High-flying student on space trip

A simulator enabled Nicky to experience a shuttle landing

A Kelso student is coming back down to earth after returning from a trip of a lifetime to a US space centre.

Nicky Cook, 17, from Kelso High School, was one of 26 Scottish students chosen for a 10-day trip to Nasa's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

While there, the students built their own rockets, landed a space shuttle via a simulator and had a "mission control" view of the latest shuttle launch.

"I'm definitely considering becoming an astronaut now," Nicky said.

The student, from Nenthorn, near Kelso, told the BBC Scotland news website she was amazed to become one of those selected for the trip.

The whole thing was such a surreal experience but it was absolutely amazing Nicky Cook Kelso High School pupil

She was chosen after completing a number of modules and a workshop connected to space.

"I was really shocked to get through," she said. "I didn't think I would ever get picked.

"I had become more and more interested in space but when I got there I realised that this was something I could actually do.

"I always thought astronauts were people who got straight A's, but they are just normal people who have worked really hard to get there."

At the centre the students worked within a budget to create a mission to Mars which included building their own rockets and rovers.

Shuttle launch

When the shuttle Atlantis blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, they were given front-row seats in a "blast theatre" where they were able to see the launch, along with both mission control centres.

"That was absolutely super," Nicky said. "Seeing it on TV was nothing compared to seeing it like that."

The students were also given the chance to see how it would feel to land a space shuttle, via a simulator.

"That was quite exciting," Nicky said. "I crashed the first time but then managed to land it.

"The whole thing was such a surreal experience but it was absolutely amazing.

"I'm definitely considering becoming an astronaut so am looking into doing engineering at university."