Endeavour 'carries piece of NZ' to space

A trip by New Plymouth Boys' High School pupil Charley Miles to NASA's Lyndon B Johnston Space Center in 2005 has had a surprise postscript.

Commander Scott Kelly, head of the space shuttle mission now in space, told a website for collectors of space memorabilia that he had taken with him a little piece of New Zealand – the school's black and gold crest.

"I had a kid ask from some school in New Zealand, a kid I met one time, if I would fly his New Zealand striped, really cool looking blazer from his school, but I said it was too big. So what I did "fly' was the crest," he said.

Charley Miles, then aged 17, attended the International Space School in Houston, Texas, in 2006 with about 35 other students from around the world.

During their visit, the Discovery landed safely – NASA's first shuttle flight since the 2003 disaster when Columbia disintegrated during re-entry.

Astronauts on the Endeavour shuttle now in space, and due to return on August 22, have been allowed to carry a few personal items.

Most carried souvenirs for family or former workmates or university friends from their education or training – but Cdr Kelly opted for the NZ school crest, and a uniform "patch" from the squadron flying X-31 experimental fighters for the China Lake propulsion laboratory near Edwards Airforce Base in California.

NASA is investigating the state of the shuttle's heat shield damaged during its August 8 liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Florida on August 8.

It is checking whether the exposed felt underlay can resist the hot gases from re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.

- NZPA