Not since we sat through the opening titles of Apollo 13 could we predict a space shuttle launch run into disaster. But news have just reached us that a group of blind students are to launch a space shuttle from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility this week.

OK, we will stop being so negative, we really do think this is one small step for mankind and one giant leap for the blind and it will just go to show that people who have impaired or no vision are just as equal as those who do. Well, unless the bloody thing blows up!

A group of blind students have been learning incredible tense and

complicated scientific stuff at a Summer camp in Baltmore at the Blind Jernigan Institute. The project hopes to widen education skills which are taught to some of the 100,000 blind students which live in the States. The chosen few were picked from various universities depending on their writing skills and grade results. In other words they were pretty damn intelligent! After the group was decided they were divided into three separate teams. Each team was given a specific task to carry out. These were trajectory, payload and the launch operations.

Now for those of you who are no expert in the field of rocket science payload means that the rockets light, speed, pressure and light will be monitored by sensors. The data which the sensors collect is then transmitted back during flight to the ground so the students can gather information.

The work leading up to the flight has included various experiments and pratical work, for instance, two bottles were pumped with air. This helped the students understand how the rocket is launched as they could not only feel, but hear the bottles being pumped. This is because the rocket itself the fuel is needed so that the gas can escape.

It wasn't a real

rocket!

You see, ABLE2UK really is a website of knowledge. Compare the previous paragraph to the opening titles to 80's children's show 'Button Moon' where a rocket just lifted off by being yanked by a piece of string! Another thing, the SCOPE site doesn't give you all this bloody detail...anyway back to our story..

Another small experiment which was carried out with the students was with wooden dowels. Students, who luckily didn't have coordination problems as well!, balanced the dowels on their fingers so they could identify the center of gravity. They could relate this to how

the motors change the center of a rocket's gravity.

Now its time to include a quote to make the story look more professional and padded out. This quote comes from the chief of the rocket program, Phil Eberspeaker,

"This is a good way to expose students and their parents and the public to the fact that there's no boundary, it's all in your head, there's nothing stopping them, all it takes is your brain and creativity."

The launch takes place on the Thursday and with all shuttle launches there is a fear something could go wrong. Holby Welder is one of the students taking part, he said,

"We're responsible for the launch, and what happens happens. If we mess it up, it's our fault"

Mind you, if there is a cock-up, he can always turn a blind eye!!!!!!!!!!