Dr. Robert Ballard, the rock star of the oceanography world, was surrounded by reporters from many nations on Wednesday, as he inaugurated the new Titanic exhibit at Mystic Aquarium. After his preliminary remarks, journalists waited in a long line to talk to the famed explorer.
But not the 26 members of Todd Hougas' 5th-grade class from Smith School in New Britain. They got their very own confab with Ballard, ahead of the grown-ups, and were allowed to ask him whatever they wanted.
Hougas thought his students rose to the ocassion. "They asked him about his inspirations, about his goals, about why he wanted to be an explorer," said Hougas, proudly.
The kids all left fired up about their Titanic-related school research projects.
"It was so cool to see how that underwater camera worked," said Jasmin Olmedo, 10. "Its name is Jason."
"I love how the iceberg in the exhibit is cold and looks like the iceberg that the Titanic hit," said Vinny Hin, 10. "It's amazing."
The pupils were as impressed as the large press corps that came to preview "Titanic — 12,450 Feet Below," a historical and scientific exhibit that opens Thursday at the Mystic entertainment complex, museum and research center, which is operated by the Sea Research Foundation. Ballard is president of the foundation's Institute for Exploration.
The opening of the new show coincides with the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the legendary ocean liner on April 14-15, 1912. Ballard, who discovered the ruins of the Titanic in 1985 — and later the ruins of the Bismarck, the PT-109 and the USS Yorktown — helped design the exhibit along with Tim Delaney, a former "imagineer" from Disney.
It was appropriate that a Disney person helped Ballard with the show: Ballard first became interested in ocean exploration as a child, when he saw the 1954 Disney classic "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." "I grew up wanting to be Captain Nemo," he said.
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