Space Cadets

Northridge Junior High School student Mary Guzman was understandably nervous Wednesday. The eighth-grader was scheduled to pilot her first space shuttle mission after lunch.

“I don’t want to mess up,” Guzman said.

But the 13-year-old Reseda resident took command of the joy stick and guided her three colleagues to a perfect landing after a 93-minute flight aboard the Northridge Discovery Simulator--a computerized plywood and plexiglass copy of NASA’s space shuttle cockpit.

“That was fun,” she said after landing.

The full-size space shuttle cockpit--outfitted with flashing lights, gauges, 800 toggle switches, two computer screens and a view of Earth from space--was built by students and faculty with a $7,000 grant from GTE Corp.

The shuttle crew followed the flight’s progress on two computer screens.

The craft’s purpose is not space exploration, but to interest eighth-graders in fractions, decimals and scientific notation, said math teacher Ronn Yablun, who organized the project.

Like it’s real-life counterpart, the school’s space shuttle is designed to be reusable. Yablun said he plans 10 missions a year beginning in the fall.