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.
Potty training is never easy for children – or adults planning to go into space. I had been an astronaut for four years and married for a little over a year when our first child, Paul, was born in July of 1982. My first Space Shuttle flight was slated for early 1985. As every mother knows, two year olds can be a challenge. Paul was in the throes of the “terrible twos” but, otherwise, he was a wonderful little boy. Then there was the potty training…for the both of us! About this time, I also had to begin potty training for spaceflight....
A new year is almost here. And as I look forward to 2016, I smile as I reflect upon so many New Year’s Eves of the past. A couple stand out in my memory. As a junior surgery resident, someone had to cover the pandemonium of the Emergency Room at the John Gaston Hospital in Memphis on the night of December 31, 1976. It was my turn, and I wasn’t happy about it. I had worked all day and would have to handle the chaos for another 12 hours. Needless to say, there were a lot of partiers who were soon to land on my doorstep. I found it unnerving...
December is a remarkable time of the year—a time for giving and receiving. Some celebrate Christmastime as a remembrance that God gave the world his Son, Jesus Christ, who taught us to love one another and to be good human beings. Regardless of one’s spiritual preferences, we all share some important beliefs about this time: it is a time for brightening the long winter days with sparkling trees, visiting friends and family, and giving and receiving gifts with generosity and appreciation. Many of us remember the excitement of Santa Claus,...
In this season of giving thanks, what will you be thankful for? Most are grateful for families and friends, as well as for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. We give thanks for the food we share on Thanksgiving Day and the promise of Christmas and the New Year to come. In addition to all these marvelous things, I am thankful for the opportunity that I had to fly in space–gaining a whole new perspective on this Earth we inhabit. Her diversity of mountains, plains, lakes and rivers fascinates. At night, it is obvious by the...
Launch countdown was proceeding well. We tightened our seatbelts and stared upward. We had been waiting for this moment. The engines lit, the boosters ignited, and we were on our way up, up, up! Seconds later, an alarm. We had a failure of one of our three fuel cells. The pilot (PLT) looked at the computer screen and called out to us and Mission Control that it was fuel cell 2. The ground controllers, the flight commander (CDR), and our flight engineer agreed, and the PLT began the malfunction procedure on her cue card. As she worked...
10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1 We have lift-off! Every astronaut waited for these words. After years of getting there, months of training and practice, followed by hours of sitting atop a rocket, these words were much anticipated. The road to space on launch day wasn’t always as smooth. The official launch countdown took several days. All systems were checked and had to be A-OK. The crew climbed aboard about two hours before the planned launch time. The atmosphere in the Launch Control Center was very professional. There were no pictures of...
What would you choose to pack in your suitcase for a trip to space? If you look at the pictures of Astronauts in formal crew pictures or in flight, you’ll notice evolution going on. In the beginning of the Shuttle program, the brave souls who were crazy enough to fly on this untested vehicle (the first that flew unmanned for its first flight) wore pressure suits like high altitude pilots (with parachute attached), so they could use the ejection seats. As crews got larger than two, the ejection seats were removed, and crew members evolved to a...
The Space Shuttle went around the Earth every ninety minutes. Half the orbit was in daylight, half in darkness. That meant there was a sunrise, then forty-five minutes later a sunset. We went around the world sixteen times a day. For a fourteen-day mission (my longest), that’s 224 sunrises and 224 sunsets. They were nothing like what people see standing in their backyards here on the ground. Coming out of the dark side of the orbit, a faint glow developed in the east. Then the sun burst forth above the horizon in a strikingly white...
It was beautiful to look at Earth from space; however, from that different perspective some things that are amazing on the ground aren’t spectacular from orbit. For instance, the Grand Canyon looks like the crack on top of a well-baked cheesecake. On two of my flights, I flew far enough north to see Tennessee, my home. After passing the winding Mississippi River, I looked hard to find my hometown. The whole area was a verdant green, the curves of the Cumberland River my sole trustworthy landmarks. On the pictures I brought back to Earth, I...
“Writers are the custodians of memory, and memories have a way of dying with their owner.” William Zinsser wrote that in his book, Writing About Your Life: A Journey into the Past. That was a good reason to proceed with my book. It reminded me that my memories are uniquely my own, and they can’t accurately be told by a ghost writer, no matter how talented. Consider the recent book Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space, written by the ABC correspondent Lynn Sherr. While a wonderful and well-written book, I fear it is not...
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