Wednesday, February 5, 2003

Astronaut visits CAP meeting Local Civil Air Patrol members put out the welcome mat for a special visitor, NASA Astronaut Eric A. Boe, at their Jan. 23 meeting. Boe flew in from Houston in his NASA T-38 jet. He was welcomed to the Peachtree City­Falcon Field Squadron in Fayetteville by squadron commander Maj Vince Murray II, and introduced by his former commander, Lt Col Phil Bowden. Astronaut Boe, a major in the U. S. Air Force, is no stranger to CAP. He began his aviation career as a Georgia CAP cadet in 1976 with Atlanta Composite Squadron II at Ft. Gillem in Forest Park. To the great satisfaction of his CAP cadet audience, Astronaut Boe told them that he has kept continuous membership in CAP during his cadet years at the U. S. Air Force Academy (class of '87), and throughout his Air Force ­ and now NASA career. To the delight of the CAP squadron members, Astronaut Boe promises that when he makes his first space flight as a space shuttle pilot, that he will carry the Peachtree City­Falcon Field Squadron patch into orbit and return it to them. Astronaut Boe showed a short NASA video of current space shuttle and International Space Station activities. He then spoke about his years as a CAP cadet, told about his experiences as an Air Force test pilot, flying 55 combat missions over Iraq, and how he volunteered for NASA. Boe gave great credit to his early CAP training. He then fielded many eager questions from squadron cadets and senior member staff. Boe brought with him a stack of official NASA photos of himself, and to the delight of the some 50 CAP cadets present, inscribed each photo with a personal note for every one of them. Nobody wanted "their" astronaut to leave, but he had to fly back to Houston. What do you think of this story? Click here to send a message to the editor. Back to the News Home Page| Back to the top of the page