As the space shuttle Endeavour pierced the midnight sky, one Bedford family finally got to see their son go into space.

Alex Higgins, an avid space fan, was remembered by the Endeavour crew as his picture was launched with the shuttle on its 15-day mission, which began Tuesday, March 11, at 2:28 a.m. Higgins died in 1999, just short of his 13th birthday, in a backyard accident at his parents’ home.

“He was a very happy, easy-going kid,” said his mother, Rachel Higgins. “He was very social. He was happy, joyful, fun-loving. He was just an all-around good kid. I want people to remember his happiness.”

After Alex died, Rachel and her husband, Paul, began a scholarship in partnership with the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium in Concord and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to honor their son and grant other young New Hampshire residents opportunities to spend a week at U.S. Space Camp.

The Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship has sent 23 New Hampshire youths to space camp since 2000 and sends three youths each year between the ages of 7 and 18.

“I think it’s been a good experience for us,” says Higgins. “Most of the kids are really good kids. They’re at the top of their class.”

Former astronaut Tom Hendricks, a resident of Spofford, has notified winning applicants over the phone in the past. Another former astronaut, Lee Morin, has also presented awards to winners.

One year, a girl who had won the scholarship brought some extra meaning to the award and the Higgins family.

“She had learned from her dad all the constellations,” says Higgins. “When her father passed away, she saw the application and decided to apply.

While she told her mother about the scholarship, she didn’t show her essays to her mother. When we met her, her mother told us the deadline day to submit applications was the anniversary of her father’s death, and she was receiving the award on her birthday.”

Thinking back on those connections to her father, Higgins said, “it was meant to be.”

Qualifications for applicants are to complete the basic application, write essays and submit recommendations from their peers. A board consisting of Rachel and Paul Higgins, representatives from the planetarium and the charitable foundation review applications every year to choose the winners. The scholarship covers the $800 tuition for a week in Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

This year’s deadline is Monday, March 31, and notification is sent to applicants usually before school vacation in April. Contact the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium

For scholarship information and application form, visit http://www.starhop.com. For more information about Space Camp, visit www.spacecamp.com.

When Alex’s younger brother, Eric, was born on his 5th birthday, he surprised the family when he was delighted. From that day, the two brothers shared things many together.

When asked what Alex might think about everything that’s happened since he died, Higgins laughed, saying, “He could be embarrassed. I think his friends are happy for him. They still miss him.”

But thanks to the Alex Higgins Memorial Space Camp Scholarship, children and teenagers all over the state will be thanking him for years to come and watching him as he joins the Endeavour crew in the stars. “According to plan, it will be launched into space on a 15-day mission, doing about 240 orbits and travelling approximately 6.3 million miles before landing again in Florida,” said Paul Higgins.