'It was amazing' - two Banbury school students witness launch of Space X Falcon 9 rocket in Florida

Wykham Park Academy sixth formers Joshua Nunn and Winston Day travelled to Cocoa Beach alongside ten other students to watch the launch.

The students were chosen to attend the trip following a stringent selection process and were selected for their curiosity and interest in NASA as well as their academic ability.

Leader of the trip and associate assistant principal at Wykham Park, Simon Sterland, said: “We take students who are going to get something out of the experience, whether that be in terms of their academic or personal development.

"The trip to NASA is often life-changing, and it’s always unique depending on NASA’s launch services programme. We were very fortunate to have witnessed the launch of PACE, especially since its scheduled launch was delayed.”

The students were selected from across the Aspirations Academies Trust's six senior most schools in the country, and the cost of the trip was entirely covered by the trust, which manages 16 schools in southern England.

Wykham Park sixth former Joshua Nunn said: “It was amazing, standing on the beach in the middle of the night, watching the flashing lights from Cape Canaveral, and waiting for the blast off... I’ve never been so excited!”

The 12 students were fortunate enough to watch as PACE - NASA’s satellite mission to study ocean health, air quality, and the effects of a changing climate - was launched successfully into orbit at 1.33 am last Thursday (February 9).

Winston Day said: “We’d felt a bit disappointed when the original launch was postponed, but it was well worth the wait. When Falcon 9 blasted off, it lit up the whole sky, like a sun rising at speed. And then shortly after, the sky went black again, and all you could hear was the rocket. It was genuinely awesome!”

As well as the launch, the students visited local schools, toured the American Space Museum, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum and enjoyed discussions with NASA engineers and scientists.