Fennville student covers historic SpaceX launch

Erin. Dietzer @hollandsentinel.com, (616) 546-4231 @SentinelErin

As millions of people watched the historic launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket on Feb. 6, a Fennville High School senior had one of the best seats in the house.

Ryan Bale was granted press credentials to cover the launch after covering the progress of SpaceX on his website spaceflightnews.org. It's the second launch Bale has attended, but the Falcon Heavy launch was special.

"It did not seem real," Bale said. "It was such a long-awaited event that seeing it finally happen was such a surreal thing."

Bale said he was interested in space from a young age, and became interested in how they work after watching the launch of of the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2011.

“After watching that I just became really interested and started doing online research, learning as much as I could," he said.

At first, research was watching various launches through online newsfeeds, but he got to take the next step during his sophomore year of high school. His family was going to be vacationing in Florida on April 8, 2016 when SpaceX was set to launch a Falcon 9 rocket, the kind of rocket used to ship supplies to the International Space Station and lift satellites. This year's Falcon Heavy is a combination of three Falcon 9s.

With the help of Fennville Robotics team volunteer Mike Bielik and Fennville superintendent Jim Greydanus — who was then Fennville High's principal — Bale was able to secure credentials for a media pass to the Falcon 9 launch. Not only did Bale cover the launch, but he also got to tour the SpaceX facility and see experiments in engineering and innovation.

“I was glad to help," Greydanus said. "Ryan has a keen interest in space and astronomy, and in science in general. He’s very inquisitive and loves to see how things work. I am grateful to Mike for encouraging Ryan and helping him get connected to this opportunity.”

This time around, Bale got the credentials on his own by constantly writing and posting progress of SpaceX on his website.

"The advice I would have for others who want to do this is to make connections," he said. "Don't be afraid to put yourself out there."

Bale's ultimate goal is to go from covering the launches to working on the launches. He plans to study aerospace engineering and would like to work for SpaceX.

If Bale succeeds his goal, there will be plenty for him to work on. SpaceX founder Elon Musk is pushing for the creation of even bigger rockets to accommodate deep-space crews with the ultimate goal of establishing a city on Mars.

— Follow this reporter on Twitter @SentinelErin

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