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May 03, 2007
Bad judgment alert
Holy schnikey! This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from The Right Stuff, where astronaut Alan Shepard is forced to hold it for fear he would short-circuit his spacesuit and cause a fire in his spacecraft. After a long wait, he finally was allowed to let loose. I imagine this kid a had a similar experience:
MAGNOLIA, Ohio (AP) — A sixth-grader was denied permission to use the bathroom during state testing this week and had an accident, an unfortunate outcome of a decision based in part on the need to maintain the integrity of the test, the superintendent said.
“If this happened last week or next week would this be handled differently?” asked David Janofa, superintendent of Sandy Valley Local Schools. “The answer is, ’Yes.”’
The northeast Ohio school district is evaluating policy to try to prevent another student from being embarrassed in the future.
Speaking of The Right Stuff, original astronaut Wally Schirra passed away yesterday. He wasn't one of the more famous astronauts, but he was a great one:
The former Navy test pilot said he initially had little interest when he heard of NASA's Mercury program. But he grew more intrigued over time and the space agency named him one of the Mercury Seven in April 1959.
Supremely confident, he sailed through rigorous astronaut training with what one reporter called "the ease of preparing for a family picnic."
He became the fifth American in space when he blasted off from Cape Canaveral on Oct. 3, 1962, aboard the Sigma 7 Mercury spacecraft. The first two American astronauts made suborbital space flights.
"I'm having a ball up here drifting," Schirra said from space.
At the end of his sixth orbit, Schirra piloted the capsule for a perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
"No one has flown better than you," NASA Administrator James E. Webb told him a few days later.
Mercury Seven astronauts who survive him are John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, and Scott Carpenter.
"He was a practical joker, but he was a fine fellow and a fine aviator," Carpenter said Thursday. "He will be sorely missed in our group."
entry no. 842
Posted by oz115 at May 3, 2007 03:37 PM