YOUNGSTERS from a Whitchurch school got to learn all about space from an American scientist and astronaut.

Twenty-nine pupils from Testbourne Community School, in Micheldever Road, visited the City of London School on October 9 and heard from Dr Roger Crouch, an American scientist and astronaut who flew as a payload specialist on two Nasa Space Shuttle missions in 1997.

The visit was part of the Cubes in Space programme, which challenges schoolchildren to come up with experiments that can be performed in space.

Gerry Gray, a lead practitioner at Testbourne, told The Gazette: “He (Roger Crouch) talked about how he got to space. He started applying to NASA when he was 18 and he was rejected and rejected and eventually he got onto the space programme at 56-years-old.

“It was really, really good fun. They were all buzzing.

“We got back to Whitchurch at about half eight (in the evening) and they were all still talking about it. It was really, really amazing.”