Storms are a reminder of the majesty and fearsomeness of nature. Like many small children, I was afraid of thunder. I’d cling to my parents, screaming when lightning started. One morning before dawn a storm came up, and I ran crying to my parents’ bed. My father was tired of the fussing, so he scooped me up and took me out to our covered back porch. There we sat as the lightning flashed and the thunder boomed. After a while my terror subsided...

There I was, hanging under a parachute over Florida’s Biscayne Bay having just been flung off the back of a flat top boat like a parasailer.  Soon I would be floating down to the bay only to be dragged along on my belly through the water until I could manage to disconnect from the chute.  I was about a month into my training and already I had to prove myself at a water survival course.  There followed many other tasks—both mental and...

In 1978 NASA selected thirty-five new Astronauts for the Space Shuttle.  There were six female astronauts in the class: Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and me. I was the smallest. We had to figure out how to fit into a world populated almost entirely by men, most of whom were engineers and pilots.  We women understood that we would have to act as a team on some things but that we’d be in competition for...

It was March, 1983. Hoot had been assigned to his first Space Shuttle flight which was to launch the next February. I was supporting the sixth flight, STS 6, which would be the upcoming flight in early April. And I had a nine-month-old son at home, so life was busy – but then, when hadn’t it been? Returning to the office from Mission Control late one day after an arduous practice simulation for STS 6, I found several phone messages from my...

Hello to old and new friends, alike. Welcome to my new blog! Being of Medicare age, I never thought I’d be doing social media, but trying challenging things is a good thing, right?  And this blog has a purpose: to share with you the project at the top of my bucket list. For those who may not know me yet, here’s a quick introduction. I was born and raised in Tennessee, and I live here still today.  Some magical alignment of the stars has...