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BLACK HISTORY MONTH 1999
FB B R U A ftV '17. 1999 • (Ebr $Iurtlanb <®b
THE RIGHT STUFF
Astronaut Winston E. Scott
(Csptain.USN)
Joined NASA in March 1992.
“ My first flight was in January
1996. It was STS-72 on board the
space sh u ttle E ndeavour. We
spent nine days in space. We did
a whole host o f experiments. The
highlight o f the flight for me was
my first space walk (6 hours, 53
minutes) testing tools, equipment,
and techniques to be used for con-
stru ctio n o f the In tern atio n al
Space Station.
My second flight was in No­
vem ber-D ecem ber o f 1997. It was
on the space shuttle Columbia,
STS-87. We spent 16 days in space
conducting micro-gravity experi­
ments. Again, the highlight was
two spacewalks forme. Again, the
spacewalks consisted m ostly o f
space station hardware testing.
But we also flew a device - a ro­
botic controlled camera called an
Air-Cam Sprint. And, the biggest
attention grabber on my second
flight was having to manually cap­
ture an out-of-control satellite that
was spinning in space. It was spin­
ning in such a way that we w eren’ t
able to grapple that satellite with
the space shuttle’s robot arm. So
during the first three hours o f our
first space walk, my EVA partner
and m yself did a manual capture of
the satellite. It was the second time
in history that’s been done. We
were able to successfully bring
that satellite home to be repaired
and reused.”
o f them. After working on them for
such a long time that I thought the
next progression for me was to be
able to fly on one...T he Interna­
tional Space Station is basically a
bunch o f m odules (like LEGO
blocks) put together. When we fin­
ish, it’s probably going to be the
size o f a football field. Each module
is going to be self-contained and
have something particular in it. Each
module itself will not be very large.
It will have its own volume, but each
o f the piece parts will fit together to
be this International Space Station.
On the station, we will be able to
do some experim ents from the
American side. The lab will be pro­
vided by the Italians, as well as
some things from the Russia, Ja­
pan, Europe and Canada who is
going to build our big “arm”. W e’ll
put together a T-shaped unit with
solar rays jetting off the sides of
them that’s going to provide our
pow er.. .Once w e’re up there, w e’re
just going to run experiments all the
time The International Space Sta­
tion is going to provide us with a
constant micro-gravity laboratory.
We can grow perfectly shaped pro­
tein crystals which in turn will help
us provide more pure medicines.
And hopefully, in time it will help us
find a cure for cancer and AIDS. ”
Astronaut Stephanie D.
Wilson
Joined NASA in April 1996.
“As a crew member, my main
interest is being a resident on the
International Space Station, help
to build the structural elements
an d p a rtic ip a te in a sp ace
w alk.. .The astronaut program has
about 30% women. I was selected
among 44 in a class. O f that num­
ber, nine o f us were women the
largest percentage o f women se­
lected to train. Every year, our
percentages are b etter.. .1 hope to
fly (a space shuttle) in three
years... Before I started training, I
couldn’t swim. And In order to be
able to do the EVA training, you
have to pass the scuba test. I put
a lot o f time into training in order to
pass and complete this training
and it’s just very fun and challeng­
ing to be in a space suit and be
under w ater and w orking with
these tools.”
4
Astronaut Mike Anderson
Joined NAS A in December 1994
“The year that I applied, there
were 3,000 applicants. They inter­
view 120 people. I was selected
along with 19 other U.S. astro­
n a u ts
an d
th re e
fo re ig n
a s tro n a u ts ...T o be a p a rt o f
NA SA ’s space shuttle program,
you have to come prepared with
the proper academic background.
That means generally a M aster’s
degree or Ph.D. in Engineering or
the Hard Sciences. They combine
that with something else. In my
case, I’m a military pilot (about
h alf the astronauts are that) or
some operational experience such
as a Flight Test engineer, some­
thing o f that sort.
Also, they look at your interper­
sonal skills - how well do you
work with other people because
they’re going to send you up into
their spacecraft for 2-3 weeks at a
time. You’re going to be confined
in a relatively small environment
with four or five other astronauts
and you have to be able to work
and live together with other indi­
viduals. It’s very important that
the people that they pick for this
jo b have very good skills in work­
ing with other people...M y most
memorable experience going up in
space is the moment when the en­
gines get cut off. You experience
zero gravity for the first time. You
have this 816 minute ride into space
th at’s like a rock & roll show with
lights and vibration and an engine
hurling you into space. Once you
get there, the engines get cut off.
At that moment, everything around
you just starts to float and you
know you’re in space. For me, that
was achieving a life-long dream .”
Astronaut Joan E.
Higginbotham
Joined NASA in April 1996.
“ I w orked o rig in ally at the
Kennedy Space Center for NASA
starting out in 1987 launching
space shuttles. I got to launch 56
“SEI makes me
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