“It’s a wonderful place to learn. It prepares you for space flight because you grow to understand the day-to-day operations, especially for the space station, where we’re always trouble shooting on systems, subsystems and science experiments,” Wheelock said.
A Walk in Space
Astronauts scheduled for space flight get advanced, mission-specific training. For every hour of extravehicular activity — or space walking — they spend 10 rehearsing underwater in an ISS mockup.
Astronauts are dropped into the training pool wearing space suits, then loaded with weights and floats for buoyancy. They practice making repairs, maintaining equipment and adding new structures to the station.
“Space walk is the ultimate,” said Forrester. “Like looking out of your house, you can only see so much from the window. When you go out on a space walk, all of a sudden there are no constraints and you can see the entire curvature of Earth.”
Humans vs. Robots
Williams dreams the next generation will explore Mars. “There’s something in our nature that seeks to discover beyond what we know and to explore what’s over the horizon,” he said.
But some scientists predict that robots, not humans, will explore the far reaches of space. Currie, who is an engineering director with advanced robotics systems, said that while the United States might become the world’s expert in human-robotic interaction, she believes we’re 50 years from sending only robots to space.
“I could program a robot to reach out autonomously and grab a water bottle, but the robot wouldn’t know that you like water or that’s what you wanted to drink,” she said.
Such judgment is a quantum leap away, she said. So is spontaneity.
“I’ve been surprised more than once by things that didn’t go according to our plan,” Currie added. “NASA is very good at reacting to that, and I think it’s probably one of the things we do best. But I believe one of the reasons we’re good at it is because we’re human beings interacting with one another.”
For every application Currie applies to robots, she considers the potential benefits for soldiers on the battle-field.
“You wouldn’t send a robot out to do surgery,” she said, “but could you send it into a chemical area to retrieve wounded soldiers? Absolutely.”
Ride of a Lifetime
No amusement ride compares to a ride in space, Currie said.
“The first two minutes is just shake, rattle and roll. There’s no doubt in your mind that you’re sitting on a rocket. Then it’s just a smooth and gradual acceleration to maximum velocity,” she said in her description of takeoff.
She’s been told that as soon as the shuttle hits zero gravity a permanent smile crosses her face. Most astronauts experience nausea and headaches in space, but Currie doesn’t experience side effects until returning to Earth.
Forrester, who is assigned to travel aboard STS-117 around 2004, emphasizes an irony of space flight.
“We spend our whole lives as astronauts trying to get to space,” he said. “But once we’re in space, we spend all our free time looking back at Earth.”
Thanks to the Army
Without the Army, their hopes of exploring space would still be dreams, the astronauts said. They feel indebted, and use every public appearance to boast about the opportunities the Army presents.
Space was off limits to women when Currie’s interest in aeronautics piqued. So she became an Army pilot and waited for the day NASA would begin accepting female astronauts.
Currently the Army’s most experienced astronaut, Currie has been to space four times. During the first trip she was a single parent of a 6-year-old daughter left behind with friends and a letter explaining why she’d taken the risks of space flight, just in case.
“I just cannot believe that I’ve had these opportunities,” she said. “I do not believe I’d be here without the Army.”
