Chasing Space: An Astronaut's Story of Grit, Grace, and Second Chances by Leland Melvin

Author:Leland Melvin [Melvin, Leland]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2017-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

8

Training for Space

Normally, astronauts know when they’re going to have a significant conversation about their status because it takes place according to a timeline. For example, new classes report over the summer so that they can start training in the fall. After going through the entire selection process, applicants know they will receive a thumbs-up or thumbs-down call in May or June. I had no clues to prepare me for my conversation with Rich Williams. Becoming medically qualified to fly was the last thing I thought we would ever discuss.

Williams gave me the news, but I suspect that Jon Clark and John Locke had also played a pivotal role in his decision. They had always wanted to push the envelope in terms of my recovery, advocating experimental procedures that might have helped me heal faster. My conversation with Williams thrilled me; I was finally going to get a chance. I thought of Jeannette’s prophecy and marveled that it was now coming to pass. I called my dear friend Mary and told her the news. I think she was even more excited than I was because she saw it as an affirmation of faith and testimony. Diligence, prayer, and belief in oneself could indeed make good things happen.

Shortly thereafter, I spoke with Bill Ready, astronaut in charge of human exploration. I told him I had done all I could at NASA headquarters, especially since the Educator Astronaut Program candidates would be transitioning to the selection process in Houston. In late May, I left HQ in my Jeep Grand Cherokee, pulling a U-Haul trailer behind me. I picked up Jake in Lynchburg and continued south to my home in El Lago.

In mid-June, Jake and I loaded up and hit the road again. The trip included visits to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Yosemite National Park, and other places of interest in the Southwest. I borrowed a storage unit to go on top of the Jeep from Duane Ross, head of astronaut selection for thirty years and the man who saved me from falling off my chair during my interview. Behind the wheel, I was pumped by a new sense of optimism. My waiver didn’t clear me to get back in the T-38, or resume training in the buoyance laboratory pool, which meant I was ineligible for long-duration flight and the required spacewalks. Still, I was back in line for a coveted space shuttle flight, and that alone was reason enough for joy.

As I drove, my thoughts drifted to the past six months I’d spent in the Educator Astronaut Program and the loss of the Columbia before returning to my new opportunity. I could still hear Judge Brown’s remarks about the importance of continuing the space program despite our catastrophic losses. He was right, of course. The best way to honor our fallen comrades was to take their place in the cosmos and embody, as they did, peace, love, and hope for a better world.

Jake and I took in the beauty of the natural environment as we visited the sites on my list.

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