NASA Colonel shuttles PSU souvenirs to space
By Fran Hultzapple
Astronaut Colonel Guion
Bluford took a bit of Penn State
with him into space this month.
The Penn State graduate said in
a recent Capitol Times interview:
“I took up several objects both
for the university and its
aerospace department and plan to
deliver them this Fall when I visit
University Park.”
It is NASA policy not to reveal
those items for 30 days after the
flight. However, according to
Penn State officials, items sent to
Bluford before the flight included
two football jerseys with his name
and year of graduation (1964); a
tape of Penn State fight songs;
and a copy of the Morrill Land
Grant Act, a document that lead
to the establishment of Penn
State.
As a mission specialist aboard
the Space Shuttle Challenger’s re
cent flights, Bluford’s assignments
included launching India’s satellite
and conducting experiments for
two Penn State scientists:
Biophysicist, Paul W. Todd; and
Biochemist, Wesley C. Hymer.
Tender Aged Western Beef
Lunch Meats and Cheese Fresh Sliced to Order
Middletown
101 South Union Street
944-7480
Hershey
731 Cherry Drive
Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Thursday and Friday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tfau. UfiiMdw&atyou a,( *P«x *
Full variety in all departments
Plus our famous In-store Bakery
The experiments required
Bluford to separate live pancreas
cells in zero gravity in hopes of
providing cheaper methods of
treating burns, blood clots, and
diabetes. By doing the cell separa
tion in space, Todd expects a 400
percent improvement on the
finished product.
“He actually put a boomerang in a wind tunnel and
measured the forces on it. I understand he made a
movie of the flight so he could count the rotations.”
Barnes McCormick
Former Bluford Teacher
These operations are part of a
long-range effort to develop new
technology for commercial
applications.
‘‘The shutle operation will be
flying for hire,” explained
Bluford. “It’s designed to pay for
itself.”
By 1988, 24 missions will be
flown annually.
Fox’s
Markets
Visit Fox’s Famous Deli
Union Deposit
Union Deposit Mall
Barnes McCormick, now head
of aerospace engineering at
University Park, had
worked with Bluford when he was
a student. Bluford’s senior thesis
was on the aerodynamics of the
boomerang.
“He actually put a boomerang
in a wind tunnel and measured
the forces on it,” McCormick
said. “I understand he made a
movie of the flight so he could
count the rotations.”
McCormick remembers Bluford
as the kind of student not easy to
recall after 20 years.
“I found him to be a quiet stu
dent with average grades,” he
said, “but that didn’t stop him.”
When Bluford was asked what
he thought of the practice of
some companies interviewing only
those students with 3.0 Grade
Point Averages or better he said.
“I didn’t have a 3.0 average
when I graduated from college.
That practice would have
eliminated me from being con
sidered by those companies. In
® Harrisburg
reproductive
health
services
Birth Control Pregnancy Testing
VD Screening Abortion
Counseling
100 Chestnut Street. Suite 106, Harrisburg. PA. 17101 (717)232-9794
General Repair Service
on Domestic and Popular Foreign Cars
Vastine’s Auto Service
231 Oak Hill Drive (Off Vine St.)
Middletown, PA
Hours: 8-6 Mon.-Fri.
9-12 Saturday
Don Vastine 944-7154
the long run they would have lost
out. Those companies neglect the
fact there are many students with
high potential who shine late ver
sus early.”
Bluford used his potential in
extra-curricular activities as well
as in military pursuits.
He participated in the ROTC
program at Penn State and later
Air Force stints earned him three
Outstanding Unit Awards and ten
Air Medals. Bluford flew 144
combat missions, 65 of which
were over North Vietnam
Now, nearly a decade later,
Bluford again found himself fly
ing for his country in a peacetime
mission. On the third day of the
six-day shuttle flight, 139 miles
out in space, traveling 300 miles
per minute, ground control woke
the challenger crew with the Penn
State song.
“I still consider myself a Penn
Stater,” he said. “After all, I
learned to fly at Penn State.”
“And yes, I still follow Penn
State football,” Bluford said.
His agenda for the next few
months includes public relation
tours for NASA. He is not
scheduled for any of the future
flights at this time, however, two
other black astronauts are
scheduled to fly a shuttle mission
next year.
Bluford is the first black
astronaut, but not the first Penn
Stater to go into orbit. Paul
Weite holds that distinction with
his 1973 flight.