Astronaut Ellison Onizuka - Hawaii Hero

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

ESPN published a touching piece about Kona raised astronaut Ellison Onizuka a few days ago. Much of the narrative revolved around a soccer ball he carried with him on the Challenger flight & disaster. Miraculously, the ball survived the explosion & impact into the Atlantic Ocean. After it was recovered, it was later launched a second time on a mission to the International Space Station. Recently, it returned to earth again:

On that (earlier, before Challenger) mission, Ellison became the first Asian-American, the first Japanese-American and the first Hawaiian in space. Even orbiting 212 miles above Earth, he brought along something that transported him back to his life as a boy in Hawaii: a bag of Kona coffee straight from his hometown.
...
In 1980, Ellison went back to his high school in Kona, Hawaii, to deliver a commencement address. You may not know it, but you carry some of his words with you in your own earthly exploration, printed in every U.S. passport.

"Every generation has the obligation to free men's minds for a look at new worlds ... to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation. Your vision is not limited by what your eye can see, but what your mind can imagine. If you accept these past accomplishments as commonplace, then think of the new horizons that you can explore. ... Make your life count, and the world will be a better place because you tried."

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_...-explosion

[TomK]

Thank you, HOTPE.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The name of astronaut Ellison Onizuka will return to space again soon. An International Space Station freight supply vehicle has been designated in his honor:

Northrop Grumman has christened its next Cygnus flying a commercial resupply services mission for NASA (NG-16) after Ellison Onizuka.

"It is our tradition to name each Cygnus spacecraft after a pioneer of human spaceflight," said Kendell Nii, a program manager for Northrop Grumman Space Systems.

The S.S. Ellison Onizuka will deliver approximately 8,200 pounds (3,700 kg.) of supplies and research equipment for the Expedition 65 crew aboard the space station. The Cygnus freighter will be launched atop a Northrop Grumman Antares 230+ rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Liftoff is scheduled for Aug. 10.
https://www.space.com/northrop-grumman-n...on-onizuka

I’m not sure whether the spacecraft will be visible from Big Island at night, but I’ll try and remember to watch for passes.  The tradition of Hawaii Island’s contributions and advancements in our understanding of the world around us, and above us continues.  “To explore strange new worlds” includes far more than a quick drive through downtown Pahoa Village on a sunny afternoon when the constellations of tie dye shine bright.