WENONA - It took courage for astronaut Scott Altman to re-apply to NASA after not making the cut the first time.

"This is one of the times that courage is most important," he told Fieldcrest East Elementary and Middle School students. "… when you have to pick yourself up and start all over again."

Altman, who attended East, visited with students, faculty and the community via video conference last Wednesday.

Students greeted Altman, a University of Illinois graduate, with an Illini cheer. East Principal Doug Roberts and Fieldcrest Superintendent Randy Vincent are also Illinois graduates.

"We are thrilled to have you here today," Roberts said. "You really are a hero to us and someone we can connect with and enjoy."

Altman said he could remember sitting where the students were and wondering what he would do with his life.

"I never could have imagined that I would be sitting here talking to you today," he said. "You never know where chasing your dreams might take you."

Growing up, Altman wanted to be a pilot, but never considered flying in space.

"It was only in test pilot school when we took a field trip and I met some astronauts that I realized flying in space was a really cool thing," he said. "And that astronauts were real people."

Altman joined the U.S. Navy in 1981, graduated from test pilot school in 1990 and reported to the Johnson Space Center in Houston as an astronaut candidate in 1995.

He has been an astronaut for the past 10 years.

"I've been to the space station, and the Hubble Space Telescope, and I'm going again in August," he said.

The first time he was in space, Altman was amazed how thin the horizon was.

"It's just a thin, bright blue band," he said. "It made me appreciate our planet and just how fragile it is."

Students addressed Altman with questions they had prepared.

Q: Are you afraid to go out into space?

"I've always been excited. I know there's so many people working hard to do their jobs so everything is right. Mostly, I get a little nervous about trying to do my own job right."

Q: Were you afraid of heights?

"As a child I can remember, I went on a ride at an amusement park and tried to get them to stop the ride because I was having trouble breathing … but as I got older I started to really enjoy rides, roller coasters and heights. Going up in space is about as high as you can get."

Q: Does the loud noise of the rocket shaking scare you?

"Actually, it's not as loud inside the rocket because we outrun the noise. Just a few seconds after launch, we are going faster than the speed of sound."

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Scott Altman

Age: 48

Hometown: Pekin

Family: Wife, Jill; and three children

Education: Pekin Community High School, 1977; University of Illinois, 1981, BS in aeronautical and astronautical engineering; Naval Postgraduate School, 1990, MS in aeronautical engineering.

Space flight experience: STS-90 Neurolab (April 17-May 3, 1998); STS-106 Atlantis (Sept. 8-20, 2000); STS-109 Columbia (March 1-12, 2002).