Because I Said So

Science for the Science-phobic

by Danielle Wood

Science is a big deal in my house. Crazy me, I married a guy with an undergraduate degree in physics. As an English major who tended to treat science like the eleventh plague, it's been a challenge trying to hide my innate fear of all things scientific. Especially in front of kids.

And I know I'm not alone. Come on, admit it. If you're like most Americans, you tend to tune out when you accidentally run into a story on the radio about the intricacies of gene therapy, or a documentary on the details behind the origins of the universe.

Ah, but here's the rub: as parents, we have the unique ability to save our children from a life of scientific apathy, or outright fear. Get them started early enough, and they just might find this stuff fascinating.

That's why NASA is a parent's best friend. The space agency's newest mission will repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope, which in my mind, has brought science to the people, like no other tool in history. Ask me about the Periodic Table or the ins and outs of DNA and you'll get my best blank stare, but show me one of Hubble's amazing pictures of black holes or supernovas and even I, Ms. Science-phobic, can give an appreciative sigh.

And kids are no different. The Hubble is undeniably cool. For heaven's sake-- it orbits the earth in an astonishing 97 minutes flat-- a rate of 5 miles per second. Hubble is, plain and simple, a fantastic way to peak a child's scientific curiosity. And if the images it shoots back to earth aren't enough, NASA's just announced that they'll send a crew of seven astronauts into orbit in August 2008 to fix it-- a complicated and somewhat dicey adventure sure to spark kids' imaginations. The 11-day shuttle mission will feature five spacewalks and the first ever on-orbit repair of Hubble's most-used instrument, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which failed last January after five years of hefty service. And they're bringing a crew of cameras. Talk about reality TV with an educational twist!