The first thing Israa Alfadhli thought about after the explosion of a rocket carrying a science experiment created by her and three of her best friends wasn't about their work. It was about the people.
'She wanted to know if anybody was hurt or dead. I told her everyone is OK. She said my heart is broken,' recounted Angel Abdulahad, an enrichment teacher at Wilkinson Middle School.
There were a lot of broken hearts in Madison Heights tonight as the reality hit that months of work and months of anticipation evaporated along with the unmanned rocket that was headed to the International Space Station.
Wilkinson Middle School eighth graders whose experiments are being launched into space are, front row from left, Farah Sabah, 14, and Regina Alsabagh, 14; and back row, from left, Israa Alfadhli, 13, and Maryam Kafra, 13.(Photo: Photo courtesy of Angel Abdulahad)
The unmanned commercial supply rocket exploded moments after liftoff Tuesday evening, with debris falling in flames over the launch site in eastern Virginia. No injuries were reported following the first catastrophic launch in NASA's commercial spaceflight effort. The Madison Heights experiment was one of 18 science experiments created by groups of students through the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
Eighth-graders Regina Alsabagh and Farah Sabah, both 14, and Maryam Kafra and Alfadhli, both 13, designed an experiment on the effect iodine tablets will have on E.coli bacteria in zero gravity. The girls are all refugees from Iraq, having fled the country with their families to escape religious persecution.
Also on board was an astronaut patch designed by Wilkinson eighth-grader Tanner Barndollar. His design was one of 18 selected from across the country. It was to go to space and come back with a certificate stating it had been there.
On Friday, the girls excitedly talked about their experiment and were looking forward to watching the rocket launch. Tonight, they were in tears. And so were some of their parents.
'They had mixed emotions - joy watching your kid's rocket go up followed by devastation,' said Abdulahad, who himself was struggling to come to terms with what happened.
'Honestly I'm just dumbfounded and speechless,' Abdulahad said.
The rocket was originally scheduled to launch Monday, but was canceled at the last minute because an errant boat was spotted near the launch site. The district held a watch party Monday, but tonight everyone was watching the launch separately.
Randy Speck, superintendent for Madison District Public Schools, was in his office watching and recording the launch when he saw the explosion.
'I was hoping that I was just seeing the second launch of the boosters and that within seconds I would see the rocket come up out of the fire and the smoke. It took another second to realize something had gone wrong with the launch. And then I just sat there looking at it.'
Despite the devastation, Speck and Abdulahad were looking ahead.
'Their accomplishments don't go away,' Speck said. 'We still have the experiments. We still have the design.'
Speck said they would be checking with the folks from the program to determine whether they can resubmit the experiment.
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Entities 0 Name: Abdulahad Count: 3 1 Name: Wilkinson Middle School Count: 2 2 Name: Madison Heights Count: 2 3 Name: Farah Sabah Count: 2 4 Name: Regina Alsabagh Count: 2 5 Name: Israa Alfadhli Count: 2 6 Name: Maryam Kafra Count: 2 7 Name: Madison District Public Schools Count: 1 8 Name: Alfadhli Count: 1 9 Name: Iraq Count: 1 10 Name: Angel Abdulahad Count: 1 11 Name: Virginia Count: 1 12 Name: Randy Speck Count: 1 13 Name: Tanner Barndollar Count: 1 14 Name: NASA Count: 1 15 Name: Wilkinson Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/hard-lesson-rocket-blast-teaches-teens-cost-discovery-n236761 Title: Hard Lesson: Rocket Blast Teaches Teens Cost of Discovery - NBC News Description: The explosion of an unmanned Antares rocket bound for the International Space Station taught a hard lesson to students across the country whose science experiments were included in the payload: In science and in space, failure sometimes comes with the territory.
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