Not sure about you, but I have been stalking the CRS2-NG-14 (Cygnus SS Kalpana Chawla).

Psst…it’s a rocket.

Why am I stalking a rocket?

Simple. The book selected by ALIA for next year’s National Simultaneous Storytime is on that rocket! Not only that – it is going to be read by an astronaut on May 19th 2021 at 11am.

So, imagine a teacher librarian (me), the Head of Information Services (my boss) and the JS digital integrator getting all glammed up on October 1 from 11.30am for a Zoom of the event. The plan was perfect…we’d abandon our holiday plans for the morning, record the moment, gasp and sigh about how wonderfully engaging it was for students, and let the school community join in once we got back to school.

What fun! A masterstroke of pedagogical thinking.

What’s the saying? Never count your chickens..?

ABORT MISSION!

Apparently someone pressed the wrong button and with 4 minutes to go the launch was “scrubbed”.  We missed the relaunch…I’m very keen but fall short of being obsessed. And I do like my sleep.

You will be glad to know that all was not lost.

The process did introduce me to RocketLaunch.Live. It provides details of upcoming launches (who knew so many things got jettisoned into space!). They profess to be the most up-to-date information service about orbital rocket launches worldwide.

Launches are searchable and recorded. We did get to see the NSS book get launched after all.

As an information service, this site is effective and engaging. It streams NASA TV during the pre-launch period, and closed captions allow students with additional accessibility needs to experience the thrill of live and expert activity. It also includes a range of articles which spell out the purpose and challenges of each mission.

Well worth a look!

Cath

Australian Library and Information Association (n.d.). ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime 2021. https://www.alia.org.au/nss

Pitts, D. (n.d). [Photograph of rocket launching into space]. The Franklin Institute. https://www.fi.edu/blog/How-Does-Weather-Affect-a-Rocket-Launch%3F