Craigholme girls are reaching for the stars

Pupils at Craigholme were over the moon to welcome a NASA astronaut to Pollokshields last week when colonel Jim Dutton paid a surprise visit to the girls school.

By Gillian Loney

Published 17th Jun 2014, 09:00 BST

Molly Hart (14), Ava Bryce (10), Vaidehi Shah (14), Rossie Rossi (10), Kenzie Stewart (10) and Fiona Henderson (10) meet colonel Dutton.

Colonel Dutton piloted NASA’s STS-131 mission to the international space station in April, 2010, where the crew spent 15 days — the longest flight for the space shuttle Discovery.

He was visiting Glasgow for In Concert with the Cosmos, held at the Clyde Auditorium — at which Craigholme junior choir members were performing.

Vaidehi Shah (14) said: “Colonel Dutton’s visit inspired me to follow my dreams of becoming an astronaut and made me realise that ordinary people with ambitions can achieve great things.”

NASA