As we move out of a dark, freezing winter and look forward to warmer weather, won’t it be wonderful to get outside and enjoy the warmth of the sun?  We live on a glorious and diverse planet hurdling through the universe. Viewed from space, it is even more amazing.  I’d like to take you on a quick “World Tour.”  If you right-click on any picture, you can save it to your computer’s desktop.  Then, zoom in to enlarge it to see the details. Hold...

How did our nation get to the moon in less than ten years from the time we first sent a man into space? Thousands of people had a hand in that bold adventure. Today I meet them, their children, and their grandchildren who can’t wait to tell me their part in that story with pride. It was not until I got to NASA that I learned to appreciate the true value of teamwork. We had close-knit teams that made sure our spaceflights went well. It took me a...

Imagine flying like Superwoman. You could in space. In fact, you MUST fly everywhere. Walking or swimming is not an option. An astronaut learns fast on that first flight the power of a gentle push. Shove off as you learned to do in the swimming pool, and you will crash against your target with no way to slow down along the way. “Whoooaaa!” is a frequent call heard from the weightless rookie on the first day in space. The preferred technique?...

On April 12, 1981, I stood near a swamp in Florida with a Search and Rescue team, in case we were needed. We watched the Space Shuttle Columbia, a butterfly bolted to a bullet, roar above the trees and into the sky on its first flight. The magnificence of the moment cannot be described. We cheered, we cried, and we felt so lucky to be present at the birth of the Space Shuttle era. On June 5, 1991, I launched aboard that same vehicle on my...

Shuttle launches were always special. We were friends helping friends get ready for great adventures. Hoot had landed safely from his second mission, and I was in training for my next one. The space program was gearing up for a year of many spectacular launches. It was full speed ahead. Not that there hadn’t been problems. On Hoot’s recent mission, there had been many glitches. On one launch attempt a brave engineer had stopped the countdown...