Florida Today(27-06-2006)
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060627/NEWS02/606270328/1007
Nowak won't overlook small details of mission
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BY CHRIS KRIDLER
HOUSTON - Lisa Nowak is not going to have big hair in orbit.
It's a small concern for the Navy flier, test pilot and first-time astronaut,
but it's something she has thought about.
"I've seen pictures of some people that come back and got their big-hair
picture, zero-gravity hair, but I'm just going to have mine in a ponytail
and keep it under wraps and hopefully out of my way," she said with a laugh.
She has a lot more on her mind. She'll be helping operate robotic arms during
inspections of the shuttle's heat shield and spacewalks when Discovery flies
to the International Space Station.
"The biggest thing we have to watch out for there is not getting bored or
complacent," Nowak said.
She and crewmates will operate the shuttle arm and its extension during the
mostly automated inspection sequences and the station arm while maneuvering
hardware with tight clearances.
"Kind of like driving a car if you're tired, it could be easy to let something
happen if you're not watching very carefully," she said.
She'll work closely with another rookie, Stephanie Wilson, while operating
the arms. Wilson speaks highly of Nowak's work ethic and integrity.
"It's nice to have another woman on the flight, and so we can help each other
out if needed," Wilson said. "But she has always been there if I've had a
question or had a need."
Nowak's there for her family, too, and they support her. They know she faces
risks when she flies. The day of the Columbia accident, her son -- then 10
-- was watching TV with her.
"He reached over and held my hand, and he's the one being supportive and
saying, 'Mom, I know this is tough, but I still want you to go,' and that
was on that day," she said.
Her two daughters are younger and not quite as aware of the risk, even though
they know she's going to space. They have other distractions, such as Mom's
hobby of making art with rubber stamps.
"They like to look at them, too," Nowak said. "My little girls recently found
them, and they discovered all kinds of artwork they can create with them,
not necessarily all on the paper."
While she won't take a rubber stamp to orbit, she'll take another treasure.
"My grandmother died a few years ago at the age of almost 100, and one of
the special presents that she left me was her very beautiful engagement ring,
and I'll be taking that with me," Nowak said. "It's probably one of the most
treasured items that's going up there."
She's also taking with her 10 years of astronaut training, her education
as an aerospace engineer and experience as a Navy test pilot, which should
translate well into space.
"One time, we were a couple of hundred miles out over the water and we lost
a hydraulics system -- and you know, at any moment, if something else fails,
there's all kinds of consequences," Nowak said. "So there's been a number
of challenging incidents that I think being in the Navy has prepared me well
for this job."
Once she's in space, she hopes to find a few moments to look at the Washington,
D.C., area where she grew up, places she was stationed in the Navy and places
she dreams of visiting.
"My family heritage is Italy. I've never been there, but I'm going to look
down, and maybe I'll get to go there someday."