Contest winner witnesses shuttle launch

For Kayla LaFrance, the launch of the space Shuttle Endeavour was a dream come true.

Instead of watching the event on NASA television, she witnessed it in Florida as a VIP guest of NASA.

“I watched if from the Banana Creek viewing site,” she said with a grin. “It’s 3.1 miles from the launchpad but is the closest human beings are allowed.”

LaFrance, a longtime Greenacres resident and Central Valley High School graduate, won the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s “Greatest Fan” video contest in October 2006. The five-day excursion to Kennedy Space Center to witness the shuttle launch was the grand prize.

During a quick visit home after the launch, LaFrance reflected on her trip. Pointing to the NASA emblem on her polo shirt, she laughed and said, “I dropped a few (dollars) at the gift store.”

She called the trip an amazing experience. “We toured Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral,” she said. “I got to see the Apollo I site, which is now a memorial to the astronauts who died in the fire,” she said, recalling the three men killed during a launchpad test in 1967.

LaFrance said NASA treated her well during her visit. “They called me up and introduced me at the press auditorium,” she said. And NASA presented her with a red-white-and-blue ribbon that read “NASA’s Greatest Fan.”

She said she also enjoyed visiting with Pat Forrester, her astronaut escort.

LaFrance enthused about her tour of the space shuttle process facility.

“It’s basically the garage for all the components of the International Space Station. We provide the work space for all the countries involved,” she said. “We heard Italian and Japanese being spoken as people worked together with one goal in mind.”

Surprisingly, the shuttle launch itself wasn’t as compelling to LaFrance as one other aspect of the trip.

“The most moving thing for me was going into Bay 3, the orbiter processing facility. The shuttle Discovery was there. I stood right underneath it. To have it within touching distance made it all seem more real,” she said.

LaFrance has pursued her dream of being an astronaut since age 12.

“I’ve known nothing else,” she said. “I mowed lawns for two years to be able to go to space camp.”

This summer, things came full circle as LaFrance served as a counselor at the same camp she had worked so hard to attend.

Currently, LaFrance is a senior at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., majoring in engineering physics.

She has a long academic road ahead. “These days, you need a Ph.D. to be an astronaut,” she said. “I’m still 20 years away from going up.”

For now, LaFrance is content with her experience as eyewitness to a chapter in history.

“The launch happened much faster than I expected,” she said. “At T-minus-six when the main engines ignited, you heard this big boom, followed by a very unique crackling noise. Actually, you can feel the sound before you hear it.”

LaFrance said the observers grew silent 78 seconds after Endeavor had left the launchpad. “That’s when we lost the (shuttle) Challenger,” she noted.

Then, less than a minute and a half after launch, Endeavor was no longer visible to the naked eye.

LaFrance summed up the experience, “Knowing that this is what your dreams have been made of your whole life makes it feel more attainable.”