Beech Tree News Network

Over the Labor Day weekend, my daughter, Natalie, and I took my granddaughter, Sabria, to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.  Sabria has an affinity for all things outer space. 
    Before she could walk, she wanted us to carry her around outside in the evenings so she could see the moon and stars.  She is three years old now, and has often expressed a desire to “float around up there.”  She throws things, like Barbie dolls, up into the air and, unlike me, is unalarmed when they come crashing down into the kitchen sink. 
    “They’re flying, Gee,” she tells me, then takes them into the living room to see if she can launch one onto the ceiling fan.
    Earlier this summer, Sabria and I built a space rocket out of a large cardboard box.  I cut a round hatch at the top of one side in order for her to stick her little face out to view the other planets that share our galaxy.  (The other planets were affixed to a cardboard screen, dangling from a string, attached to a yard stick at the top of the space craft.)  Once she was safely inside, I would stand outside the craft and shake it around to simulate lift off then later splash down.
    One day, she told me she was going to get inside her rocket ship and she wanted me to take it outside and throw it up into the sky, so she could “float around up there.”  I explained that it wasn’t a real rocket, just a cardboard box pretending to be a rocket, and she, like her Barbies, would come crashing down to earth.  She said she wanted a real rocket and that I needed to drive her to Walmart to get her one, and an astronaut suit while we were at it. 
    Sabria was thrilled at the prospect of getting up close to real rockets at the space center.  When we arrived, she ran to stand under one of the massive rockets stationed on the grounds. 
    “Where’s the door,” she asked.
    Natalie pointed to the capsule at the top of the massive projectile.
    “But, how am I going to get in?” she asked, “It’s too tall for me.”
    We took her to see the space shuttle and the other rockets that were in position outside the center.  Each time she saw one of the pointed capsules standing alone, she ran to the hatch to try to open it.  Each time, it was locked and she was disappointed.
    “Let’s see what’s inside the center,” Natalie said, “I bet they’ll have something you can climb into.”
    We took her into the building where they had all kinds of things for little girls to climb into.  Sabria and Natalie climbed into space capsules and went through labyrinths of information.  We got to see real astronaut suits and to look into the first space lab.  There was a massive rocket hanging horizontally overhead, all three stages separated in order to demonstrate how each stage works to propel the craft into space.
    It was all very interesting, but the real magic happened when we entered the IMAX theater.  We were surrounded by a telescopic view of the heavens and beyond.  The moving scene took us from our own galaxy to stars outside our realm, thanks to the capabilities of the VLT telescope, located in Chile. 
    The experience was one of virtual reality, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my granddaughter sit that still.  She was at home in her element, “floating around up there.”