Teams

2006 SPACE ODDITIES

Garage Headquarters: Weatherby Lake, MO

Driver: Grant Wilson

Mechanics: Ian Lambert, Jason Reskin, Jennifer Reskin, Christina Wilson

Nuts and Bolts:

"All of our team members are into space," says Grant Wilson. Don't take him literally. They've got their feet firmly on the ground – especially when they're working on their soapbox racer in Weatherby Lake, a small town north of Kansas City. But they are involved in space-related endeavors.


Christina Wilson just completed the second of four sessions in the Future Astronaut Training Program at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. Her brothers-in-law, Ian Lambert and Jason Reskin, are friends who built a motion-controlled space simulator as teenagers and now operate Unistellar Industries, where they're developing an online space simulation game. Jennifer Reskin, sister to Christina and spouse of Jason, does marketing for Unistellar, while Grant, the team's driver, is the patriarch of the crew. Together, they'll be launching a "space shuttle" in Forest Park. "With wings extending out two feet from the fuselage, maneuvering through the race-course may be a bit challenging," Grant acknowledges. Nonetheless, the enthusiastic group plan on putting on a show as they race, such as opening the "payload" doors to release a Mylar satellite and blowing a parachute upon re-entry. It may not be the most practical race plan, but, Grant asserts, "It is integral to the shuttle's cool design!"