麻豆精品

Summer 2016 | By Jeffrey Billman ’01

麻豆精品 S淭he whole spaceflight experience 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S�

Her voice, which typically effuses confidence and energy but now sounds almost wistful, trails off, like she 麻豆精品 S檚 searching for the right word. And then she lands on it: 麻豆精品 S�Surreal. I 麻豆精品 S檓 so thankful for the pictures and videos. They remind me I was really there. 麻豆精品 S�

Nicole Stott 麻豆精品 S�92 has been on this planet for a little over 19,000 days 麻豆精品 S� and off it for 104, in two space shuttles and a three-month stay on the International Space Station. She 麻豆精品 S檚 one of 533 people to enter Earth 麻豆精品 S檚 orbit and the 52nd woman to do so 麻豆精品 S� and the 10th woman to perform a spacewalk.

Stott doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 dwell on her place in history. But the enormity of what she accomplished 麻豆精品 S� the decades of preparation, the fearlessness of riding a rocket into the sky at more than 25,000 mph, and the six hours and 35 minutes spent in the vacuum of space, with only a bulky spacesuit and a thin white tether protecting her from the starlit abyss 麻豆精品 S� stays with her.

But when she was in space, the surrealism wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 as daunting; the focus was on the specific, nitty-gritty objectives of each particular mission: fix this thing, check on that thing, make sure this other thing is running properly. Stott, like most astronauts, can talk for hours about the technical minutia that goes into keeping a football-field-size station operating while hurtling through space at 17,500 mph.

Down here, those things feel impossibly complex. Up there, it 麻豆精品 S檚 the job you came to do 麻豆精品 S� unglamorous but necessary. And so you focus on the task at hand. Then you come home and have time to reflect on what you 麻豆精品 S檝e just experienced. 麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檒l tell you, a spacewalk, that 麻豆精品 S檚 one of the times of my life where I felt the most alone and detached from any other human being, 麻豆精品 S� Stott says. 麻豆精品 S淏ut at the same time, I also felt the closest and most connected to humanity. 麻豆精品 S�

She was alone in a literal sense, floating more than 200 miles above the Earth, far removed from life on terra firma. But from such great heights, you also see that indescribably beautiful blue marble, set against the blackest black, differently. The distinctions that drive so much conflict 麻豆精品 S� race, class, religion and ideology 麻豆精品 S� are no longer visible.

麻豆精品 S淵ou realize you 麻豆精品 S檙e not from Florida or the United States. You 麻豆精品 S檙e an earthling. The bottom line is we are all earthlings, 麻豆精品 S� Stott says.

So last year, when Stott retired from NASA after 27 years, she decided that conveying this sense of awe and wonder was her new mission. And she does this with a brush and canvas, creating paintings that portray what it 麻豆精品 S檚 like to live and work in space and offer a sense of our place in the grand scope of the cosmos.

麻豆精品 S淚 want people to look at [the paintings] and maybe think differently about where we live, 麻豆精品 S� Stott says. 麻豆精品 S淵ou can see Earth as your home, really looking at your home planet. People don 麻豆精品 S檛 consider it that way all the time. People don 麻豆精品 S檛 realize they 麻豆精品 S檙e in space. 麻豆精品 S�

And if you think about it that way, she says, perhaps you 麻豆精品 S檒l take better care of it.

---

Stott 麻豆精品 S檚 first-ever tweet was full of exclamation points. 麻豆精品 S淥n orbit! Feeling great! Launch was an incredible kick off the pad! Smiled the whole way! Got a 麻豆精品 S榳oo hoo 麻豆精品 S� in there for good measure! 麻豆精品 S�

Her first flight, aboard Discovery STS-128 麻豆精品 S� STS-128, meaning the 128th space shuttle mission 麻豆精品 S� blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at 11:59 p.m. on August 28, 2009. There were seven crew members; Stott was the only woman.

Stott and mission specialist Tim Kopra pose for a photo on Discovery while docked at the ISS.

While the astronaut class of 2013 had as many men as women, Stott 麻豆精品 S檚 class in 2000 had 14 males and only three females; all three were classified as mission specialists, not pilots. This wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 uncommon. As Amy Foster, a UCF associate professor of history who has studied women in space, points out, many of the pilots are drawn from the male-dominated Air Force. The women, on the other hand, tend to come up through the science and engineering fields, like Stott did. And 麻豆精品 S� at least at the dawn of the 21st century 麻豆精品 S� they stood out.

麻豆精品 S淭hey definitely get appreciation, 麻豆精品 S� says Kevin Ford, a member of the 2000 astronaut class and the pilot of STS-128. 麻豆精品 S淭hey had to come through a little tougher path to get there. 麻豆精品 S�

Stott 麻豆精品 S檚 path began in Clearwater, Florida. Like most children of her generation, she watched the Apollo missions and the moon landing. She thought being an astronaut was cool, but it seemed far removed from her reality. Airplanes interested her more; her father flew them.

