A secondary academy in Barnsley has been visited by former NASA astronaut, Colonel Jack Lousma.

Lucky year 9 and year 11 students from Outwood Academy Carlton, based on Royston Lane, were given the opportunity to speak with Colonel Lousma about his work and experiences with NASA and especially his time on Skylab. 

Jack Lousma was the CAPCOM, spacecraft communicator, recipient of the famous ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem’ message during the Apollo 13 mission and was a Commander of STS-3, the third Space Shuttle mission in 1982.

The Apollo 13 mission, which launched on April 11, 1970, was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program. The mission ultimately failed when the moon landing was aborted, with the crew instead looping around the moon before returning to Earth.

Paul Haynes, Principal of Outwood Academy Carlton, said: “We were honoured to welcome Colonel Jack Lousma to the academy. The students were delighted to hear about his experiences and the wonderful space stories he had to tell. You could really see students were fascinated and inspired by what they were hearing.

“At Outwood, we are committed to putting students first and supporting them to reach their potential. For us, this goes beyond the classroom and it is events like this that really highlight our commitment to this.”

While at the academy, Colonel Jack Lousma held a question and answer session with the students after giving two lectures. The first lecture was for year 9 students, while the second included year 11 students.

During the Q&A session, students asked Colonel Lousma all about his space missions and his time as a member of the second manned crew to the Skylab Space Station in 1973.

Two lucky students who were judged to have asked the best question during their Q&A session were presented with a pair of tickets for a lecture that Colonel Lousma was giving at Carleton Community High School a few days later.