“Houston, we have liftoff.”
Over the past 50 years, the world has watched in amazement as a select few get to go where no man has gone before: space. Since the first space flight, roughly 500 people have had a chance to be astronauts.
Back on Earth, some dream of joining those astronauts to see space, float in zero gravity or even set foot on a distant planet. So it is only fitting that those who have achieved the rank of astronaut offer an incentive for others to try to achieve that dream.
Since 1984, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has granted scholarships to junior and senior students in the fields of science, mathematics and engineering. Founded by the original Mercury astronauts, the ASF created the scholarship to “aid the United States in retaining its world leadership in science and technology,” according to the ASF website
The ASF has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships, $198,000 to N.C. State students alone. And this year, another State student was a recipient.
On Oct. 11 at Talley Student Center, John Stout — a senior in electrical engineering, computer engineering and physics –was awarded a $10,000 scholarship. He was selected out of two finalists from the University to receive the scholarship.
“I just did all my schoolwork, paid attention and took classes that interested me,” Stout said. “Research also helped.”
To commemorate Stout’s achievement, Capt. Frank Culbertson, a member of the ASF, came to award him with the scholarship. Culbertson has been a part of four missions to space and was commander of the International Space Station for four months. He is now vice president of Orbital Sciences Corp., a satellite and space program company.
“This scholarship has been a phenomenal success. The whole idea of it is to keep the next generation interested in space travel. After all, it’s your generation whose ideas we’ll need in these next years,” Culbertson said.
The dean of the College of Engineering, Louis Martin-Vega, spoke to the students, families and faculty present during the ceremony. After his introduction, Culbertson presented Stout with a check for $10,000 and explained via slide show about his exploits in space. According to Culbertson, the current generation will have the chance to explore further in space, with the possibility of landing on Mars or returning to the moon.
Chris Howell, a sophomore in biochemistry, attended the ceremony.
“It was really cool to see all of the pictures of what it’s like up there,” Howell said. “I always wanted to see a space shuttle launch.”
Afterwards, Culbertson answered questions from the students in the audience and stayed for a photo shoot with Stout.
Stout advised any student hoping to receive this scholarship to put in some hard work.
“That’s really all it takes,” Stout said. “Find something that you’re passionate about and just work at it. Don’t give up.”
