‘Officially a Space Cowboy:’ Make-A-Wish child launches MSU rocket

Contact: Mary Pollitz

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Six-year-old Christopher Best of Flora loves everything about space. Diagnosed with the congenital condition known as Pierre Robin sequence, his Make-A-Wish request was simple—he wanted to experience anything and everything to do with rockets.

This fall, that wish came true thanks to Make-A-Wish Mississippi, Richland-based Lyle Machinery and Mississippi State University’s nationally recognized Space Cowboys rocketry team. To help bring Best’s wish to life, MSU mechanical engineering senior Cooper Shanks of Vienna, Illinois, spent more than a week fully refurbishing one of the team’s Saturn V–style high-power rockets. The Space Cowboys then renamed the rocket the “Christopher VI” wrapping it as a surprise gift for Best.

“We wrapped it up for him, specially made,” Shanks said. “Now he’s officially a Space Cowboy.”

Best’s mother, Emily Catazaro, said the moment was unforgettable.

“Watching those college students pour so much love, effort and excitement into making my child’s dream come true brought me to tears,” she said. “…Christopher told me he already felt incredible when he found out the rocket was his—but the moment he realized it was real, he said it was the best day of his entire life. Seeing his face light up over rockets is something I will never forget. He hasn’t stopped talking about launching them, and about how special it feels to have the Space Cowboys by his side—ready to help him fix it, learn from it and dream even bigger.”

Make-A-Wish Mississippi recently hosted a celebration event for Best at Lyle Machinery, where he learned he’ll soon travel to Florida to experience Disney World and tour Kennedy Space Center. To mark the occasion, Best spent the afternoon shooting test rockets with the Space Cowboys. For mechanical engineering sophomore Ruthie Barnett of Biloxi, watching Best run back and forth in pure bliss was easily one of her life’s highlights.

“Being a source of pure joy for a kid, especially a kid fighting these kinds of battles, was really awesome,” she said. “This showed us how lucky we are and how lucky we were to just be a part of celebrating him and getting his wish granted. If anyone has the opportunity to do this, take it up. This is an experience I don’t think anything will ever be able to replicate. Christopher is just awesome, very energetic, bright and cool.”

The Space Cowboys routinely design, build and launch high-power rockets for competitions across the country. But for the team, Shanks said, outreach moments like this are at the heart of their mission.

“I didn’t realize how much of an impact this would have on us,” he said. “I was crying for like a week afterward. Make-A-Wish has our contact now, so it’s definitely something we would do again.”

For more information about Make-A-Wish Mississippi, visit https://wish.org/ms.

To learn more about MSU’s Space Cowboys, visit www.spacecowboysmsu.com.

MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube at @msuengineering.

Mississippi State University is taking care of what matters. Learn more at www.msstate.edu.