The final two weeks of term have been very creative; we have appreciated the great work from senior dance, music and drama students in evenings showcasing their work. We celebrated Make Music Day last Friday with great performances from both Junior and Secondary groups.
Whilst we can look back on so many great adventures and opportunities for all members across our School, there are 25 very excited students and 2 staff members counting down the hours… as they are about to launch off from Sydney to destination: Houston Space School. Whilst few of us will remember Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin travelling to outer space as the first cosmonaut to do so in April 1961 following the launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957 which marked the start of space exploration, these Soviet successes threw down the challenge to the USA to step up its space exploration programme. We saw the first close pictures of Mars in 1965, the soviets made a soft landing on the Moon sending back pictures in 1966 before the 1969 Moon landing of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin; with their first moments there being broadcast around the world. An amazing feat for this age. Following several further trips in the 1970s, most voyages of exploration since have been by robot craft… travelling to every planet in the solar system.
Who remembers 12 April 1981 and NASA’s first reusable spacecraft, Space Shuttle Columbia going into orbit for the first time? Or the first untethered spacewalk in 1984 or the fact that it took 12 years for Voyager 2 to reach the planet Neptune in 1989? The International Space Station was sent into orbit in 1998 and has been inhabited continuously since November 2000, a project involving 16 countries. Then in May 2011 NASA announced results from its gravity probe which was designed to test Einstein’s general theory of relativity, originally published in 1916. These are but a sample of key milestones from the relatively short space history that has had profound impact for us all and that our students will encounter.
Our students are embarking on an amazing journey and we will follow their exploits and keep you updated on our Facebook page. We wish these young men and women from Years 7 to 9 the trip of a lifetime and I thank Mr Hobson and Ms Fonso for all they have done and will do to ensure our students are exposed to extraordinary science and technology on this trip.
