When a Falcon 9 rocket hoisted the SpaceX Dragon up from Florida’s atmosphere toward the International Space Station, a little crowd at the University of North Florida was rooting for the Osprey.
NASA astronaut Luke Delaney, a 2006 UNF graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering, piloted the Dragon that left Cape Canaveral Space Force Station October 1 carrying an American, Canadian and Russian crew
.At UNF’s Science and Engineering Building, a watch party to track the flight started a little before the late-morning liftoff.
"Knowing that a UNF alum is doing something that I want to be a part of is very inspiring," said Gabrielle Forbes, an undergraduate astronomy student. She said her fascination with space "is literally my whole point of being
here," praising the school as a great place to study astronomy and aerospace.
"I'm really excited to see him (Delaney) go because he started on the same stomping grounds as I have. So, it's just a really inspiring thing," Forbes said.
That was exactly the reaction boosters had hoped for.
“It’s fantastic we’ve got an Osprey (heading to) space," said Jack Hewitt, an astrophysicist who chairs UNF's physics department, said in a phone interview ahead of the launch date.
"I think Luke is going to be an inspiration to the current and future students at UNF, just being able to do this and showing what’s possible," said Hewitt, who previously worked at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
“There are a lot of students in engineering and physics and chemistry and biology and all the sciences that can end up working for NASA one day. And so, I really hope that inspires them to pursue that. And not just NASA, but also the thriving space start-up industry that we have going in Florida,” Hewitt said.
Mechanical engineering professor Alexandra Schonning remembered Delaney as "exceptional. Clearly, he's showing that again," she added.
"It’s exciting to see that one of our students is making it up into the International Space Station. It sure sets the bar for our students that are here today," Shonning said.
Delaney, a Marine Corps veteran who had a 22-year career in naval aviation, had good memories of the university as well, recounting “the natural oasis that is UNF” during a summer talk with the university’s press office.
He and his wife, Tracy, earned bachelor’s degrees there while their daughters were young.
“It was one of the busier times in our lives with work and school obligations, so we really enjoyed the peaceful moments on campus,” Delaney told the university. “We love the outdoors and have many fond memories of walking the trails...”
Times-Union photojournalist Doug Engle contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: At UNF, fans watch Osprey pilot Dragon to International Space Station
