Teacher to witness space probe launch By Jackie Burrell Friday December 6, 2006 His fans know him as the frontman for a heavy metal cover band, but Glenbrook Middle School science teacher Randy Monroe has another, stratospheric, claim to fame. Monroe is bound for Cape Canaveral, Fla., next week to participate in the launch of New Horizons, a space probe headed for Pluto. It's a family trip of a special sort - his stepfather, James Christy, discovered Pluto's moon in 1978. Christy, his wife Charlene and their now-grown children will be on hand for the momentous launch, currently scheduled for Jan. 17. They'll hit the VIP banquets, take the VIP tours and cheer lift-off as the nuclear-powered probe begins its 3-billion-mile journey.
"We're looking very forward to it," Monroe said. "NASA contacted my dad and said, 'We really want you to be involved in this.' (My students) think it's real cool - my dad's in their eighth grade textbook. "Monroe has the blessing of the Mt. Diablo district and Glenbrook principal Gary McAdam, and there's a mood of barely suppressed elation at the Concord middle school these days. The kids know Monroe won't come back empty-handed. He'll return with posters, video footage and enthralling tales of the icy Kuipers Belt, birthplace of comets and home to Pluto and 100,000 or more miniature planets. And NASA has launched an education component involving 57 teachers from across the country and a Web site filled with student activities about Pluto and the Kuipers Belt. "I'll be doing some of the activities, compare and contrast Earth and Pluto," said Monroe. "So when they're in college and (the probe) actually gets there, they'll remember. "If all goes as planned, the probe will do a Pluto fly-by in July 2015, and start sending back data on the mysterious planet's moon. But Glenbrook students already know the back story. Monroe's stepfather, an astronomer, was studying photographs of Pluto at the U.S. Naval Observatory when he noticed the solitary planet had a strange lump. He pulled more photographs, including a six-day sequence that showed the protrusion moving around Pluto's outline, and realized it was a moon. Traditionally, planets and moons are named after characters in Greek and Roman mythology - Venus, Io, Europa. Christy named his discovery Charon, after the boatman on the mythical river Styx. But it's also a nod to Monroe's mom, Charlene. BLAST OFF TO PLUTO |
