Roar of crowd greets the astronauts
From outside the noise levels must have made it seem like a rock concert.
But the roar, screams and cheers at Fratton Park from thousands of youngsters were all for six ordinary men who have achieved some extraordinary things.
A deafening reception greeted the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis when they walked on to the pitch from the players' tunnel with the music of 2001: A Space Odyssey playing from the tannoys.
The Nasa astronauts lined up with their mascots like a football team, dressed in their blue space suits at the home of Portsmouth FC.
The 4,000 to 5,000 crowd were excited enough seeing the Nasa astronauts on the pitch.
But their enthusiasm was taken to another level when the rocket men started climbing into the crowds to give high fives and sign posters.
The crew then showed a film of their 12-day mission to the International Space Station in May, complete comic scenes involving floating water bubbles and a rocking soundtrack from Muse.
The spacemen then led the crowd in a few Mexican waves before answering questions from the school children.
And Bridget the Mars Rover from EADS Astrium in Portsmouth was also on hand to wow the kids.
Pupils at Warren Park Primary School in Havant were as enthusiastic as anyone.
Kieran Harrop, 10, said: 'It was very exciting. I want to be an astronaut and visit other planets. I didn't think I would get to be so close to a real astronaut.'
Sandra Kerr, also aged 10, said: 'I wanted to know how it feels to be in a big black place like space. I'd like to go explore space but I think I would be scared.'
And it wasn't just youngsters who were excited about the astronauts' visit.
Fratton Park safety steward Dave Harrison, 63, said: 'I've been fascinated by space since as far back as I can remember. I've followed the space race right through.
'It's been my dream to go up in space, though it won't happen now. But to shake the hand of one of the astronauts and see them here, it's a real thrill.'
The Fratton Park event yesterday afternoon was the last event of the astronauts' two-day visit to Portsmouth and Gosport.
Afterwards, some of them said the scale of the reception at the football stadium had taken them aback.
Garrett Reisman, 42, who has spent more than three months in space, said: 'It was a little overwhelming. The venue was a little different to what we're used to.
'It was sometimes difficult to do questions and answers in a huge stadium in front of a large crowd, but it was a lot of fun. The kids were so amazing.'
British-born astronaut Piers Sellers, 55, said: 'It was just a great experience for us. The kids seemed to enjoy it and it was great to see so many there.'
Garrett joked: 'Hopefully they were as excited to see us as to have a day off school.'
The crew have now headed to Cardiff to continue their two-week Nasa tour to inspire youngsters in the UK.
HIGH FIVE AND A SPECIAL SONG FOR SPACEMEN
While thousands watched on from the stands of Fratton Park, one class was lucky enough to walk onto the pitch to meet the Nasa astronauts.
The News and Portsmouth Grammar School held a special competition for a school class to meet and pose for photographs with the crew of the space shuttle Atlantis.
The deserving winners were from the Otters class from Padnell Infant School in Cowplain – and they were thrilled to meet their space heroes.
They even sung their spacemen song to them which they had composed especially for our competition.
Ellie Doherty, 7, said: 'I liked singing to them. I also asked them about how many people can fit into the shuttle. I really enjoyed it. I'm going to tell my mum and dad all about it later.'
Dexter Thundercliff, six, said: 'I liked doing the high fives with them. I felt really lucky as not many people get to meet real-life astronauts.'
We received high quality entries for our competition which asked school classes to use their creative skills to show how much they wanted to meet the spacemen.
Padnell Infants won after building a seven-foot high space shuttle, painting aliens for a display, baking a rocket-shaped cake and composing the spaceman song which they sung.
The Otters class also produced a ?ve-minute ?lm called Race to the Moon.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
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