‘Awesomely awesome’

Mike Sciacca

Guy Gardner has been doubly blessed, doing something most of us will

never get to attempt in our lifetime.

The former NASA astronaut has been hurled into space on two

separate occasions, as pilot on the orbiters Atlantis and Columbia.

Although he’s known the thrill of being weightless and of viewing

Earth from space, to this day, he still finds it hard to put into

words what those experiences have been like.

That’s what the 57-year-old, now working in the aeronautics

department at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., told more

than 300 youth at the Huntington Valley Boys & Girls Club. The

children gathered Friday to hear Gardner talk about space

exploration, as well as exploring their own dreams.

When asked by one of the children to sum up his space journeys,

Gardner said that it was hard to describe but did emphatically say

that it was “awesomely awesome” to look at Earth from space.

“There aren’t enough words in the English language, in any

language, to describe what it’s like to go into space,” he said. “It

really is an indescribable experience.”

Tanya Hoxsie, chief executive officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of

Huntington Valley, said Gardner’s appearance at the Kingston Branch

on Friday would be an inspirational experience for the club’s youth.

“Many young boys and girls dream of flying into space, but only a

few get the chance to make that dream come true,” she said. “We are

honored to have the opportunity to learn firsthand about the

adventures that astronaut Guy Gardner has experienced.”

Two weeks ago, NFL All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez, who graduated

from Huntington Beach High School, came to the club to talk to the

children about pursuing their dreams.

Hoxsie said that Gonzalez and Gardner are two “positive role

models” whose exemplary leadership skills can be of inspiration to

the children.

Gardner’s appearance also benefited the Kingston Branch’s Flying

Club, where members learn about aviation and aerospace through

activities such as flight simulations at the club’s tech labs.

Gardner drew the youngsters into his presentation Friday by

showing them a film of his space travels, which began with a shot of

a model of the building of an International Space Station, which he

said will be about the size of a football field when finished

“I wanted to show these kids what it’s like to fly into space, to

go beyond gravity,” he said. “My hope is to weave in them a dream,

and to dream what life can offer. Lifelong learning and integrity is

what you need to accomplish your dreams.”

Gardner was selected as a pilot astronaut by NASA in May 1980.

During an 11-year career as an astronaut, he worked in several areas

of space shuttle and space station development and support.

He first flew into space as pilot on the crew of STS-27 aboard

Atlantis, a four-day classified mission that carried a Dept. of

Defense payload in 1988. That flight was the second mission after the

January 1986 explosion and destruction of the space shuttle

Challenger and the death of its crew.

Gardner said he was never nervous about going into space.

“I really wasn’t. I was very excited, though,” he said. “I had a

lot of confidence in the men and women who prepared our shuttle,

faith in the crew and faith in God. What better place could I be?”

He went up a second time in 1990, as pilot on the crew of STS-35

aboard Columbia. The nine-day mission carried the ASTRO-1 astronomy

laboratory consisting of three ultraviolet telescopes and one X-ray

telescope.

In 1992, he retired from the Air Force and returned to NASA to

direct the joint U.S. and Russian Shuttle-Mir Program.

Following his visit Friday to the club, Gardner went on to serve

as the keynote speaker at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Orange County’s

Youth of the Year banquet at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort.

Having seen the nation’s space program change throughout the

years, he told the children that he’s excited about what the future

holds and that they, one day, will be able to visit space.

“What’s very exciting is that not only will NASA have rockets, but

private companies are building private rockets that will be able to

take the average citizen into space,” he added. “One day, these kids

might be able to buy a ticket and go into space. Just like that.

That’s pretty cool.”

* MIKE SCIACCA covers sports and features. He can be reached at

(714) 966-4611 or by e-mail at michael.sciacca@latimes.com.