Sen. Bill Nelson joins Buffalo Creek Middle School students for ‘Great American Eclipse’

A couple hundred Buffalo Creek Middle School students were tucked safely indoors during Monday’s total eclipse for a live viewing of NASA’s coverage across the nation.

They were joined by a well-known space expert.

Former astronaut Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., joined the students for their live viewing and provided an education as to what occurs during an eclipse. Nelson fielded more than a dozen questions from the students after his presentation. They were more curious about Nelson’s space travels, including the biggest question of all.

“How do you go to the bathroom in space?” “Very carefully,” Nelson responded.

Nelson went up into low orbit during the early years of the space shuttle program and was on the flight just before the fatal voyage of the Challenger — it lifted off 10 days after Nelson returned to earth, only to blow apart 73 seconds into its flight, killing all seven aboard. Nelson outlined what happened that tragic day, but said America’s space travel future is in good hands.

Within two years, the U.S. will launch the largest rocket ever, which is the prototype for a manned mission to Mars in 2033. One of Nelson’s former space shuttle teammates is developing a plasma fuel that will cut travel time to Mars from eight to 10 months to just 39 days.

Nelson was impressed with the line of questioning from the students and their enthusiasm for his visit.

“Can you imagine a group of sixth- to eighth-graders sitting and staring for this long? I was amazed,” Nelson said. “When you start talking about space, their eyes light up and they are tracking right along with you.”

Nelson supported Manatee County School District Superintendent Diana Greene’s decision to keep Manatee County students indoors during the eclipse, noting it as a serious safety issue. More than 9,300 students, or about 19 percent of the student body, were absent on Monday.

“Our No. 1 priority is to ensure the safety of our students,” Greene said post-eclipse. “Because we could not certify glasses for 49,000 students, we just felt it would be in the best interest of all that our students were indoors where they could watch it live streaming. We encouraged our teachers to teach about the topic of a solar eclipse, but not put our students into any situation that would be harmful to their eyes or harmful to their health.”

Greene said Nelson’s visit was a “fabulous experience” for the school district and students of Buffalo Creek Middle School.

“Sen. Nelson had a life before he became a U.S. senator, and for him to share what he has done when he was an astronaut, and for the students to be so engaged in wanting to understand what it was like to be in space, is just phenomenal,” she said.

This story was originally published August 21, 2017 at 4:43 PM with the headline "Sen. Bill Nelson joins Buffalo Creek Middle School students for ‘Great American Eclipse’."