Summary:
- NASA SpaceX crew 7, including Long Island native Jasmine Mugbelli, successfully blasted off from Kennedy Space Center on a mission to the International Space Station.
- Mugbelli, a former student of Linux Elementary School and Baldwin High School, fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut and leading the crew.
- Her teachers and the community express immense pride and excitement as they watch her embark on this incredible journey.
- Mugbelli plans to conduct numerous science experiments during her six-month mission in space.
This morning the NASA SpaceX crew 7 blasted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida just a few hours ago. It's now on its way to the International Space Station. On board is local astronaut Jasmine Mugbelli. Long Island reporter Chanteland spoke to some of her former teachers who are so excited to see her take this incredible journey.
It's the launch that Long Island native Jasmine Mugbelli has been waiting for. She still wakes up every morning, and it feels like a pinch-me moment to think that she's actually an astronaut right now. From humble beginnings at Linux Elementary School, Baldwin High School, and middle school, NASA astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Jasmine Mugbelli is the commander of the space crew seven mission to the International Space Station. She's the leader and only woman on the crew, fulfilling her lifelong dream of blasting off into outer space.
And who better to watch this now wife and mother of two reach for the stars from Kennedy Space Center in Florida than her own first-grade and reading elementary school teachers and Baldwin school superintendent Dr. Sherry Cammy. They are so proud, excited, and hopeful. She spent a lot of time with our elementary students and our high school students. What's it like being back in these halls? It feels incredible, a lot of it feels the same and very familiar.
I interviewed Lieutenant Mugbelli inside Linux Elementary School five months ago as she revisited her roots, helping students fall for her first love of Science. Fifth-grader Mia Jones painted this picture that's expected to be on board with Mugbelli. But back on earth, in her hometown of Baldwin, complete strangers are proud. Incredible. I want her to know that her whole entire community is rooting for her.
Lieutenant Jasmine Mugbelli tells me she'll be doing science experiments on her body and on objects to see how humans react in space. She says her crew will perform 200 of them over six months. And oh, by the way, she plans to call in live to chat with hundreds of Baldwin students.