Astronaut stresses importance of maths and science

A NASA astronaut has stressed the importance of maths and science education, during his three day visit to Ireland as part of World Space Week.

Hundreds of school children and space enthusiasts got to meet NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough yesterday when he visited Limerick.

Speaking at the University Concert Hall, UL, Texan born Kimbrough gave a lecture about his 16-day space mission on board STS-126 Endeavour and his many experiences with NASA.

During the 2008 mission, he performed two space walks, logging nearly 13 hours.

STS-126 Endeavour returned to Earth after completing 250 orbits in over 6 million miles.

“It was just spectacular. I couldn’t do it justice describing it but it was phenomenal to look back at our planet and see what a beautiful place we have to live in,” the astronaut recalled.

During his address to an audience of more than 900 people, the father-of-three recalled how it was always his childhood dream to some day travel to space.

“I grew up watching the men walking on the moon back in the day and that really inspired me to want to be an astronaut,” he said.

He also urged those with similar dreams to pursue their ambitions and stressed the importance of studying maths and science subjects while at school.

“In the US we are losing a lot of our future scientists and engineers and mathematicians in the schools and we are trying to go out and inspire them by talking to them about what kind of neat things come out of fields like this,” he said.

“We also have a lot of women who are astronauts so that really helps us promote these kind of fields. About 30% of astronauts are women compared to 10% in the military so it’s a good ratio,” he added.

Col Kimbrough is a graduate of West Point Military Academy which has forged links with the Department of Civil Engineering at UL.

Event organiser Dr Declan Philips, Civil Engineering course director at UL, said his department was delighted to share the astronaut with Ireland’s future scientists and engineers.

“Shane’s message illustrates the wonder and reward these careers have to offer and the benefits they bring to the world today. The University of Limerick recorded over 1,000 bookings in just three days for this talk which is an indication of the phenomenal interest in Shane’s visit and evidence that the torch of science still burns brightly in the minds of all young people,” Dr Philips said.

Picture: NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough discusses research with postgraduate student Aisling Flanagan. Picture: Press 22