Chapter Six

In the afternoon, Mr. O’Reilly told the class he had a surprise for everyone.

“Principal Dowling has arranged for every kid in our whole school to be able to watch the upcoming launch of the space shuttle Challenger!”

Nova twitched in her seat. Miss Chambers shot her a knowing smile.

“Seventh and eighth grades will go to the auditorium, but sixth graders will watch in your classrooms. We’re going to wheel in one of the rainy-day-recess TVs and cable network CNN will broadcast it for kids across America. Now, who can tell me what’s special about Challenger?”

Nova wriggled and squeaked. She raised her hand, the way Mr. O’Reilly was always reminding kids to do if they shouted out answers. He saw her hand and nodded, but then he pointed to a frizzy-haired girl in the front row.

“Julia?”

“NASA and President Reagan held a big contest to find someone to be the First Teacher in Space and the one they picked will teach lessons from on board the shuttle.”

“That’s right!” Mr. O’Reilly high-fived her. “Can anyone tell me what state the winning teacher is from?”

This time, Nova put up two hands. But Zach Zbornak shouted out his answer without raising even one.

“She’s from here! New Hampshire!”

“That’s right, Zach! But don’t forget to raise your hand.”

“Who went to space first?” asked Front Row Julia. “Was it Buzz Aldrin?”

RUSSIA! Nova wanted to scream. The first person in space was a Russian named Yuri Gagarin.

“Guhguhguhguhguh!” she cried, unable to pronounce the cosmonaut’s last name. She wanted to add that Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut in space, had been from New Hampshire, just like them. Just like Christa McAuliffe. “Nuh-ha! Mm!”

“Nova, let’s settle down, please. You’re getting a little loud,” said Miss Chambers softly. Nova glanced around. Her classmates were staring at her, including Mallory and Mary-Beth.

“Class? Eyes up here!” ordered Mr. O’Reilly. “Which country went into space first?” He pointed at a tall boy in the back. “Winslow?”

“Uh…America?”

Nova grunted and slapped her hands down on the desk. Why hadn’t Mr. O’Reilly called on her? She knew it was not America!

“Nope! Russia beat us by a few weeks! That cosmonaut’s name was Yuri Gagarin. Write that down.”

Mallory, Mary-Beth, and the rest of the kids who could take notes picked up their pencils.

“Now, does anyone here have any idea how a space shuttle gets off the ground?”

“Ah-ah-ah-mm!” shouted Nova. She stood, raised one hand again, and smacked the desktop one-two-three-four times with the other. Bridget had taught her all about how a space shuttle works by shooting fuel out of the bottom so hard and fast it’s the pressure against the earth that launches it into orbit. It takes off like a rocket but lands like an airplane.