Edison recording has date with space station Shuttle commander & Edison native takes recording aboard BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer EDISON — When the Space Shuttle Discovery launched on Saturday night, it had aboard two stowaways — Thomas Edison and Theodore Roosevelt. A recording made by Edison of Roosevelt in 1912 is accompanying the astronauts bound for the International Space Station, courtesy of Discovery Commander Mark Polansky. An Edison native, Polansky agreed to take the historic recording into Earth’s orbit. The recording was donated by the Edison Memorial Tower Museum. “I was trying to find something that would be symbolic,” said Jack Stanley, curator of the museum, “and I thought that an Edison recording of President Theodore Roosevelt would be very symbolic in many respects.” Stanley said the initial proposed Dec. 7 launch date of the Discovery was the 129th anniversary of the first public demonstration, by Edison, of the phonograph. “I thought it would be neat to symbolically honor that,” Stanley said, “plus, President Roosevelt, who recorded for Thomas Edison, was the first president ever to fly. So symbolically he is flying again.” This shuttle mission, which was postponed until Saturday because of weather concerns, is the last of 2006 and one of only 14 left in the entire shuttle series. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the main purpose of the flight is to rewire the International Space Station with permanent wiring. The station has been running on temporary wiring since it was built in 1998. Stanley said he approached Polansky’s mother, Edie Polansky, and asked if her son would take something from the Edison Museum into space. Mark Polansky, who graduated from J.P. Stevens High School, agreed. Stanley’s first idea was to give Polansky Edison’s pencil, but NASA nixed that idea, saying they cannot take wood into space, Stanley said. Stanley said that when the recording comes back, he hopes that it will be another thing that will attract students to the museum. “That recording will travel like 5 million miles and then come back to Earth,” Stanley said, “and will be on display at the museum. That’s a great way for kids to look at history and say, ‘Wow, it’s not only history for what it is, but for where it has gone.’” But the recording stands for something much more important than the mere notoriety of having an object that has been in space. “Part of the crew is Thomas Edison and Theodore Roosevelt,” Stanley said, “and they are going to be representing the birthplace of recorded sound.” Stanley said that the recording, which will probably never leave a storage compartment, will not be played on board the Discovery or on the International Space Station. It will remain in its protective packaging, but Stanley said that will not diminish its importance. “It will be packed in bubble wrapping to protect it,” Stanley said. “It’s a mighty historic recording. And it will go where few mortals have gone. I think about two individuals who have had such effect on our history, Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison. They are, in a sense, making history again.” Stanley said that Edison and Roosevelt making the trip to the space station was a great way to publicize the importance both men had on the country, calling them both “great pathfinders in our history.” When asked if he would like to send anything else into space, Stanley replied, “If they will let me.”