CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Owen Hauptmann, 5, viewed a sunspot through a reflector telescope yesterday at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy Open House. Pictured with Owen is his father, Erik Hauptmann, and Bob McLaren of the institute.
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Space fair puts kids in orbit
Devin Hartzell pumped as fast as his little arms could, turning his head to protect his face.
BOOM. Devin quickly looked up and saw his rocket fly at least 20 feet into the sky, with his dad's launching a second later.
"That was a good one!" Devin, 6, told his father, Will Hartzell. "We sent it into orbit!"
Their "rockets" were actually water-filled 2-liter bottles, sent skyward by air from bicycle pumps.
It was Devin's third year attending the annual University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy's open house yesterday in Manoa, which drew about 1,500 people.
Families learned about astronomy by playing games or by peering through filtered telescopes at the sun or Venus, visible in the daytime sky.
"My favorite game is the Mars drop," said Devin, a kindergartner at Punahou School, referring to a game simulating a spacecraft landing on Mars. Players try to package a raw egg so it doesn't break when dropped from the second floor.
"My egg didn't survive," Devin confessed. "I liked it because I don't like eggs -- and I just killed one."
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kaehu Topping, 4, had stars painted on her face at the UH Institute for Astronomy open house. Yesterday's event drew about 1,500 people.
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Little children with their faces painted with planets walked around with their parents, looking for games to play.
Tate Yamashita, 4, and 2-year-old brother Tobey, of Aiea, gazed through telescopes at the sun, a red dot.
"You can see their eyes getting bigger and wider when they look through the telescopes," said Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, director of the UH Institute for Astronomy. "We're happy that we can create an excitement for science."
The institute made the open house educational by including lectures on space but kept it mostly fun.
Kaehu Topping, 4, built an airbag cushion using marshmallows and pretzels to protect an M&M "payload."
"The M&M is worth half a million dollars in equipment," Joanne Bogan of the Bishop Museum told children as they connected the marshmallows using the pretzels. "That's what you have to protect."
Kaehu took the mission seriously, being careful with the M&M, said her mother, Sunshine Topping.
"I think it's fantastic," she said of the event. "I work in the high-tech industry, and we're always trying to get local children interested in these careers. This is phenomenal."
Her mission complete, Kaehu popped the M&M into her mouth.
