Shuttle launch has school starry-eyed

Interest in spaceflight is expected to skyrocket this morning at Glenbard East High School when alum Dan Tani makes a planned launch aboard the shuttle Discovery.

It will be the 1979 graduate's second "business trip," as he's called them, into space.

Jim Carter, Glenbard East's science department chairman, is excited about the scheduled 10:38 a.m. launch. He taught Tani biology in the 1970s.

"To go once is phenomenal. To go twice is unbelievable," Carter said.

"You have to be a special breed to ride a candle into space," he added. "You're risking yourself for the betterment of man and the cause of exploration."

The NASA mission already has been a teaching opportunity for Carter.

He and his students have been talking about space and weightlessness. They also have visited Glenbard East's NASA display, which spotlights Tani and features items the astronaut brought back after his first space flight in December 2001.

Glenbard East Principal Robert McBride said enthusiasm has been building at the school.

"The kids are excited," McBride said. "It's a little hard to believe. It seems so huge to them."

McBride said Tani's involvement in the space program is inspiring for the students.

"It's in the forefront of their minds," he said. "It really is possible to go to the sophistication of NASA and a space station after high school."

Tani, who orbited Earth for nearly two weeks in December 2001 when the Endeavour shuttle delivered crew and supplies to the International Space Station, is serving as a flight engineer during the Expedition 16 mission.

The 46-year-old Houston resident will spend nearly eight weeks in space working at the orbital outpost.

During his stay, Tani and other crew members will be increasing the interior of the space station so more experiments can occur, according to the NASA Web site.

Tani and a colleague will be taking several space walks to prepare the exterior for the addition of new segments, including new labs, the Web site states.

The shuttle Atlantis is targeted to lift off Dec. 8, bringing Tani's replacement Leopold Eyharts of the European Space Agency, to the outpost. Tani and Atlantis tentatively are scheduled to return on Dec. 17, a NASA spokeswoman said.

Carter is hoping to exchange a few e-mails with Tani during the mission.

"For me, that's pretty thrilling," Carter said. "I feel very fortunate to be able to say I know him. Anyone who's willing to ride a rocket is a hero."

For details on the launch and mission, see www.nasa.gov.