Dec 3, 2006 11:17 pm US/Central
Local Astronaut Visits Childhood Church
by Lisa Kiava
Minneapolis (WCCO) ―
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Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, who flew with the space shuttle Atlantis in September, signed autographs and posed for photos at St. Constantine's Ukranian Catholic Church. (File)
Robert Sullivan/AFP/Getty Images
An astronaut and St. Paul native received a hero's welcome Sunday at a church in Minneapolis.
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, who flew with the space shuttle Atlantis in September, signed autographs and posed for photo after photo after photo at St. Constantine's Ukranian Catholic Church.
"I'm really impressed how she went up in space," said Zoryanna Matlashewski, who attends the same church school that the astronaut attended as a child.
Stefanyshyn-Piper, the seventh woman ever to walk in space, was humble as she described her two spacewalks and her mission to help install solar equipment.
"Just a lot of construction work in space is what we're doing," she said as she showed the church audience video of her journey, including photos of her space walk. "That was one of two times I made sure I hung on tight."
She joked that space travel means really bad hair days. The audience laughed as they saw a picture of her long hair floating in the weightless conditions of space.
The audience of Ukrainian-Americans also enjoyed seeing photos from Heidi's childhood. She was a Ukrainian scout in the Twin Cities and took part in a Ukrainian dance group.
Every Saturday, Heidi would come to the Minneapolis church where she would learn to speak fluent Ukrainian. Her language skills helped her learn Russian so she could speak with the cosmonauts on the space station.
For this group of admirers, Heidi is a Ukranian-American who carried the pride of her heritage into space.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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