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-...

Have you ever heard words that changed your life?  So often we bumble along with so much jabber in our ears that we don’t really hear the important things.  But simple words of encouragement can change our lives.  On Oct. 4, 1957, I heard words that made set me off on a life’s journey. I was almost 10 and my father took me out in the yard to see the world’s first satellite, Sputnik, fly overhead.  When I asked if people would someday go into...

Launch day was always exciting when I was about to board the Space Shuttle. There was a different kind of excitement when I was the “supporting spouse.” Hoot and I had a lot of experience doing both of these things. He flew before me in 1983, and I played the supporting role. Our firstborn son—and the world’s very first Astrotot—Paul was only 18 months old and a handful! He was learning to walk and wanted to toddle everywhere. In the early days...

How do Astronauts keep in touch with their families when they are orbiting the Earth? Communicating with loved ones became more sophisticated over time.  In the beginning, families could send up brief messages with other NASA information to the Shuttle’s antiquated printer. Later on, those few words could be sent with packets of information to our onboard computer.  Neither of those methods were private, and so they were painfully terse: “Miss...