Debi Huffman, an aerospace educator at Fernbank Science Center, stood by with white knuckles at Cape Canaveral, Fla., as the space shuttle Endeavour cut its way into the evening sky on Nov. 14, 2008.
Huffman's presence was a promise made good. Years earlier, one of her former Fernbank students, Eric Boe, promised to have her as his guest at his first space mission, if his galactic dreams ever came true. They did, and Boe kept his word.
As astronaut Boe readies for what will be one of the last space shuttle missions, Huffman will be there once again cheering on the man she remembers as a 12-year-old boy with tenacious dreams of soaring past the stars.
Boe is scheduled to board the space shuttle Discovery on Nov. 1 and pilot the craft to the International Space Station, where he and his crew will work with a group representing 16 countries. Despite the typical spirit of competition among nations, Boe said camaraderie among the astronauts is strong. International Space Station crews spend years training together.
"We'll go to different places for training," he said. "Russia, Germany, Japan. You get to know the crew very well when you work with them day in and day out for years."
According to Huffman, Boe's determination as a young student continues to pay off. She remembers him studying Russian, a language he can put to use when rubbing elbows with cosmonauts.
"Everything he did as a student was something that got him closer to his dream," Huffman said. "So he's a fabulous role model for the students I teach, because I can tie in his footsteps and use those to encourage the kids."
Boe was once one of those kids, in 1978, when he attended Huffman's Discovery aerospace classes. Flash forward 30 years, and Boe packed a special Fernbank flag on his first shuttle mission, a testament to what the science center has meant to him and his career as an astronaut.
After returning to Earth on Endeavour, Boe presented the flag to Fernbank during a special ceremony.
"I've been teaching aerospace education almost my entire career," Huffman said. "And [with Eric] it all comes back home. . . . Whenever he's in town, he comes and visits my classes. He's part of the family."
Although Boe is stationed in Houston, the former Atlantan still has a soft place in his heart for Georgia. The state is on his short list of places to photograph from the sky, along with Mount Everest and New Zealand.
Credit: Jason Getz
Credit: Jason Getz
"On the last flight, we actually flew over Bobby Dodd Stadium when Georgia Tech was playing a football game," he recalled.
"My master's degree is from Georgia Tech, so that was a pretty neat thing. And a lot of people looked up and saw us making a pass overhead. So that was good timing."
Along with the sensation of weightlessness, it's the view of his homeland from space that really makes an impact on Boe.
"No words can describe how amazing our planet is," he said. "It's big and small at the same time. You really realize how complicated our Earth is. It kind of gives you an appreciation for life in general."
While Boe soaks up his last shuttle flight from space, Huffman's appreciation and support will radiate from the ground. And watching Boe take off is something she said hits close to home.
"It's exciting every time a space shuttle goes up," she said. "But when you're sitting there and it's somebody close to you, you're excited and you're praying that nothing goes wrong. It's like having a child going up. So you're just holding your breath."
RELATED: In May 2011, NASA astronaut and Air Force Col. Eric A. Boe visited several schools in DeKalb County, including Cedar Grove, Druid Hills and Sequoyah middle schools, and Evansdale, Chapel Hill, Fernbank, and Princeton elementary schools. Boe also spoke at Fernbank Science Center.
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