In Rhea’s blogs, she shares the adventures of her journeys into space as well as the many other experiences in her lifetime! We know you will find each one a bit unique and enjoyable as well as a bit educational.
From small-town southern girl to space traveler, Rhea Seddon experienced a life that was on a trajectory of its own from an early age.
One of the first six women Astronauts accepted by NASA, Dr. Seddon, a surgeon by training, married Navy Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson becoming the first Astronaut couple. Their three children became the world’s first Astrotots. A woman of many firsts, Rhea’s compelling story of achieving the American Dream carries a universal message to all that overcoming obstacles of any kind is possible if we persevere and carry the torch of our vision.
Her memoir, Go For Orbit, tells of one American woman’s personal journey that will inspire you to reach amazing heights of your own.
As I reminisce about the special dinners I’ve shared with others, I’m a little surprised. Of course, I’ve had dinner with family members, but also with my Space Shuttle crews. Once, when we were in quarantine waiting for our flight, our meal was thoughtfully prepared by Crew Quarters Dieticians. They sometimes took special requests for dessert like pie or cake. Their preparation ensured that we would remain healthy while we awaited our flight. Dinnertime in orbit consisted of meals ready to eat prepared by the military. Meals ready to eat,...
While watching all the preparations for the launch of the Artemis rocket, it occurred to me that many NASA flights over the years were named for Greek gods and goddesses. For instance, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were appropriate names for what those missions were like and what they planned to do. The god Mercury is often depicted with winged sandals so that he could fly fast. He was the patron of travelers. The Gemini flights carried two crewmembers for the first time like the Gemini twins in mythology. Apollo was the Greek god of sun and...
Have you ever watched children at play? Some move carefully, quietly, observing while others zoom about relishing the wind in their faces, hair flying. What happens to them when they become adults? I’ve been able to meet many fast movers, the ones who seem to have a need for speed. I married one of them. My husband, Robert “Hoot” Gibson grew up in a family of flyers. His father, Paul, was one of the pilots who first flew the Air Mail. His mother was one of those intrepid women who flew coast to coast in the Ladies Powder Puff Derby. Several...
It was always a joy to take our whole family to the beach in Florida. We usually stayed at one particular house that we adored; but found out last January that it had already been rented out for the whole year. We happened to notice that a house just down the beach was available for this summer. After making sure it had the amenities we needed, we booked it for a week in July. We flew down to Florida and went quickly to the house. Guess what- the house was not at all what we expected. In fact, we started calling it “The house from hell”. When...
I recently attended the annual Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando. It was a time to see old friends, many of whom are Hall of Famers and several of whom were being inducted into this prestigious group. It is very special for me to wear the large, heavy gold medallion that marks those who are part of this group. All the Hall of Fame members entered the large ballroom according to the date of our first flight. My husband, Hoot Gibson, entered before me since his first flight was in1984 and mine was in 1985. After...
Posted by Rhea Seddon on May 25, 2022 in Published articles, Stories | Comments Off on Teaming Up for Takeoff: 6 Teamwork Strategies that Are Out of this World
We had been selected for the Astronaut Corps and this particular flight because we had proven track records of being good team players, both as leaders and as followers, and had the requisite skills to accomplish a variety of space missions with varying payloads. There are strategies to choose team players, to mold them into a great team, to define their goals, to motivate them for success, to deal with “outliers” and to learn from failure — and success. Read the whole article published at In Business Magazine.
One of the things we had to master as new Astronauts was to be good back-seaters for the pilots in the planes part of the time. As they (and we) gained some confidence in our flying abilities they gave us more and more responsibilities. And of course, we had to learn how to handle emergencies. We had checklists with pages of what to do if something went wrong. Sometimes they did. The pilots were training for a number of jobs, one of which was to join up with the Space Shuttle as it came in for landing. They called the job “chasing” the...
Have you ever looked back on your life and said “Oh, that changed everything”? One of those moments happened to me. It was when our new Astronaut class first got together in 1978. There were thirty-five of us and most of us didn’t know each other yet. A reception was planned and we all arrived at the venue. As I walked in, I noticed two very good-looking fellows down the hallway. One was blonde and the other dark-haired. As I got closer, I saw each had vivid blue eyes. Wow! I was a little uncertain as to what to do. Fortunately,...
Despite NASA’s many accomplishments like the moon landing, the Space Shuttle and the Space Station, there were bound to be errors and mistakes, large and small along the way. Want to hear a few that I was aware of? During one of the Shuttle flights one of the females got her long hair caught in a piece of equipment and it pulled a bunch of her hair out. Ouch! NASA bosses (all men at the time) made a rule that all the women had to restrain their long tresses – or cut their hair short. On one of my husband’s flights, there was some concern that...
This past endless year of Covid, reminded me of other long waits in my life and the patience it took to get to the end of one thing to begin something better. I remember my many years at NASA and how long each step took to get into space. I had wanted to be an Astronaut since childhood, but NASA didn’t take women. I had faith they would someday. What education, what specialty, what physical requirements would increase my chances of becoming an Astronaut? What were my alternatives? I had to make a lot of guesses and I knew that whatever I...
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