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Display Rockets Boys into Outer Space Two Cousins Are Among a Projected 8,000 Visitors at the International Space Station Exhibit at Septemberfest.

Posted on: Wednesday, 8 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

Septemberfest's rides and games had to wait. Cousins Mason Fields and Tyler Knop first headed straight for outer space.

Blastoff to NASA's International Space Station exhibit was slightly delayed, though. The display hadn't opened for the day when they arrived after marching in the Labor Day parade. The boys' enthusiasm wasn't diminished.

"I really like learning about planets and how people discovered them," said 6-year-old Tyler, son of Brian and Jodie Knop of Omaha. He read up on space by checking out library books.

The boys were among about 6,000 visitors to the display as of the beginning of its fifth day. Mark Patach, vice president of Local 31 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union, said he expected the number to top 8,000 by its closing Monday, the final day of the Septemberfest exhibit.

Union members volunteer to set up and staff the exhibit, which is delivered from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The first stop of the threestage tour was the favorite of 5-year- old Mason, son of Steven and Dana Fields, who is moving with his family to Omaha from Minneapolis. The five-minute video explained how 16 countries, including the United States, are cooperating to build the million-pound space station with six laboratories and internal volume roughly equal to the passenger cabin of a 747 jet.

The space station is so bright, the boys learned, that it is visible in the sky without a telescope. It appears to be an extra bright star. NASA provides updates on when the station will be over cities -- www.jsc.nasa. gov/isssightings -- and it should be visible over Omaha for one minute at 8:29 p.m. Thursday, one of the more convenient times for children to see it.

The habitation module showed how astronauts live on the space station. With gravity not an issue, every surface is used, including top and bottom. Mason began to step into a vertical sleeping bag, then thought the better of it.

"I'm not getting in there," he said.

Tyler found the last module -- the laboratory -- the most interesting. The space station gives researchers the opportunity to perform experiments without the influence of gravity. He and Mason spent extra time checking out examples of plant experiments.

Despite their interest, neither boy was ready to declare space his career destination. Mason said he still was definite on his plan to become a paleontologist.

Tyler said he'll wait to decide on his future. "I'll have to see when I'm older if I want to go into space. I might want to be an astronaut or a scientist about astronauts."

Leaving the exhibit, Mason declared it time to return to Earth.

"Let's end our visit to outer space."

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