Godspeed Billy Mac

By Ariel Houchens
Around the Town Editor

A Robeson County native is currently in orbit in the international Space Station 250 miles above earth.

Astronaut William S. "Billy Mac" McArthur, Jr. launched into space in a Russian Soyuz capsule Sept. 30. He will remain in the space station until April 1, 2006.

McArthur, 54, is from Wakulla, N.C., and the Robeson Planetarium and Science Center celebrated the achievements of the hometown space hero Oct. 6 with a public program called "Godspeed 'Billy Mac!'"

Photo courtesy of NASA William S. “Billy Mac” McArthur

Ken Brandt, director of the Robeson Planetarium and Science Center and adjunct faculty at UNCP, said Nov. 4 will mark five years of continuous space station occupation and McArthur will get to celebrate the anniversary onboard the space station.

Brandt has been working at the planetarium for almost two years now and is a self-proclaimed "space geek." He said he sent in an application to travel into space. He later received a letter thanking him for his application, but informing him that he wasn't accepted.

They pretty much said "you're not going," Brandt said unsurprised by the negative response.

The planetarium, which opened in 1969, is a part of the public schools of Robeson County and educates 1,400 students each school year and even more during the summer, according to Brandt.

The main attraction at the planetarium is the 30 foot dome on which Brandt can display various programs, slides, videos or a view of a starry night sky.

The Planetarium also has a science center where Brandt said kids can go play and maybe learn a few things.

Blane Goodwin, 9, of Lumberton, looked at the one-third scale Lunar Lander in the museum and said he wanted to go up into space one day.

"I would like to drink soda in space," Goodwin said.

If he could pick his destination, Goodwin said he'd like to go to the moon and leave his mark.

"I could stick a sign in the moon that says, 'Blane was here,'" he said.

Grace Britt of Red Springs retired from the UNCP Business Department in 1994 after working there for 16 years. She now volunteers at the Red Springs Historical Museum.

Photo by Ariel Houchens Grace Britt, Red Springs Historical Museum volunteer, stands next to Paul Van Zandt’s McArthur Sculpture.

Britt said McArthur always encourages children like Goodwin to pursue their dreams.

McArthur always wanted to fly, Britt said. A teacher once said McArthur would break his pencil lead every time he heard an airplane fly over, Britt said. Then he would run over and look out the window at the airplane while he re-sharpened his pencil.

In his pre-flight interview, McArthur told NASA that his home state might have had something to do with his desire to fly

"I always had an interest in things that flew… You may have seen a North Carolina license plate. I'm a North Carolina native. North Carolina license plates say "First in Flight."

McArthur pursued his dream even though it took six failed attempts to get in the NASA program, Britt said. On the seventh try, he made it.

The Historical Museum honors McArthur with a roomful of McArthur artifacts ranging from report cards to military uniforms.

Outside of the museum stands an abstract bronze sculpture created by UNCP art professor Paul Van Zandt. The statue, dedicated April 25, 2005, is "a symbol of a man's ability to rise to his dreams," according to Van Zandt.

The sculpture is full of meaning, Britt said.

"The base (of the sculpture) is Robeson County. He is coming up from the Red Springs/ Wakulla area and it is his vision of space," she said.

Even the positioning of the sculpture is meaningful.

"The sculpture actually faces west, the direction astronauts re-enter the earth's atmosphere from when returning back to earth. Sort of a sentinel for

safe return," Van Zandt said.

The museum is open Tuesday and Sunday from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m.

For more information on the museum call: (910) 843-7300. The Robeson Planetarium offers public programs two more days this year: Nov. 19 and Dec. 10.