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Roger
Crouch is an astronaut. When he talks to school groups, he tells them to keep
trying -- no matter how hard something is! And he knows what he is talking
about.
From the time he was a kid, Crouch wanted to travel into space. It took him
over 40 years, but he finally made it.
Crouch became interested in going to space when he was in elementary school. No
one had been to the moon then. But he saw a movie about a trip to the moon. By
the end of the movie, Crouch knew he wanted to fly into space.
When Crouch went to high school, there were no real-life astronauts yet.
Crouch's role models were jet pilots like Chuck Yeager. Chuck Yeager was the
first human to fly faster than the speed of sound. Crouch decided he wanted to
be a jet pilot, too. But no one would let him! Something was wrong with his
eyes. He has trouble seeing the difference between certain colors. He is
"colorblind." And jet pilots can't be colorblind! They have to be able to see
all colors. Crouch kept trying to be a pilot, but without success.
Soon, Crouch found some new heroes. They worked for NASA and trained to fly
into space. They were the first astronauts. Some astronauts were also
scientists. Crouch thought that would be a perfect job. In college, he decided
to be a scientist. He hoped that would help him become an astronaut someday.
But Crouch's eyes caused trouble again. At that time, astronauts had to be able
to see all colors, just like jet pilots. So, he couldn’t be an astronaut.
Most people would have given up their dream. But not Roger Crouch -- he just
kept trying!
He
worked at NASA as a scientist. His experiments flew on the space shuttle. He
helped the shuttle crews. And he didn't give up his dream of being an
astronaut.
Then something exciting happened. NASA had a new astronaut job, the payload
specialist. A payload specialist was an expert who trained to conduct
experiments for one single space flight. After returning to Earth, the
specialist went back to a regular job. Most payload specialists just flew one
time.
Roger Crouch applied to be a payload specialist. The eye test was not as strict
for that job. Finally, when he was 56 years old, Crouch’s hard work paid off.
NASA accepted him for a shuttle flight as a payload specialist. Not only that,
but he actually got to fly twice! His first flight had problems and had to
return to Earth early. Crouch thought his only chance to fly was over. NASA had
other plans. They fixed the problem with the shuttle. A few months later,
Crouch and the whole crew flew into space again.
Now, Roger Crouch uses his amazing story of two flights into space to teach the
same lesson your parents and teachers share with you. Never give up!
Recently, I am doing great!
Although It is not easy, Everything is under control!
No matter what happened, it is possible to find solutions
Therefore, nothing to worry!
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