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...

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...

Monday morning, January 16, 1978 was like any other in the life of a surgical resident at the VA Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. The final six months of my training were dragging on. There were patients to admit, cases to do, rounds to make, and lectures to attend. My future after that June was uncertain. My pager went off: a phone call was awaiting for me at the front desk. “For you, Dr. Seddon,” said the operator. In each life there are...

What would it be like to have a job where your employer wants to keep you healthy and is willing to pay to ensure it? Being an astronaut was like that. November is my birthday month which means it’s time to go to Houston for my annual physical exam. NASA likes to keep track of any health effects of spaceflight, so I am invited back each year to be tested. I applied for the program in 1977 and went to the Johnson Space Center for a week of...

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...