WHEN he was 10 years old Captain Jon A McBride stood in his parents' garden in West Virginia and launched a prototype rocket, one of his own creations. Fast forward to 1979 and he was a Nasa astronaut, joining the ranks of the mere few hundred men and women to have ever flown to space.
"I was one of those many kids back in the 1950s who was building their own rockets," he said. "I wasn't sticking together coffee cups in the shape of a rocket, I was designing them in my mechanical-drawing class and fabricating rockets powered with manmade fuel.
"My team and I got quite advanced, with a string of successes, so I invited my father down to the launch our biggest rocket yet – a three-foot column. Three, two, one and the rocket tilted over sideways – through the grass, through the fence, through my neighbours' fence and so on.
"I will never forget my father saying, 'Woah, Jon, now let's go over to the neighbours' and see how much this is going to cost,'" he laughed.
His youthful determination paid off, as he went on to enjoy a successful career as a navy pilot and Nasa astronaut. Even now at age 76, he still has goals: "I want to be the oldest man to go to space."
McBride was recounting his personal story during a recent visit to Belfast to encourage Irish visitors to visit Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
Built in 1967, the attraction allows visitors from around the world to experience their own space adventure by exploring the exciting past, present and future of the US space programme with a host of interactive activities, authentic space-programme exhibits and behind-the-scenes tours of the Nasa facility.
Following his retirement 10 years ago, McBride remains actively involved in the Kennedy Space Centre. It was his idea to start its popular Dine With An Astronaut event, where veteran astronauts tell tales of what it’s really like to launch into, live and work in space, during a buffet meal.
He also acts as a guide for its Fly With An Astronaut tour and has used his skills as an aeronautical engineer to help improve the space centre's Space Shuttle Experience ride.
At the Dine With An Astronaut event in Belfast's Titanic Hotel McBride recalled how his journey towards space was preceded by a successful career in the US navy, where he was a fighter pilot. He has logged more than 8,800 hours flying time – including 64 combat missions during the Vietnam war.
"I flew the highest performance aircraft at the time, flying from 0 to 180mph in four seconds. Aircraft-carrier landing is the most exacting form of aviation. I did that about 600 times and the best thing was my landings matched my take-offs," said McBride, who relived, with great joy, the day he received a telephone call inviting him to join the Nasa shuttle space programme.
"They screened 18,000 of us and out of that picked 200 for a week-long interview. Four months later I was in California testing airborne missile systems and my phone rang at 6am one January morning. I was asked if I still wanted to go down and drive space shuttles? My reply was 'Yes Sir – when?'"
McBride joined a team of 35, including, for the first time, a new category of mission specialists – experts in science, technology, engineering and medicine. He went on to pilot space shuttle mission 41-G, and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. It was the first crew of seven, including the first female astronaut Sally Ride.
"I was blessed to be the first group of space shuttle astronauts and it's been a wonderful career," the ex-astronaut, who painted a picture of life in space and showed us aerial shots taken from above – including a cloud-covered Ireland – said.
"For years we've been trying to get a cloud-free day to take a picture of the whole island with no clouds – we are still waiting," he laughed.
His overriding memory is the endless sunsets and sunrises.
"We circled the Earth 16 times a day and travelling into the horizon at 18,000kph you have a 10-second sunrise and sunset every 45 minutes. Each and every one is spectacular and the excitement never ends."
He spoke about how, post-space-flight, the astronauts had to learn to walk again and regain a sense of gravity.
"We would walk around the shuttle after landing for an hour. You do not want to fall down the steps in front of the television cameras. The van then took us back inside and we would have a warm shower – which felt like the most luxurious thing ever."
This July sees the 50th anniversary of the historical Apollo 11 1969 Moon landing, which will be celebrated at the Kennedy Space Center.
McBride was a personal friend of Neil Armstrong.
"I knew all the 12 men who walked on the moon. Neil was a fellow squadron pilot and huge inspiration to me. He was one of the most intelligent and talented men I ever met. The last time I seen him was in the Kennedy Space Center over lunch just months before he passed away."
After an eight-year absence, this year sees astronauts once again launch into space from American soil, with numerous rocket launches scheduled to take place at Kennedy, including Nasa science missions and commercial space endeavours such as SpaceX.
McBride's hope for the future is that man will step on Mars during his lifetime.
"Of course you can't explore space unless you fund it. We need a challenge like Present Kennedy gave in 1961 when he said 'We are going to get to the Moon before the end of the decade'. This gets young people interested in science and technology to be future engineers and astronauts," McBride said, before shouting: "I wish Ireland would do it!"
He is proud of his Irish ancestry and was combining his UK and Ireland working tour, with a family trip around Ireland with his wife, daughter and son-in-law.
"My family came from Donegal. I researched them in Ellis Island, where it is documented they came from Cork – because that is where they sailed from. There is a John McBride up in Donegal, who owns a fish company who would be my fourth generation cousin on my great, great, grandfathers side. It's always good to be back."
:: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is a 45-minute drive from Orlando, Florida. Opening daily at 9am, the closing times varies by season. Admission is $57 plus tax for adults and $47 plus tax for children ages three to 11. For more information see kennedyspacecenter.com
