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Spaced Out
NASA astronaut Ellen Baker has a perspective
from above.
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Dr. Baker was still waiting for
her first space mission when the
Challenger exploded on Jan. 28,
1986, killing all seven aboard.
"I knew everyone who died on
the Challenger and their fami-
lies," she said. "We've always un-
derstood and recognized the
risks, but it doesn't make things
PHOTO BY DANIEL LIPPI TT
E
Hen Baker was a senior in
high school when Neil
Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin took their first
steps on the moon.
It was 1969 and just another
moment for the young woman
and her classmates, who did not
know until years later that she
would become one
of the 222 American
men and women to
leave Earth's at-
mosphere.
She shared her
experiences as a
NASA astronaut
with 300 women
who attended the
annual women and
science luncheon of
the American Com-
mittee for the Weiz-
mann Institute of
Science Michigan Ellen Baker's
latest
Region last week at
mission:
Temple Beth El.
Addressing a
Dr. Baker, the Weizmann
mother of two ele-
luncheon.
mentary-school-
aged children, said her
daughters don't like it when she
travels — on Earth or in space.
Between 1989 and 1995, Dr.
Baker participated in three
shuttle missions, spending in to-
tal nearly a month in space. She
is one of eight Jewish astronauts
to work aboard the space shut-
tles.
Shortly after completing her
medical residency, Dr. Baker
went to work for the U.S. space
program. In 1981 she became
a medical officer for NASA at the
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Cen-
ter in Houston. She and her
family currently live in Texas.
A few years later she began
training as an astronaut, spend-
ing countless hours inside space
simulators. More time was spent
learning about the medical
experiments that she would be
conducting, training to do rou-
tine maintenance aboard the
shuttle and practicing for a
space walk that she never
took.
any easier."
Dr. Baker, currently not
scheduled for more space flights,
is working on medical policy is-
sues regarding shuttle and
space-station operations and
speaks to the public about her
experiences.
"[Space flight] is beautiful, but
it's also a lot of hard work that
can be very demanding," she
said. "Earth is very recognizable
from above. We can circle it in
an hour and a half— it is amaz-
ing to think we can travel
around Earth so quickly."
One of 222
Americans to leave
Earth's atmosphere.
Dr. Baker believes there are
other forms of life in the uni-
verse, and expects the United
States to send people back to
the moon and to Mars. "I'd also
like to think people will live
out there," she said. "The human
spirit is adventurous, and
therefore I think it could hap-
pen."
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