Lauren Isaacs
A FORMER Nasa astronaut is visiting five schools in the Western Cape this week, with the aim of inspiring pupils to choose careers in mathematics and science.
Dr Don Thomas will share his experience of life as an astronaut, spending a few hours at each of the five schools.
“The reason I travelled to South Africa is that I wanted to share the importance of mathematics and science with primary and high school learners. Science is fun and opens so many doors,” said Thomas.
Thomas accomplished his childhood dream at the age of 39 and, since then, has travelled about 30 million kilometres around the earth. He said: “To be in space is overwhelming. I saw the top of Mount Everest so many times. On the scientific side, it is amazing to see how plants and animals grow in space and compare it with how things grow on Earth.”
While explaining about the overwhelming beauty of space, Thomas also admitted that being an astronaut can be life-threatening.
“My wife hated it every time we were about to launch. It only takes eight and a half minutes to do so. It is so dangerous that, in that few minutes, if something goes wrong, the shuttle could blow up. It was a big worry, but she supported me because it was my dream,” said Thomas.
The director at Scifest Africa, Anja Fourie, said that it had taken them three years to get Thomas to visit the Western Cape after he attended South Africa’s National Science Festival in Grahamstown in March 2007.
“Our aim is to inspire learners to take maths and science. We also want to provide learners with good role models, that’s why we invited Dr Don Thomas to speak at these schools,” said Fourie.
Thomas is part of an outreach programme in America. He says that he enjoys educating children about science and maths and the importance of the subjects. He said: “This is the generation that is going to land up on Mars, these children need people to motivate and inspire them.”
When asked about his experience of living in a space shuttle for two and a half weeks, Thomas said: “Most things work the same as on Earth, the only difference is that there is no gravity... The inside of a shuttle is very confined... We are usually a crew of seven that goes on a mission at a time, for which we train for two years.
“We learn to tolerate and get to know one another, which is very important.”
He joked that one thing you don’t have to worry about while in space is putting something down.
“It is amazing how gravity can change your world. In space, you don’t need to scramble around on the floor and look for something you might have lost, instead, you will find it floating around your head or behind you somewhere.”
Thomas said that that is exactly what he wants pupils to know, that they have an opportunity to experience “another world”.
He wants them to know that there are no excuses for not making anything of your life.
Thomas said that, when he was young his father had left and they weren’t rich but that didn’t stop him. “I had a dream I wanted to achieve, I failed many times and spent about 10 years at university but nothing was going to stand in my way. It never hurt to make an effort and work hard,” he said.