What triggered your interest in spaceflight

[Pawelk198604]

I'm interested in space exploration.

As teenager i wanted be first teen in space despite i always been lousy in math and have rather poor health state, i always read a lot about Soviet/Russian and American space missions.

But what caused your interest in space flight.

PS I wonder does someday wee teenager in space or someone in early 20's

[astropapi1]

KSP.

Nothing more to add.

[MinerEdgar]

I honestly have no idea. Every since I could remember I liked the idea of man exploring space.

[Omicron314]

I've always been interested in space and spaceflight, but KSP is what really fine-tuned the spaceflight part. I don't think I'm really interested in becoming an aerospace engineer, though.

[astropapi1]

I've always been interested in space and spaceflight, but KSP is what really fine-tuned the spaceflight part. I don't think I'm really interested in becoming an aerospace engineer, though.

I remember reading about about Apollo and the space shuttle when I was a kid. I had a "special" book with lots of information, and I loved the exploded-view illustrations of spacecraft.

I lost the interest in space for a couple of years, but then... I discovered KSP.

I was searching for "space games" (looking for stuff like space fighting and so), and all results led me to it.

Fast forward more than half a year and here I am. A future (hopefully) aerospace engineer, thanks to SQUAD.

[hugix]

As a kid I always had a interest in space exploration. I loved the cool Hubble pictures or seeing a space shuttle launch. It was so majestic. But when I started studying I found more interesting things (Music, girls and my study). When I saw some news bulletin that was space related I would read it and think about it.

About three years ago I had to write some research assignment. I did mine about distributed computing (with SETI@home as my main example). And noticed that my fellow IT students weren't impressed by the massive computation power. So in my next research I went the other way. I researched the computing power that the Apollo program had. It was then that my passion for space re-ignited. My fellow students still weren't impressed. But this time I could not care. I started reading books on space again. But this time about the American manned programs. My dad had some books and I found a couple of books in the local thrift shop. Watched documentaries on space exploration. And that great mini series starring Mark Harmon. (From the Earth to the moon I believe).

Then I found a topic on KSP on a guitar forum and started playing it. (.16 was out then). It helped me grasp a lot of concepts of the manoeuvres that I read about.

[Devo]

I'm not religious, my parents never forced me to be. I just couldn't swallow this tripe that everything was created in 7 days, so decided to learn more.

[cesarcurado]

Pictures of space, KSP and Orbiter

[Flymetothemun]

I'm not religious, my parents never forced me to be. I just couldn't swallow this tripe that everything was created in 7 days, so decided to learn more.

Same here (I'm a youth in American High school, if you care to know), plus the beautiful pictures from Space. KSP didn't really get me into spaceflight, I was already checking NASA every week, but it did help me learn about it.

[NGTOne]

Funny enough, Star Trek. Back in elementary school, I was introduced to Trek by a classmate through one of the tie-in RTS games (Star Trek: Armada, for those who've played it). One thing led to another, and an obsession with space travel was born. Died down somewhat in high school, but returned full-force when I discovered KSP about halfway through the first year of my CompSci major.

Edited August 26, 2013 by NGTOne

[OrbitusII]

I remember reading about about Apollo and the space shuttle when I was a kid. I had a "special" book with lots of information, and I loved the exploded-view illustrations of spacecraft.

I lost the interest in space for a couple of years, but then... I discovered KSP.

I was searching for "space games" (looking for stuff like space fighting and so), and all results led me to it.

Fast forward more than half a year and here I am. A future (hopefully) aerospace engineer, thanks to SQUAD.

This is almost exactly my story! I've always had an interest in what's "out there," and then KSP came along, reinforcing that interest. That, plus the ease of which I handle math and sciences (5 on the AP Chem exam, baby!), is what is driving me to go into aerospace.

[Felsmak]

I had a Children's Map of the Solar System poster that I used to look at all the time as a child, as well as a couple of books about space that were full of beautiful pictures. I generally cared more for dinosaurs back then, though, but my interest came back in my early teens when I started playing Spore.

