Casey Carroll was a 2nd grader at PVPV/Rawlings Elementary when he received the opportunity of a lifetime. Last September 2014, his grandfather, local resident Bruce Kern took him on a special trip to Houston to visit the Johnson Space Center. Casey and Bruce spent 5 hours with Terry Virts, the NASA Commander of Expedition 43.
They received a behind the scenes tour of NASA’s training center including a stop at Mission Control that has 24/7 contact with the International Space Station and the astronauts who live there.
Commander Virts launched in November of last year and spent over 6 months at the International Space Station completing science experiments and investigations, repairing the ISS, and taking amazing photographs. You can find these photos and more information on Expedition 43 at: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition43/index.html.
Fast forward to November 19, 2015. Casey was asked by his 3rd grade teacher to share his trip meeting Commander Virts and visiting the training facility in Houston. During his presentation, Terry Virts walked into the classroom to surprise Casey and spend time talking to the students about his time as an astronaut and answering many questions about life in space.
It was truly a once in a lifetime morning for the children and teachers to get up close and personal with a true American astronaut.
—Submitted by PVPV/Rawlings Elementary School
