space and be there for his return.
"It struck me during the two-hour trip how much she is like her Navy-captain father," Wyly said. "Strong on courage, contagious good spirits and a solid sense of duty."
Steve Bowen, 44, is part of a seven-member NASA team on the space shuttle Endeavor, which will help complete the assembly of the International Space Station. The space shuttle is scheduled to launch Friday night at 7:55 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Steve Bowen will participate in four spacewalks during the 15-day mission, according to NASA's Web site. The team's mission, called STS-126, is to prepare the space station so it can sustain a crew of six people. The first module for the space station launched into space 10 years ago.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5600632.html
Contributed photo
BY SCOTT MONROE
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
PITTSFIELD -- Gillian Bowen is looking forward to Friday, when her father embarks on his journey.
But she's also "a little nervous." After all, it's not every day you get to watch your dad board a rocket and blast off into space.
"It's a little nerve-racking," Bowen said. "But I'm really excited for him; he's been training a long time for it."
Bowen, 15, is a first-year student at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield and a dancer with the Bossov Ballet Theatre, which is based at the MCI campus.
Originally from Boston, Bowen was drawn to the ballet program and is now living in an MCI dormitory. Her father, Steve Bowen, has been training to be an astronaut in Texas for eight years.
Last Friday, the ballet program's executive director, Michael Wyly, drove Bowen down to the Portland International Jetport so she could fly down to the launch site in Florida to be with her family.
MCI and Bossov Ballet granted Bowen a leave of absence so she could watch her father launch into space and be there for his return.
"It struck me during the two-hour trip how much she is like her Navy-captain father," Wyly said. "Strong on courage, contagious good spirits and a solid sense of duty."
Steve Bowen, 44, is part of a seven-member NASA team on the space shuttle Endeavor, which will help complete the assembly of the International Space Station. The space shuttle is scheduled to launch Friday night at 7:55 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Steve Bowen will participate in four spacewalks during the 15-day mission, according to NASA's Web site. The team's mission, called STS-126, is to prepare the space station so it can sustain a crew of six people. The first module for the space station launched into space 10 years ago.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5600632.html
Contributed photo
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
