UMR graduate Sandra Magnus -- one of three alumni who have trekked to space as NASA astronauts -- encouraged kids in Collinsville, Ill., to aim for the stars during a recent visit to the Collinsville Public Library. Magnus -- shown here in a 2002 photo from UMR Magazine -- also visited the public libraries in nearby Alton and O'Fallon, Ill., to deliver a similar message.

The Granite City (Ill.) Press Record covered Magnus' visit, in which she described her october 2002 space shuttle flight to the International Space Station and her 11 days in orbit.

She also presented a video about her trip there and then answered questions from children and parents in the audience, such as "What made you decide to become an astronaut?", "What do you do for fun?" and "Where's the bathroom on the spaceship?"

Asked what it was like to be in zero gravity, she said it was hard to describe, but compared it to scuba diving or laying on a lake in an inner-tube.

"It's a very relaxing feeling," she said.

Magnus earned a bachelor's degree in physics from UMR in 1986 and a master's in electrical engineering in 1990. The other UMR alumni who have taken flight as NASA astronauts are Janet Kavandi (MS Chem'82) and Col. Tom Akers (Math'73, '75). Akers is now retired from space flight and the Air Force, and teaches mathematics at UMR.