Jul 13, 2005 11:10 am US/Central
St. Paul Astronaut Looks Beyond Discovery
by Bill Hudson
St. Paul (WCCO) ―
On Wednesday afternoon, the American space shuttle program returns, with its first launch in more than two years.
The liftoff, from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., is critical, because the last shuttle disintegrated during re-entry in 2003.
NASA said it has made more than 50 changes in preparation to send the shuttle Discovery into space.
A woman who grew up in the Twin Cities will be watching the flight especially carefully, because she is training for an upcoming shuttle mission.
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper grew up on the west side of St. Paul, born a year after John Glenn's historic orbit.
Her preparations to fly began years ago, when Stefanyshyn-Piper hit the math and science books hard at Derham Hall High School. She was hungry for knowledge and fascinated by flight.
"I remember sitting in an airplane and looking out the window the whole time, fighting for the window seat," Stefanyshyn-Piper said.
She recently visited Farnsworth Aerospace Magnet School in St. Paul, posing for pictures and reflecting on how she became interested in the space program.
"I do remember back in 1969 when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon," Stefanyshyn-Piper said. "My mother bought my brother a T-shirt that said 'The Eagle Has Landed'. He got the shirt and I didn't get anything."
Now, she is just months away from flying on the space shuttle Atlantis, which will bring payload and repairs to the International Space Station.
"Probably the highlight of the trip will be a space walk," Stefanyshyn-Piper said. "Actually, two walks."
It might be the highlight for her mother too. In the backyard of the same home where Stefanyshyn-Piper grew up, her mother, Adelheid Stefanyshyn, poured over a scrapbook of memories on a recent afternoon.
She is proud of her daughter, but understandably concerned.
"In certain ways, yes, but other ways no," Stefanyshyn said. "I don't like to see her going up, let's put it that way."
While sympathetic to her mother's concern, Stefanyshyn-Piper is confident in the safety changes that followed the Columbia explosion.
"From an astronaut community, we feel changes have been for the better," Stefanyshyn-Piper said.
The space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to launch in December.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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