Two
astronauts poised to make their first spaceflight aboard NASA's shuttle Discovery this week have
an orbital ballet of robotics awaiting them in space.
Astronauts Nicholas
Patrick and Joan
Higginbotham are set to launch aboard Discovery Thursday at 9:35:47 p.m.
EST (0235:47 Dec. 8 GMT) on a construction
mission to the International
Space Station (ISS).
Both
experienced engineers, Patrick and Higginbotham will wield robotic arms aboard
Discovery and the ISS to help spacewalkers install a new piece of the outpost--the
Port 5
(P5) truss--and bring the station's primary power and thermal systems online.
"It's a
busy, fun-packed mission from a robotics point of view," Patrick said in a
preflight interview.
Patrick will
be the prime operator of Discovery's robotic arm during the 12-day STS-116
mission, while Higginbotham will control the space station's mechanical
manipulator alongside fellow STS-116 crewmate Sunita
Williams.
An
engineer-pilot before NASA
Reaching space has
been a lifelong goal for Patrick since age five, when he watched NASA Apollo 11 astronauts
walk on the Moon in 1969.
"I remember
exactly where I was, watching it with my parents," Patrick, now 42, said in a
NASA interview. "And from that point on, I decided I wanted to be an astronaut."
The day
after Thursday's planned launch, the duty falls primarily on Patrick to use
Discovery's robotic arm and a 50-foot (15-meter) sensor-laden boom to scan the
spacecraft vital heat shield for any signs of damage. But while the inspection
will help shuttle engineers determine the health of Discovery, it's all in a
day's work for Patrick, who holds the Mission Specialist-1 slot on the STS-116
crew.
"I think of
it as a simple job to do, moving the arm around in the right sequence at the
right time," Patrick said in a preflight interview, adding that image analysts
on Earth--who must actually study the
images--have the hard part.
Born in the
United Kingdom, Patrick grew up in London and later earned a Ph.D. in
mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Flying was a passion for him long before he joined NASA's astronaut corps in
1998, and he has flown both as a private pilot and later as a flight instructor.
"Flying
obviously is a wonderful thing to do to prepare yourself for spaceflight," said
Patrick, who is married and has logged more than 1,900 hours flying various
aircraft. "I think those experiences have really helped me hone my operational
skills."
The ocean,
Patrick said, is another way to prepare. In July 2004, he participated in NASA's
10-day NEEMO
6 mission to the Aquarius laboratory on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean,
just off the Florida Keys. But while diving underwater is about the closest you
can get to floating in space on Earth, it is an orbital view Patrick is waiting
for.
"I'm hoping
to come back with a more visual sense of how small and isolated the Earth is,"
adding that he is especially hopes to take some time to look out Discovery's
windows and see an Earth devoid of political boundaries that define our terrestrial
maps. "I'm sort of looking forward to looking at an apolitical Earth."
From
spaceport to space
Unlike
Patrick, Higginbotham began her engineering career at NASA but did not make the
immediate jump to the astronaut corps. In 1987, she began work as a payload
electrical engineer at NASA's Kennedy Space Center spaceport.
"My career
plan originally did not include becoming an astronaut," Higginbotham, 42, said
in a NASA interview, adding that she applied to the astronaut ranks after a
supervisor kept suggesting it. "I guess he just saw something in me that he
thought I would make a great astronaut," she said later.
A native of
Chicago, Illinois, Higginbotham first met her STS-116 crewmates Robert
Curbeam and Mark
Polansky--the flight's commander--during her first round as an astronaut
applicant, but it was only after a second attempt and a second Master's degree that
she joined NASA's spaceflyer ranks in 1996. She enjoys motivational speaking
and draws discipline from hobbies such as bodybuilding.
Higginbotham
and Curbeam are making a bit of history with the STS-116 mission. Their flight
marks the first time two African-American astronauts have flown in space
together, though Higginbotham will remain only the third African-American woman
to fly in space.
"I don't
necessarily tie a significance to that only because when the missions were
first assigned...I was actually assigned to 117 so we were actually on missions
back to back," Higginbotham said in an interview, adding that actually flying
in space--not statistics--is likely to grab the public's attention more. "If they
see something they want to emulate, than that's a wonderful thing."
In addition
to her role as ISS robotic arm operator Higginbotham--STS-116's Mission
Specialist-4--also serves as Discovery's loadmaster, and will oversee the
transfer of thousands of pounds of cargo between the two spacecraft.
"I am also
in charge of deploying some small satellites once we undock from the space
station," she added.
With only
days remaining until her planned launch, Higginbotham concedes that her upcoming
spaceflight seems more real than ever.
"I always
thought they were 'those guys' who flew," she said. "But, you know, I guess I'm
one of those guys."
advertisement
