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The trip of my dreams <\/h2>\n\n
Scout Simon <\/strong>Shemetilo <\/strong>won a VIP visit to a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral <\/p>\n\n At 22:59 EST on 17 February 2023, I was fortunate enough to be at Cape Canaveral to witness the launch of the Inmarsat I-6 F2 communications satellite. I\u2019d won a competition run by Inmarsat for the Scouts and my entry was selected by British astronaut Tim Peake! <\/p>\n\n My entry was all about how space can help reduce global warming on planet Earth. Being a Scout has really helped me to appreciate the environment we live in and what\u2019s beyond it, through developing my skills with activities like the Astronautics activity badge and the Community Impact badge. <\/p>\n\n This was the trip of my dreams because it\u2019s the area I am most passionate about. Space and the developments within it have had a big impact on me, inspiring me to pursue a career in the aerospace industry. The trip gave me the opportunity to take a closer look into the path I want to take and we got the full VIP experience. I was able to talk to the team that made the satellite launch possible, and learn about all the challenges they had to overcome to get the satellite into space. <\/p>\n\n Waiting for the flight to Florida I couldn\u2019t believe that this trip was a reality. I was so excited as we walked around Kennedy Space Center, seeing the historic exhibitions first-hand. One of the best parts was being able to see the Falcon 9 rocket standing on the launch pad ready for take-off. We must have been only 100 metres away, but seeing a rocket in person is completely different to seeing it in a movie \u2013 it is colossal! <\/p>\n\n Before the launch, we were given a presentation by Inmarsat and SpaceX where they explained how the satellite would be carried up and what its function would be for the next 15 years, as well as the flight plan of how the rocket would take off and deliver the satellite into orbit. For me this was brilliant; the most intriguing presentation I have ever seen.<\/span><\/p>\n\n But of course, the part I was most looking forward to was seeing the actual launch. We got to view it from the balcony of a building directly next to NASA\u2019s massive Vehicle Assembly Building. The launch pad itself was isolated off in the distance and the night was pitch black while we waited for the countdown. <\/p>\n\n We were apprehensive as the final 10 seconds of the countdown came over the loudspeakers from mission control, and then the engines ignited and lit up the whole sky. It was completely awe-inspiring and all we could do was watch on in silence. About 10 seconds after lift-off, a thundering sound developed from the direction of the launch pad and grew steadily louder, until the entire building started shaking. That gave me an appreciation for the rocket\u2019s true power. It was phenomenal! <\/p>\n\n It was truly an unforgettable experience that will stay with me for a lifetime. <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n 16-year-old Simon Shemetilo <\/strong>from Tower Hamlets joined the Scouts as a Cub Scout. His winning entry researched how future satellites could perform data storage in space <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Scout Simon Shemetilo won a VIP visit to a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":44101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"25","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"25","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_25-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_25-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"May-2023","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"May-2023","purple_external_id":"May-2023-25-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"May-2023-25-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000086564||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000086564||","purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.216","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.skyatnight.216","purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.216","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.skyatnight.216","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"075fab74-0a21-4201-866a-899d6c41c40c","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[14],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview.jpg",1600,1067,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview.jpg",1600,1067,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Scout Simon Shemetilo won a VIP visit to a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43703"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43703"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44392,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43703\/revisions\/44392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/04\/At-KSC_Ralph-Hewitt_preview-1024x683.jpg\")
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