From the A.P.:
U.S. astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams set a record for the longest single spaceflight by any woman. Williams, who has lived at the space station since December, surpassed the record of 188 days set by astronaut Shannon Lucid at the Mir space station in 1996.
"It's just that I'm in the right place at the right time," Williams, 41, said when Mission Control in Houston congratulated her on the record. "Even when the station has little problems, it's just a beautiful, wonderful place to live."
She's been there since December. Crazy.
Atlantis is cleared to come home some time next week.
Also...
"In February, Williams set another record for the most time spent spacewalking by a woman, kicking off a year of achievements by women in space.
In October, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson will become the first woman to command the space station. Later that month, Air Force Col. Pam Melroy will become only the second woman to command a space shuttle mission; Eileen Collins was the first, in 1999.
If Whitson and Melroy's time at the space station overlap, it could be the first time there are two female commanders in space at the same time. "The first time we have two female commanders in orbit — that will be neat," Whitson said.
Almost three decades after the first women joined the astronaut corps in 1978, only 17 of the 94 current active astronauts are women.
Lucid says part of the problem may be the pipeline that delivers pilots to the astronaut corps — the U.S. military. Women didn't start entering the military service academies until the late 1970s.
"I think it's really great that all of this happening, but obviously, you wonder, why did it take so many years?" asked Lucid, who is in astronaut office management. "At some point, you would like the field to be such that it doesn't make any difference whether you're male or female."
On the ground, Mission Control had its first female flight director in 1985. All three space station flight directors working the current Atlantis mission, and the lead shuttle flight director, are women. Women make up about a third of NASA's 33 flight directors, who are responsible for running the spaceflight missions.
"So many times, the room is filled with female flight controllers," Lucid said. "I just think it's just a wonderful thing that people are getting the chance to do what they're capable of doing."
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2 comments:
Suni is amazing, Linds. Interesting article...about the number of women now finally in positions of command in the space program and as flight directors...but also that it took too long and women are still breaking down barriers...it is time for Hillary as commander in chief! This Sat instead of working on the trailer bill (the project that has lasted longer than Suni's spaceflight) or cleaning the house for my twin sister's arrival, I turned on the tv in the middle of the day and just started watching what came on, and it was Apollo 13 and it was amazing and inspiring as it always is. I love that movie and get chills every time I watch it, esp at the end when they come through the re-entry and the heat shields hold and all these people who have worked so hard and put their minds together to solve a problem toward a single goal (bringing those astronauts home alive) erupt in absolute relief, elation, pride, gratitude etc. Awesome...and Tom Hanks happens to be one of our most versatile actors if you ask me...I love him as Commander Lovell and Forrest Gump! have a great day, cb
I once very excitedly went to hear Jim Lovell speak in a high school gymnasium at the Illinois Math and Science Academy. It was well worth it. He stated that he actually took the famous photo of the Earth from the shuttle, 1/3 of the planet enshrouded in darkness, taken on that mission. Apparently, there is some good-natured arguing among the crew who took it and who should get the credit.
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