麻豆精品 S淚 wanted my dad to show me not just how planes are built but how they fly, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淭he idea of flying into space evolved from a love of flying in general. 麻豆精品 S�

She didn 麻豆精品 S檛 want to be a pilot, at least not as a vocation. She wanted instead to become an engineer. She earned her private pilot 麻豆精品 S檚 license and attended Embry-Riddle, earning a B.S. in aeronautical engineering in 1987.

She soon got her first job with NASA, as an operations engineer at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Over the next decade, she held a number of positions at KSC and went to grad school, earning a master 麻豆精品 S檚 degree in engineering management from UCF in 1992, which she says was 麻豆精品 S渓ike the icing on the cake, preparing me for what I wanted to do with the astronaut office. 麻豆精品 S� She started to realize that going into space didn 麻豆精品 S檛 seem so far-fetched.

So in 1998, she applied for the astronaut program. Two years later, she was accepted.

NASA officials told her class it would take about six years for them to get into space. In reality, it took nine as NASA assessed the loss of Columbia and its crew. In the meantime, Stott spent 18 days in 2006 living underwater as part of NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 Extreme Environment Mission Operations program, earning the title of aquanaut and claiming the women 麻豆精品 S檚 world record for saturation diving. But fly she did, as did all 17 members of her class. And like most of them, she went to space twice.

The first time, she spent three months on the International Space Station, where she performed maintenance tasks, did a spacewalk, assisted with research activities, and helped track and capture a Japanese cargo vehicle.

On the space station, Stott says, astronauts 麻豆精品 S� days are planned from the ground, sometimes down to 5- or 10-minute increments: when to wake up, when to eat, daily tasks, the occasional moment of free time and, finally, sleep.

As regimented as that sounds, Stott says, each day was a new adventure. 麻豆精品 S淭he only thing normal about every day is that every day is different. 麻豆精品 S�

---

But one day was more different than the others: September 1, 2009, her spacewalk. Her prep for the spacewalk began the day before with a deliberate process to remove nitrogen from the body since, like divers, spacewalkers are at risk of getting the bends. Just before the walk came another elaborate process: getting suited up. After that, the airlock was completely depressurized, and the hatch opened. She was in the void.

麻豆精品 S淚 had spoken to a lot of people who had done spacewalks, 麻豆精品 S� Stott says. 麻豆精品 S淧eople have come out of the airlock and felt immediately disoriented. I was very pleased to not experience any of that. 麻豆精品 S�

She and fellow spacewalker Danny Olivas had a couple of jobs that day. They had to remove a massive old ammonia tank and attach it to the station 麻豆精品 S檚 robotic arm. They also retrieved a technology experiment聽to be returned to Earth.

Stott rode on the robotic arm for 20 minutes, holding the bulky tank in her hands. 麻豆精品 S淚 felt like I was standing on the floor, 麻豆精品 S� she says, 麻豆精品 S渁nd everything else was moving around me. 麻豆精品 S� It was very peaceful, almost Zen-like 麻豆精品 S� I could nap here, she thought to herself. 麻豆精品 S淵ou don 麻豆精品 S檛 want to do that, 麻豆精品 S� she adds.

During her stay, Stott did two things that no one else had ever done. She was the first person to paint in space. And about halfway through her tenure, Stott co-hosted the first live NASA 麻豆精品 S渢weetup 麻豆精品 S� from the station, interacting with Twitter followers at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Stott had a knack for this sort of public relations, says Michael Barratt, who overlapped with Stott on the station for three weeks. She is 麻豆精品 S渋ntense and really bright but also warm and affable. She could have been my long-lost sister, kidnapped by gypsies, 麻豆精品 S� Barratt says.

While on the station, she and Barratt were tapped for another, higher-profile mission, one for which the space agency wanted to put its best foot forward 麻豆精品 S� the final space shuttle flight. (As it turned out, this was not the last one, but STS-133, which Stott was on, was Discovery 麻豆精品 S檚 39th and final mission.)

麻豆精品 S淲e were looking for specific astronauts, 麻豆精品 S� says Steven Lindsey, who commanded STS-133, 麻豆精品 S渨ith superb technical capabilities but that could also represent NASA well. [Stott] was specifically chosen because we knew she could do that. 麻豆精品 S�

麻豆精品 S淓verybody has members of a dream team, 麻豆精品 S� Barratt says. 麻豆精品 S淪he was on a lot of people 麻豆精品 S檚 lists. 麻豆精品 S�

---

Before she went into space, Stott remembers listening to the former Apollo astronauts, the guys who went to the moon, talk about seeing Earth from up there. The word she kept hearing was insignificant 麻豆精品 S� as in, humanity and our little planet seem very small in this grandest scheme of things.

