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Week 4: NASA Astronaut, Dr Shannon Lucid

1. Sam Watson, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School

Is it true that no-one can hear you scream in space?

Well, yes, If you are in a vacuum - and space is a vacuum - sound depends on atmosphere and on the vibrations of the molecules it carries. So, if you were out in space without a spacesuit on and you screamed, then you wouldn’t be heard. If you were wearing a spacesuit and you had a life support system and oxygen and you screamed, then you would be heard over the radio.

2. Katie Pickford, St Joseph’s Primary School

How does a shuttle take-off affect an astronaut’s body?

When the shuttle takes off, over the period of 8 minutes it takes to get into space, the forces of gravity gradually increase to about three times the force you’re feeling right now.

The force goes through you as you lie on your back. When you are in space and the main engines switch off, you are in micro-gravity and the fluid in your body is no longer able to cool, like it does here on earth. Then most of the fluid goes to the upper part of your body, and your face can look a lot fatter than it really is.

3. Andreas, Sumner School

How many years has the Mir Space Station been in space?

It has been in space for over eleven years now, and one thing that is very interesting is that when the Russians built their space station they thought it would be good for five years up in space but they found out that it could continue to work, which says a lot for how it was built!

4. David Matthews, Te Mahia School

What was it like living with the Russians on the Mir Space Station?

I found it very, very interesting to live with the Russians. I really enjoy going to different countries and finding out new things and so I enjoyed learning more about the Russian culture while in space.

5. Harriet Sherratt, Weber School

When did you first go into space and how many times have you been back?

The first time that I went into space was in 1985, and I have had five space flights altogether.

6. Kathy Impey, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School

What was the reaction of others to you, as a female astronaut?

I found over the years that I have worked that people have been very accepting and only judge whether you are getting the job right or not, not judging you for being a male or female. When I first started to work for NASA it was the very first time there had been a female astronaut, so it took people a while to get used to the idea.

In the US about 20% of astronauts are female and this is increasing.

7. Sam Ward, St Joseph’s Primary School

What personality traits do you need to be an astronaut?

If you met the different people in our office you would find that there is a large variety of personality types. But I think there is something in common with everyone in that they want to do a good job and take their work seriously. It’s also very important to be able to work in a group, as a crew and not as an individual. When I was on the long space flight last year it seemed to me that the most important trait a person could have was to enjoy life and enjoy your time. I had such a good time living on Mir with the two Russians as they had such a good sense of humour and we spent a lot of the time talking and laughing with each other. Everyone was able to look after themself, yet also wanted to help each other.

8. Karl, Sumner School

How far away from earth is the Mir Space Station?

It varies dependent on whether the orbit has increased, or decreased. Generally it is about 200 miles above the earth.

9. Kimberly Hook, Te Mahia School

Did you learn Russian and how long did it take?

Yes, we had to learn Russian in order to fly on Mir because it is a Russian space station and most of the cosmonauts don’t speak English. We started studying Russian a year before the flight and to be honest it was not enough time as Russian is a very difficult language. Yuri and Yuri were very patient with me.

10. Angelique Walsh, Weber School

While you were on the Mir Space Station, was your spacecraft hit by rocks and if so what happened?

That’s a very interesting question – the engineers are very concerned about whether we are going to be hit by meteorites coming into the earth’s atmosphere. The engineers have made a guess that impact by meteorite should occur fairly often and that’s the interesting thing about Mir is that it has never had a major impact in all that time it’s been there. If you look at the solar panels you can see a few places where a meteorite had impacted. As a matter of fact the Russians up on Mir have just completed a space walk where they took off an old solar panel and brought it inside and on the next space shuttle flight that docks with Mir they will bring it back to be studied. The engineers and scientists are very interested in it for the design of the craft.

One interesting thing is that the shuttle has never had a major meteorite impact. But there was one flight when a meteorite grazed and cracked the front window which they had to change when they got back.

11. Sherryn Irvine, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School

Have you, or any other astronauts, ever panicked while in space?

I have been very fortunate on my flights, as things have gone as they should have and so nothing scary has happened. I am sure that there have been situations where some people have panicked.

12. Rachel McQuiod, St Joseph’s Primary School

Does being an astronaut make it difficult to have a family life?

That’s a good question. I have 3 children. My youngest is now in college. I was an astronaut all the time they were growing up. My family were always my top priority, as well as my husbands and we worked together to make sure that our work did not impact on family life to a great degree and I think my children enjoy the fact that I am an astronaut.

On Mir the Russians arranged for me to talk to my family on the phone every week. My voice would go down from Mir to a Russian Radio station, then to a satellite and then to the US.

13. Andrew, Sumner School

How long did it take to build the Mir Space Station?

The station was built in pieces. One part was launched and then another part was launched. It was finished

When I was up on Mir in April of 86 when the very last part came up. This was the module that contained United States experiments. The name of that was Kroda meaning ‘nature’ in Russian.

14. Levi McGregor, Te Mahia School

How do you wash your clothes and do women astronauts wear make-up on the space station?

We didn’t have to wash our clothes, which I thought was pretty good! We would change our clothes once a week and threw away the dirty clothes. Sometimes women astronauts wear make-up, sometimes they don’t. I don’t because it is a lot of trouble and takes time. Before the end, when the Russian crew changed out, a French woman by the name of Claudine came up with the last crew and was on Mir for two weeks and she used make-up.

15. Kate Small, Weber School

When you looked outside Mir into space, did you ever feel dizzy?

No, but an interesting point is that when you talk to those who space walked outside of Mir sometimes when they first go outside and look down at earth they had a feeling of falling and it would give them a feeling like dizziness.

16. Kahu Stirling, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School

How do you keep track of time while you are in space?

We keep time with watches and clocks, which are set to Greenwich time. On Mir we used the same time that was currently being used in Moscow because the Russian control centre is very close to Moscow. We used an alarm clock to get us up. We slept and woke to the same time as the people of Moscow, because you just can’t look out of the window and know if it’s day or night – you circle the earth every 90 minutes and it’s day or night every 45 minutes!

17. Anna Klepaki, St Joseph’s Primary School

Why is maths important to be an astronaut?

Anything related to the space programme needs maths, not only to be an astronaut, or an engineer. Maths is the foundation for so many of our science and engineering courses and having maths doesn’t limit your choices.

18. Elizabeth, Sumner School

What was your job on Mir?

My title was Board Engineer Two. I was in charge of doing all the United States science experiments and I knew how to work some of the systems on Mir. For example if there was a problem with the life support system then I could help the cosmonaut to work on that.

19. Amanda Coop, Te Mahia School

Can you see any pollution around the earth from the Mir Space Station?

Yes, sometimes you can. It was very noticeable on the third flight I made because at that time there had been a lot of volcanic activity on the earth. As soon as we launched I looked down at the earth’s atmosphere I was talking to someone about it and we were unable to see a lot of the pictures of the earth we had seen on previous flights – the visibility was poor. Scientists ask us to take lots of pictures so that they can monitor what’s happening on the earth.

20. Stacey Campbell, Weber School

Of the 188 days you were on Mir, what was your best experience during this time?

We did lots of experiments and I got to help Yuri and Yuri when they did space walks. We had the new part of Mir that came up and we finished building it. But what I will remember all my life are the good times; the companionship that Yuri and Yuri had together, and how we helped each other. I talk about this with other astronauts and we agree that it’s not the space walks, or what we do that we remember. What makes a great flight is the human beings you work with, and the relationships you build with your crew.