7-Minute Poetry Challenge Kelly Bennett 7-Minute Poetry Challenge Kelly Bennett

Poetry Challenge #190-Lift Off!

It’s National Astronaut Day! Why May 5th? On this day in 1961, “Astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. became the first American in space aboard the Freedom 7 Space Capsule. Shepard’s “brief suborbital flight, which lasted 15 minutes and reached a height of 116 miles into the atmosphere,” came in the wake of Cosmonaut Yuri Gargain’s flight orbiting Earth (April 12, 1961). Less than three-weeks later, on May 25th, Pres. JF Kennedy challenged the US to send a man to the moon. The Space Race was on!

Eight years later on July 20th of 1969, only 12 years after Sputnik blasted off, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon. And now, more than 50 years later, only 10 other men, from 3 countries, have been to the moon. 65 Women have been sent to space, and we’ve set our sights on Mars…or beyond! The only limits are our imaginations!

At least 10 Astronauts, 2 Cosmonauts & current candidates attended Space Camp as kids. Here’s more!

At least 10 Astronauts, 2 Cosmonauts & current candidates attended Space Camp as kids. Here’s more!

Poetry Challenge #190

Lift Off!

Imagine yourself an astronaut. With current technology it’s estimated that a trip to Mars would take between 5 and 8 months. What would you do? Think? Feel mid-flight? When you peered out the windows, would you look back? Or forward?

As there’s no gravity in space, it seems fitting to write in free verse. Free Verse poetry does not follow a set rhythm or rhyme scheme, but it does employ literary devices.

Prepare for Lift off!

Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes

Start Writing!

Don’t Think About it, just do it!

3-2-1-BLAST OFF!

National Astronaut Day Playlist:

Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge more than 4 years ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.

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Inspiration Kelly Bennett Inspiration Kelly Bennett

Honor the Super Moon

Moon1.jpeg

Today, dawn to dawn, the moon will be closer to the earth than it has been since Jan 26, 1948 and will be again until 2034.

In honor of the Super Moon, I've put together a playlist to put you in the mood to moongaze.

If you're inspired to try to capture the moon take a tip from NASA Photographer, Bill Ingalls:

“1. Include landmarks in the picture

Make sure you put something in the same frame as the moon, perhaps a building or some other land-based object. Without any other object for reference, Ingalls said, the shot won’t stand out among the pack.

”It can be a local landmark, or anything to give your photo a sense of place,” he said. This will likely mean you’ll be shooting the moon while it’s closer to the horizon. This also works in your favor because the moon appears larger at the horizon; the reason for that phenomenon is a matter of debate”
— "How to Photograph the Super Moon" NASA Blog

Science Blurb: If you are wanting to do more than just gaze at the moon, click over to NASA's blog for the scoop on the Supermoon Phenom from Dr. James Garvin.

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