by Alan Jacques
(Photo by: Keith Wiseman)
COUNTY Limerick primary school students explored the final frontier this week without their feet having to leave the ground when astronaut Al Worden met with them during his visit to the Mid-West.
One of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, Worden, the command module pilot on board the Apollo 15, was in Limerick to launch the Lough Gur Summer Solistice Festival and the dark sky initiative.
During his second visit to Lough Gur, the lunar explorer met with students from Manister National School to help them learn more about space and science. In a thrilling presentation Worden enthralled young minds as he detailed the steps involved to become an astronaut, the intense training process and the insight into what life was like on board the Apollo 15 spacecraft.
“Technology is moving at such a rapid pace that the jobs that science and engineering jobs that you will do may not have been invented yet – you are our future explorers,” he told the Manister pupils.
Worden was so greatly impressed by his visit in 2014 that he agreed to become a patron of the Lough Gur Development organisation.
“When I visited Lough Gur last year my only thought was how do I get back here again. I am greatly interested in Lough Gur as I believe that the evidence left by our ancestors can show us where we are going to in our future, they greatly understood the night sky and through the monuments reflected its greatness,” he said.
