ple that we encourage young people to pick math, science or
engineering.” The important thing, she says, is to enjoy the
study and to be really good at it. She says, “You’ve got to enjoy the path along the way. My goal was to become an astronaut and it took ten years of applying for that to happen.”
Right now, she is chairing the selection board to pick the next
group of International Space Station astronauts. She says,
“That’s somewhat unusual, but I was asked to do it because
they want a long duration crewmember who knows about the
personality requirements such as flexibility and the ability to
get along with folks.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF NASA
Commander Whitson sums up her advice for WAI members: “If a farmer’s daughter can grow up to be an astronaut,
anyone can do just about anything.”
Learn more about Commander Whitson by reading her International Space Station journals online at NASA’s web site
at www.nasa.gov. ✈
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .
Patricia Luebke was home on July 21, 1969, and vividly remembers staring up at the moon that night and saying, “Wow.”
