Name: Andy Pearce
Mission Role: Commander in Chief
Date of Birth: 1/1/80 (and I’m sticking to that story)
Place of Birth: New York, NY
Education: Union College, B.A. English
Lehigh University, M.B.A.
University of Bridgeport, M.A. Education
Person I Most Admire: My father
Lunar Redux is the sixth simulated Columbus space mission that C in C has had the honor to lead. With this mission Columbus Magnet School honors the 40th anniversary of the first manned lunar landing.
July 20th 1969 was one of those red letter dates in history where everyone who was alive then, remembers exactly where he/she was when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 stepped onto the moon’s surface.
It was a technical tour de force. It was audacious. It was science fiction turned science fact. But, more than anything else, it was inspiring. There was no greater adventure in human history.
The exploration of space has given us many things: weather satellites, instant world-wide communications, Tang….but more than anything else, it has given us something divine – the chance to see our world from afar and to see it in a light far beyond the troubles that beset Earth every day. Going to the moon was exploration at its best. And, at the heart of any exploration is a sense of wonder.
It was just this kind of human achievement that inspired and awoke wonder C in C. Luna Redux is the Young Astronaut mission he has waited six years to lead. And having 24 enthusiastic Young Astronauts share his passion, makes the wait worthwhile.
Space travel is, and always will be, a team undertaking. Luna Redux could not have achieved its high level of success without the considerable talents and devotion of Chuck Goulart and Maria Brancaccio, who selflessly donate their time to running the physical training of the astronauts. They are a key component to past, present, and future Columbus Young Astronaut missions.
C in C is currently a contented second grade teacher at Columbus, who feels blessed to also have the opportunity to train the fifth grade Young Astronauts. He fervently hopes that his current second graders, along with second grade classes from previous years, will be his astronauts of the future.
C in C Pearce owes a special debt of gratitude to Leigh Ann Lewis and Paula Yonkers, whose efforts, energy and support redefined what parent coordinators are to the Young Astronauts.