Astronauts and then-astronaut candidates from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency pose for a photograph in front of NASA’s Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft atop the mobile launcher on the pad at Launch Complex 39B on Aug. 28, 2022.
The officers knew Hathaway, who graduated from astronaut candidate training this month, all too well: they were"paddles," the people responsible for grading every Navy aviator's carrier landing."They watched my reaction," Hathaway recounted,"and they immediately walked down the length of the ship to talk to all the other ready rooms. They told everyone they saw. So I was not successful, keeping it a secret.
The aging ISS will need more maintenance work, and commercial stations will need attention when they come online in the 2030s. Meanwhile, every experiment she works on in space or on the ground will require people who are comfortable with being"really hands-on with the equipment." One of her first tasks after graduation will also be working on new spacesuits for astronauts.
"I think that opens up doors for learning, for all of us," Menon told Space.com."When we go to the moon, when we go to, when we think generations down — we'd like that to be everybody being able to fly and participate in the space program . . . we need to start learning about how different people react when they get up there. This is the first step in that direction.