Oregon Public Broadcasting

A local astronaut is circling the earth right now on the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Pete Springer was at a launch party at OMSI as the shuttle blasted off Thursday morning.

Seth Merrill watched the launch at OMSI with his mom Jennifer and sister Sophia.

Eugene resident Stanely Love is part of the 11-day shuttle mission that will hook up with the international space station.

Love is an astronomer.  He'll get a chance to do a spacewalk and operate the space station robot arm during the mission.

That’s something three-year-old Seth Merrill dreams about when he grows up.

Pete Springer: “What’s the jumpsuit you’re wearing?”

Seth Merrill:  “It’s a spacesuit.”

Seth was one of dozens of kids who watched the launch at OMSI -- and the only one wearing a NASA orange jumpsuit complete with space shuttle patches.

Jennifer Merrill, his mother, brought Seth and her daughter Sophia to watch the launch, in part because Stanley Love was on-board.

Jennifer Merrill: “Yeah, it’s exciting to have somebody locally who’s, you know, going up to space.” 

If the skies clear up, the space shuttle will be visible in the early evenings -- just above treeline on the horizon.