December 22, 2024
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La Salle’s Scott Pellican: ‘Great to be even a small part of the NASA mission’

Pellican named NASA Ambassador for 2022

By Tom Collins
Scott Pellican of La Salle poses with his space memorabilia at his home on Wednesday Feb, 9, 2022 in La Salle. Pellican has recently been named a NASA ambassador, a volunteer authorized to talk about the space program at area schools, community groups and libraries. Pellican has followed the space program since he was 8, when he began following the Gemini and Apollo missions and started collecting NASA memorabilia.

Scott Pellican, of La Salle, poses with his space memorabilia at his home on Wednesday, Feb, 9, 2022, in La Salle. Pellican has recently been named a NASA ambassador, a volunteer authorized to talk about the space program at area schools, community groups and libraries. Pellican has followed the space program since he was 8, when he began following the Gemini and Apollo missions and started collecting NASA memorabilia.

As a boy, Scott Pellican wrote to NASA asking for information about the space program. The agency happily obliged, earning them a fan for life.

Did he ever send for a NASA employment application? The La Salle man doesn’t remember applying for a job but he’s got one now. He’s a NASA Solar System Ambassador, a volunteer authorized to give presentations, funded by NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, to schools and community groups and libraries.

It was a dream come true for somebody who was glued to the TV watching Neil Armstrong make the giant leap for mankind.

“Wow, I’m kind of with NASA,” Pellican thought when he got the acceptance. “It really felt great to be even a small part of the NASA mission.”

Scott Pellican, of La Salle, navigates the NASA ambassador website at his home on Wednesday Feb, 9, 2022 in La Salle. Pellican, has recently been named a NASA ambassador. (Scott Anderson)

Pellican was apprised of the program by James “Joel” Knapper, a NASA ambassador from Bourbonnais and one of about 1,000 nationwide. Knapper said the number of ambassadors has doubled since he joined 14 years ago.

The Solar System Ambassador program, Knapper said, recruits space enthusiasts who organize or attend community events to explain recent discoveries, upcoming milestones in space science as well as future NASA missions. Each ambassador makes at least three presentations a year.

Pellican may have been surprised to be named an ambassador; but his better half said she was “not surprised at all” when he applied.

“He’s had an interest in NASA since he was a little boy,” said Ann Pellican, his wife of 35 years, “and he has a nice collection of posters and letters that NASA sent him way back from the ‘60s.”

It wasn't enough for young Scott Pellican to amass space race memorabilia such as news clips, model space ships and astronaut photos. The La Salle retiree recently applied to be a NASA Ambassador and now is authorized to travel on NASA's behalf to schools, libraries and community groups to discuss the current state of the U.S. space program. (Scott Anderson)

Those posters and letters streamed in after Pellican, 8 years old and cheering on the Gemini missions, decided he wasn’t satisfied waiting for space news to appear in the local paper. He sent away for information and NASA quickly filled his mailbox with promotional materials.

“It was unbelievable,” Pellican recalled. “They were really eager to promote the space program. That kind of hooked me then.”

His interest waned some after the space shuttle disasters but was jump-started in August when the La Salle Public Library hosted a virtual program about women in space. Knapper was the presenter and he concluded his talk with how to apply for a NASA ambassadorship. Pellican, Knapper said, was keen.

“He seemed very knowledgeable in all things NASA and I felt he would be an awesome addition to the group,” Knapper said. “I told him that I have really enjoyed the role and encouraged him to apply.”

Pellican, now 63 and retired from the contract cleaning business, thought volunteering for NASA might be great fun. He submitted an application and was rejected – “I was kind of bummed” – but tried again and this year was accepted.

He couldn’t just run out and speak. NASA required training that Pellican found “pretty involved.” Orientation was heavy on social media outreach and submitting activity reports, which NASA will evaluate before letting him stay on.

(The training also emphasized safety: NASA didn’t want demonstration rockets exploding in front of schoolkids.)

Training completed, Pellican contacted the La Salle Public Library and lined up a summer program: He’ll speak July 19 about the Friendship 7 mission, which 60 years ago made John Glenn the first astronaut to orbit the Earth.

Donna Blomquist, programming librarian, readily gave her OK. Space exploration is a popular topic with library patrons. She was impressed, too, with Pellican’s knowledge and enthusiasm.

“I was delighted to learn that Scott joined the NASA Solar System Ambassador team,” Blomquist said. “It is an amazing group of volunteers who use their enthusiasm for all things space, to carve out a niche of expertise that they can then offer to public audiences.”

Any groups or schools interested in having Pellican deliver a talk may contact him by phone at 815-488-5996 or via email at pellican@sbcglobal.net.

Remember where you were when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon? Scott Pellican was glued to his TV set. The La Salle man, seen here leafing through his extensive collection of newspaper clippings of the space race, recently was named a NASA ambassador. He's a volunteer, not a paid employee, but is authorized to speak to civic groups and schoolchildren about space exploration and future NASA missions. (Scott Anderson)

Scott Pellican, of La Salle, glances through a moon book at his home on Wednesday, Feb, 9, 2022, in La Salle. Pellican, has recently been named a NASA ambassador. (Scott Anderson)