Despitesome technical glitches, Sacramento State provided the public with a free viewing of the Space Shuttle Discovery launch Thursday afternoon.

“It is the last mission of Discovery and it’s the next-to-last mission of the space shuttle ever so it marks a historic moment for everybody to see,” said Emir Jose Macari, dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.

More than 40 people filled the small Lobby Suite in the University Union to see Discovery launched into space.

Although the space shuttle launched on schedule without any problems, the audience at Sac State experienced technical difficulties. About two minutes before the scheduled liftoff, the live broadcast on NASA’s website turned to a blank screen. The broadcast resumed when the space shuttle was already up in the air.

“Obviously there were a lot of people that logged in at the same time to see the launch itself so it froze our system and people were a little disappointed. I was more disappointed than them, but at least it was a successful mission and a good launch so we’re real happy,” hesaid.

Daniel Fraga, senior mechanical engineering major, remained optimistic even though he wasn’t able to experience the space shuttle’s countdown.

“I don’t see it as any big deal,” hesaid. “We missed the shuttle taking off but we still got to see that the mission was successful, everything ran safely and there were no more delays. Just the fact that everything went well is good enough.”

Prior to the launch, Macari and Jose Granda, professor of mechanical engineering and NASA faculty fellow, talked about space shuttle history and the role that Sac State students played in the current mission.

“Our students here at Sac State have helped in modeling and simulation of the robotic arm, as the space shuttle docks with the international space station, so it’s very important to us,” Macari said.

Macari and Granda also used the time before the shuttle launch to award scholarships to four local high school students. The scholarships were awarded based on individual excellence in science, math or engineering. The scholarship money is funded by grants from the California Space Grant Consortium.

Junior civil engineering majorRebeca Reyes Spindola, who volunteers for NASA, said she is excited that Sac State is working closely with NASA and the community.

“NASA and the whole science space program doesn’t get enough attention like it used to, which is very unfortunate, so the more awareness we can bring to it is great,” shesaid.

Reyes Spindola was most enthused to see many young children in the audience.

“That was probably my favorite part,” Reyes Spindola said. “Seeing the little kids up front, and the little kid in the astronaut suit, that was adorable. Just to see that they are excited about a shuttle launch, that’s awesome.”

Decked out in a white astronaut suit and a space helmet, 3-year-old Oliver Dzurny came with his mother and siblings to watch the space shuttle launch.

“I like space because it’s fun,” Oliver said.

Oliver’s mother, Trinia Dzurny, said her son wants to do space mission control when he grows up.

“He brought his space helmet so he’s ready to go,” Dzurny said. “He knows Apollo, all the different kinds of missions, and he’s only 3.”

Inna Gritsak can be reached at [email protected]