The Reality of Launch Nothing would ever compare to my first Shuttle launch: the noise, the vibration, the acceleration, and those crushing g-forces…and their sudden surrender to the onset of weightlessness. Having watched my friends’ and my husband’s fiery baptisms, my anxiety for my first launch was about getting into space at last, as well as the pressure to perform to the best of my ability. That perspective changed after January 28, 1986. ...

Friday, December 5, 2014: I watched the countdown to the perfect launch of Orion, the first test flight of a capsule that may someday take humans to Mars. It brought back memories of the glory days of NASA. Grand events like that take careful advance planning, a team of skilled and enthusiastic people, and the perfect base of operations. Oh yeah, cooperative weather, as well. Afterwards, I baked two almond chicken casseroles. It was also the...