A gumbo in the stars

Jacob Fontenot, co-founder of the Tee-Cotton Bowl, is best known for his enthusiasm surrounding the annual football game between Sacred Heart and Ville Platte High School. However, his enthusiasm goes higher and reaches farther than the field. It reaches into the stars and into space travel.
For Fontenot, his space enthusiasm peeked this past weekend when the SpaceX rocket was launched.
“In one word,” Fontenot said, “I was inspired. We actually got to see how innovative the plans were as far as technology. From inside the rocket itself, they probably had five to seven live camera angles where they would show live images. That’s something we really never had before.”
Fontenot’s inspiration was also due to the fact this latest mission “is the first step in the movement for the push back to the moon with Artemis and on to Mars with Orion.”
Setting this SpaceX mission apart from all the others was the fact it was the first private launch.
“NASA gave the parameters of what they needed for the launch and let private industry work its magic,” Fontenot said. “I think that drives a little more innovation to design all this such as the actual rocket itself to the space suits.”
This latest mission was also the first launch from American soil in nine years. For Fontenot, that fact is unbelievable. As he said, “We were paying the Russian space agency $82 million for one seat on its capsule to get to the International Space Station. That was just one way, so you’re spending over $160 million just to get one astronaut there and back.”
He continued, “With SpaceX and Boeing, we’re keeping that money within our borders.”
Fontenot stated he has always been interested in space travel and enjoys hearing stories of the Space Race.
“One of my favorite stories,” he shared, “is, during the Space Race, we spent almost $40 million trying to invent an ink pen that would write upside down in space, but the Russians used a pencil.”
Stories like that were the ones driving Fontenot’s enthusiasm mainly because these stories showcased American ingenuity. For him the stories showed “ways to think outside of the box, to problem solve, and to figure things out.”
Adding to this are all the technological advancements to come out of space travel including Velcro, microwaves, and cordless power tools. “All of this is thanks to us having to think outside the box,” said Fontenot.
Fontenot’s interest in space is also because it shows how all parts of the country can get a job done. “It’s something to take pride in,” he said. “What we can accomplish together is amazing. Literally, we can go to the stars. I think that was one of the major things to push my interest especially when you see, during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo years, you saw our nation come together.”
He shared one of his favorite stories during those years. “With the booster rockets on the Saturn 5, NASA needed to wax the outside of them. Some of the people to do the best work were surfers because they were used to waxing their surfboards. These surfers would surf in the morning and come back to work on the rockets in the evening.”
Fontenot continued, “For me, that’s what makes America great. Everybody can contribute their piece to the puzzle. My dad and I always make the joke it’s like a great gumbo. You need all these different flavors to have this beautiful product. That’s what NASA and space travel really challenges us to accomplish.”
As a Boy Scout leader for his son, Aidan, and the district executive at Calcasieu Area Council, Fontenot is instilling his interest in space with the younger generation. One way of doing this is taking his scout troop to Space Center Houston.
“That was a phenomenal experience,” he said. “We camped out underneath the Apollo 17 capsule, and we camped out under a Gemini capsule and an American Flag that flew right over the moon. We also got to hear from one of Apollo 13’s crew guys, Fred Haise.”
Fontenot, an Eagle Scout, explained NASA, in general, has a long history of having former boy scouts as astronauts. As he said, “Everybody on the Apollo 13 was involved in the Boy Scout program. Our first two people who landed on the moon were involved in Boy Scouts. Neil Armstrong was an Eagle Scout.”
He added the top two officials at NASA, Administrator Jim Birdenstine and Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Ken Bowersox, are both Eagle Scouts and that NASA is responsible for reinvigorating the Boy Scouts.
With NASA fueling his interests and reinvigorating the next generation of Boy Scouts, Fontenot expressed how huge it is for him on a personal level. He concluded, “Sometimes we get dragged down by all the negative aspects in society right now. Being able to see all the things we can do as a society powers me through and energizes me every day of the week.”