Friday, April 11, 2008

Trip of a lifetime for space fan

The Ledbury Reporter: "Space fan from Worcester visits NASA;" Some are satisfied merely with a glimpse.

A SPACE fan will be taking one giant leap when he travels to the USA to carry out research on lunar landings.

David Cotterill, who lives in Ledbury and is the head of design and technology at the RGS Worcester and The Alice Ottley School (RGSAO) will spend five weeks Stateside in June after successfully applying for funding from the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship Chance of a Lifetime awards.

His research into the human and engineering perspective of lunar landings will first take him to the Cradle of Aviation museum in New York, then the Smithsonian museum in Washington, the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, and the Manned Spaceflight Centre in Houston.

He had originally hoped to shadow staff at NASA, but had to change his plans after they were inundated with similar requests.

Mr Cotterill, 51, said it was the trip of a lifetime.

"Since I was a child I have had an interest in the space industry. As a design and technology teacher I have become interested in the engineering aspects of space flight," he said. "I aim to produce some educational material for use in secondary schools and to produce a number of articles to be featured in magazines for schools."