Edited August 26, 2013 by Felsmak

[Vanamonde]

I grew up in a remarkable time. I could watch men walk on the moon on live TV, and at almost the same time, switch channels and watch the Enterprise visit farther places. I could go out in my backyard, look up at the moon, and say, "There are people up there, right now." I don't think anybody who was little then *isn't* fascinated by the idea of space travel.

[rryy]

I don't exactly remember, but it happened around second or third grade, most likely because of my father. Once I got interested, I read a bunch of stuff about space and got interested in it, but a few years later, I lost interest in it, but I got re-interested because of KSP.

[Jackissimus]

I was 12 and we were sitting at a campfire with my family and my mom pointed to the sky and said: Look, that's the Big Dipper. And I was ashamed because I didn't know know any constellations. So I came home and studied until I knew all of them. I even wrote a little software in Visual Foxpro to test my knowledge.

Later I read Hawking's Short History of Time and became really interested in cosmology. I read a lot of books about that. I remember I was reading in bed once and I kept scribbling all the subatomic particles' names on my hand to memorize them later. Or another time when I was explaining black holes to this girl and wasn't actually aware of the double meaning and wondered why she kept giggling the whole time. By the end of this time I was teaching astronomy in class instead of our physics teacher.

Then later when I was 17 I began attending a class at a local observatory, it was a lot of fun, they let us control this whole telescope cupola with a remote control. It was the first time I saw Jupiter's clouds or the Big Spot. My father was great, he drove me to the class every Thursday (you have to be 18 to drive a car in my country), waited for me to finish and then drove me home.

I didn't know much about rocketry or spaceflight until I discovered KSP on youtube though and I am still learning!

[ROFLCopter64bit]

I wasn't in it for the space exploration, I was in it for the science.

Nuff said.

Aperture Science FTW

[iDan122]

E first thing I remember was the Space Shuttle. I learned about it from my fantastic 1995 pocket book about everything related to space. I still have it and it is much better than Wikipedia. Then goes Orbiter 2010, and then(yes, finally) KSP

thanks to RobbazIsKing.

[Pawelk198604]

My interest in space was since i was born, i remember when i have 4 or 5 when i get picture book about Yuri Gagarin:D

I wondering does will we have someday a teenager "astronaut"

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=10226

[SuperWeegee4000]

I'm not sure where it begun. It could have been Star Trek, since I watched a lot when I was young. I also watched a lot of Babylon 5, though that sort of freaked me out. I hadn't really thought about it until now.

[TheSaint]

Can't really say when it started. I started reading science fiction when I was in grade school. Watched Star Trek on TV, saw all of the Star Wars movies on opening day. Badgered my parents into driving all the way up to Edwards AFB just to watch Columbia land on the dry lake bed. Went to every JPL open house I could. Been a space geek as long as I can remember.

[swiftgates24]

I wasn't in it for the space exploration, I was in it for the science.

Nuff said.

Aperture Science FTW

This. I don't care about no spaceflight. I want science.

[nettcod]

Learning about the Apollo missions in kindergarten.

[Psycix]

EDIT:

Edited August 26, 2013 by Psycix

[The Destroyer]

I have no idea. I just searched "space shuttle game"

I got this epic game

http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/games/shuttle/

Played it a lot.

Found orbier, then freeallegiance, then KSP!

[Moon Goddess]

I'm not sure exactly might have something to do with the fact that I was 7 years old when the Challenger was lost. That was a flight that was HEAVILY promoted to children, and I don't know why I wasn't in school but I wasn't, and I watched the launch live with my family.

By the time Discovery was ready to fly 2 years later I was in the 4th grade, and the hype around that had lead me to get a toy space shuttle, and play games with my friend about being aliens from Jupiter, we emulated the countdown.

Dear god I'm a geek.