THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 29, 1995 TAG: 9504290327
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The children at First Presbyterian Church Preschool got the chance Friday morning to unlock some of space life's greatest mysteries. Astronaut Wendy Lawrence paid them a visit.
``You eat that stuff? What's the green stuff there?,'' one blond-haired boy asked Lawrence, who held a green and red brick of space food in her lap.
``My mom always told me to eat my vegetables,'' Lawrence said holding up the pouch of freeze-dried food. ``This a combination of green beans, broccoli, red peppers. . . ''
The rest of the meal was lost in the class's ``EEEE-WWWW-WWWW!''
There were a lot of ``EEEE-WWWW-WWWs'' and ``AAAA-HHHHs'' at the Norfolk school Friday where Lawrence, her no-rinse shampoo and freeze-dried munchies made a post-flight appearance.
The Norfolk stop was one of many the astronaut is making for NASA public-relations purposes following last month's flight on the space shuttle Endeavour. But this visit was a special one.
Susie Prevette's kindergarten class ``adopted'' the astronaut two months ago when Prevette learned of Lawrence's mission.
``My husband and I were stationed at the Naval Academy when Wendy was a midshipman there,'' Prevette said. ``So we've kept up with her over the years. As an extension of our science unit on the night sky and stars, I thought it would be nice if she could adopt us. Then I realized we had it backwards. We should adopt her.''
The class wrote and faxed a good-luck poem to Lawrence before her March 2 liftoff. The children followed the shuttle's progress on the Internet and through news accounts. And when Lawrence touched down in California, the kids' ``Welcome Home'' banner was there blowing in the breeze.
Local businesses sponsored Lawrence's visit to the area, and the astronaut returned the favor by bringing along a video of the crew's orbits around the Earth. ``Before we take off we have to put on our spacesuits to protect ourselves,'' she said.
``From space aliens,'' said one little boy, matter-of-factly.
Minutes later, some of the children held their breath as the video showed the shuttle approaching the landing strip, diving at 300 mph before touching down gently.
``We made 262 orbits around the Earth. Traveled almost 6.9 million miles,'' Lawrence said to a chorus of ``wows.''
Lawrence remembers what it was like to be a child fascinated by the wonders of space and a world beyond. She was 10 when she sat in front of her family's black and white television set and watched Neil Armstrong take his giant leap for mankind.
``I remember telling myself then, `That's what I want to be when I grow up,' '' Lawrence said.
``I feel it's important for these kids to hear this,'' she said. ``To hear that the dreams they have can come true.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by TAMARA VONINSKI, Staff
Children greet astronaut Wendy Lawrence Friday at First Presbyterian
Church Preschool. Lawrence was ``adopted'' by the kindergarten class
and paid the youngsters a visit, which included a video about her
flight on the space shuttle Endeavour last month.
KEYWORDS: ASTRONAUT by CNB