麻豆精品 S淭hat really bothered me, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淗ow can 麻豆精品 S榠nsignificant 麻豆精品 S� be the word? 麻豆精品 S�

That wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 how she felt at all amidst the stars; she felt awed. Think about it: If the Earth was a little closer or farther from the sun, if the ionosphere and magnetosphere were not there to stave off solar flares, if the atmosphere wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 able to fend off X-rays and gamma rays, life here could never have emerged or evolved. None of what we know 麻豆精品 S� our histories, our civilizations, our very consciousness 麻豆精品 S� would exist.

We hit the cosmic jackpot.

One day on the space station, Stott says, she floated in front of a window and saw her home outside, so small and immense at the same time. 麻豆精品 S淚f we never find another one of us, that 麻豆精品 S檚 fine, 麻豆精品 S� she thought. 麻豆精品 S淚t reinforces that we are significant; we were put in this perfect place for a reason. 麻豆精品 S�

After her last mission, Stott led several different groups at NASA and was in line to fly again, but by 2015, she started to wonder if it wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 time to step aside, to tackle something new. She wanted to spend more time with her son, Roman, who is 13. 麻豆精品 S淔rom a family standpoint, 麻豆精品 S� she says, 麻豆精品 S渋t was the best decision I could have made. 麻豆精品 S� That didn 麻豆精品 S檛 make it easy, however. 麻豆精品 S淵ou have to be in a place where you 麻豆精品 S檙e moving on to another adventure 麻豆精品 S� not that you 麻豆精品 S檙e running away from something. 麻豆精品 S�

That new adventure was her art.

She 麻豆精品 S檇 painted before; in fact, she 麻豆精品 S檇 grown up doing artsy-craftsy things like woodworking and painting Christmas cards. Before her first journey to space, she decided she wanted to do something creative while there, so she brought a small watercolor kit.

In 2009, Stott completed the first painting done in space. The Wave is based on a photo taken through the window of the ISS. She has since created a mixed media piece (right) based on the same photo of the Los Roques archipelago in Venezuela.

Her first painting in space 麻豆精品 S� the first painting in space, made on the space station in 2009 麻豆精品 S� was a watercolor called The Wave, based on a picture she took from space of the Los Roques chain of islands, off the northern coast of Venezuela. To keep the paint from floating away, she dipped her brush into a drop of water before dipping it into the dry paint. The result was an image as seen from space, a thin stretch of green land jutting into a blue ocean.

麻豆精品 S淚 wanted to find a way that would allow me to creatively express the experiences I 麻豆精品 S檝e had, 麻豆精品 S� she says.

She has two series of paintings.聽The first is what she calls the spacecraft collection, which captures life and work scenes from her space shuttle and space station flights. The other is a collection of paintings based on the photos she took from space 麻豆精品 S� an effort to spread the message that 麻豆精品 S渢his is our planet, and we need to take care of it. 麻豆精品 S�

In that vein, last year , calling on them to act now to save the planet 麻豆精品 S檚 future.

And, as a speaker who visits schools all over the country, she also wants to inspire kids to do what she 麻豆精品 S檚 done in her second career: Blend art with science. The acronym is 麻豆精品 S淪TEAM, 麻豆精品 S� a play on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) with an 麻豆精品 S淎 麻豆精品 S� for 麻豆精品 S渁rt 麻豆精品 S� thrown in.

麻豆精品 S淭here 麻豆精品 S檚 always been this need to keep the arts in play with the science and tech stuff, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淓ven the STEM people, if they really thought about it, they 麻豆精品 S檇 see that everything we do in engineering or in the lab, just being curious, is very artistic. The way we communicate math is very artistic, as is the imaging of astronomical data. It really all comes down to communication. 麻豆精品 S�

Integrate art into STEM fields, she argues, and you 麻豆精品 S檒l not only have more well-rounded students but more engaged students. 麻豆精品 S淲ith STEAM, 麻豆精品 S� she says, 麻豆精品 S渨e 麻豆精品 S檙e starting to realize that we need to think about education again in a more Renaissance kind of way. 麻豆精品 S�

Similarly, she says, her time in space has made her fonder of science fiction. At its best, Stott says, sci-fi is a combination of artistry and science that tickles our imaginations and expands the boundaries of what we conceive as possible.

There 麻豆精品 S檚 another reason science fiction appeals to Stott: She hasn 麻豆精品 S檛 quite shed the space bug. 麻豆精品 S淭hat desire to go into space will never go away, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淲hen I 麻豆精品 S檓 95, you can ask me if I want to go into space, and the answer will be yes, unequivocally yes. 麻豆精品 S�

---

Jeffrey Billman 麻豆精品 S�01 麻豆精品 S�10MA graduated from UCF with a B.A. in journalism and an M.A. in political science. He is currently the editor in chief of INDY Week in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.