Before the Columbia's Jan. 16 launch, the shuttle's astronauts sat down for interviews with the Orlando Sentinel.
RICK DOUGLAS HUSBAND
Rick Douglas Husband seldom traveled with a Texas-sized entourage, but more than 1,000 of Husband's friends and neighbors journeyed to Kennedy Space Center in 1999 to see Amarillo, Texas' favorite son make his first flight to orbit aboard shuttle Discovery.
Some astronauts would have shunned the attention, but the 45-year-old former Air Force test pilot relished the chance to represent his hometown and said he hoped some of Amarillo's younger generation would take notice.
Married with two children, Husband was making his first landing Saturday as a shuttle commander at the controls of Columbia.
"It's nice to see the hometown folks get so excited about this and see a lot of attention generated there," Husband said. "From the standpoint of all the kids in school, I think it's good for them to see some coverage and get more involved in the mission."
Husband started getting involved in missions around the dawn of the Space Age. His interest in becoming an astronaut dates back to childhood.
"From the very time I was 4 years old, when the Mercury program first got started, I was in front of the TV for every one of the launches," Husband said. "And for the whole time I was growing up, for as long as I can remember, anytime anyone asked me what I wanted to be it was `I want to be an astronaut.'"
Husband graduated from high school in Amarillo and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1980. He set off in pursuit of his dream, receiving Air Force pilot training at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma.
Soon he was flying F-4 fighters, and became so good at it that by 1985 he was teaching others to fly them. In December 1987, he was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base in California where he attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Afterward, he earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from nearby California State University, Fresno, in 1990.
Husband applied to NASA to become an astronaut candidate and was accepted in December 1994. After a year of training, he represented the Astronaut Office on several projects including space shuttle upgrades and the canceled X-38 program to build a crew return vehicle for the international space station. On his first trip into space in 1999, he served as Discovery's co-pilot on the maiden docking mission to the station.
WILLIAM C. MCCOOL
William C. McCool never seriously considered doing anything besides following his father's footsteps down a military career path.
Flying was almost second nature to the son of a Marine and Naval aviator. An early love for model airplane building was the beginning.
"I went to the Naval Academy - it just seemed like the natural thing to do," said McCool, married with two sons. "I had this natural inclination for flying."
That inclination eventually led McCool to the co-pilot's seat of shuttle Columbia. The 41-year-old Navy commander was returning from his first trip to space Saturday.
A San Diego native, McCool graduated from high school in Lubbock, Texas, in 1979 and earned a bachelor's degree in applied science from the U.S. Naval Academy four years later. There, the former Eagle Scout finished second in his class and was honored as the academy's outstanding student. He continued his studies at the University of Maryland, where he earned a master's degree in computer science in 1985.
In 1986, McCool earned his Navy wings and was assigned to an electronic warfare squadron. He made two trips to the Mediterranean as a pilot aboard the USS Coral Sea. The lessons he learned there helped him later as an astronaut.
"We advocated crew coordination and working together," McCool said. "All those lessons that I learned in my aviation career and my Navy career about working together as a team just seemed to naturally apply and work well with NASA."
McCool returned to college in 1989, earning another masters degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School three years later. As part of a cooperative program, he also trained as a test pilot.
After a stint managing and conducting several projects on a variety of aircraft, McCool returned to an electronic warfare squadron and was assigned to the USS Enterprise. He was at sea as the squadron's administrative and operations officer when the word came in 1996 he had been selected by NASA for the astronaut corps.
"Things just worked out in my benefit to lead me into the astronaut program," McCool said. "I think parental influence is probably the biggest motivator behind everything."
McCool began astronaut training at Johnson Space Center in Houston in August 1996 and was qualified to fly aboard the shuttle two years later. He held jobs doing computer support, flight crew operations and shuttle cockpit upgrades before being assigned to Columbia's flight.
KALPANA CHAWLA
Kalpana Chawla told her father that she wanted to study aerospace engineering and he scoffed. She should be a doctor or teacher, he told her.
"That was a more respectable profession," she recalled.
Chawla's father wouldn't go with her when she went to interview at an Indian engineering school. Instead, her mother accompanied her to the college, where a male professor told her that engineering wasn't "ladylike."
However, Chawla didn't let sexism or even the lack of an aerospace program in her native India discourage her. She emigrated to the United States, earned a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering and - against all odds - became an astronaut.
"For me, it's really farfetched to have thought about it and made it," Chawla said. "It's almost like having won a lottery or something."
The 41-year-old engineer was returning from her second shuttle mission. Known as "KC"' around NASA, Chawla became the first person from India to fly in space in 1997.
Born in Karnal, India, to a wealthy family that owned a local rubber manufacturing plant, Chawla dedicated herself to engineering.
"I don't know why I always liked aerospace engineering," she said. "I was in the tenth grade when I figured that's what I wanted to do."
Chawla earned an aeronautical degree from the Punjab Engineering College in 1982. While getting her degree, she read a book about the famed Lockheed "Skunkworks" plant in California, where new space vehicles are designed. She applied to American schools for her advanced degrees and stayed in the United States.
After earning a master's from the University of Texas in 1984, she went to the University of Colorado for her doctorate. There, she met professor C.Y. Chow who had a job available doing NASA research in complex fluid dynamics. It was a perfect fit.
"In the classroom, she was an excellent student and also she did excellent research," Chow said. "And outside she was very active, hiking and flying."
Chawla began work on aircraft physics at NASA's Ames Research Center in 1988 after completing her doctoral studies. She became an American citizen in 1990 and in 1993 joined Overset Methods Inc. as a vice president studying aerodynamics.
In 1994, she was chosen as an astronaut. Following her training, she did work on robotics and computers. She made her first spaceflight in 1997 on a shuttle mission that did research on the effects of weightlessness, studied the sun's outer atmosphere and retrieved a science satellite.
MICHAEL P. ANDERSON
Television shows like "Star Trek" and "Lost in Space" fueled Michael Anderson's dreams of flying in space.
As a young man, he meticulously plotted his career down to what planes he'd fly to improve his chances of being chosen for NASA's astronaut corps. Eventually, persistence paid off and his dreams came true.
"Fortunately someone else was looking over me," said Anderson, a devout Christian married with two daughters. "For me, it's the answer to a lot of my prayers."
The 43-year-old Air Force colonel was returning from his second space voyage. On his first shuttle flight in 1998, he became the first African-American to visit a space station during a trip to the Russian Mir outpost.
"I hadn't really thought about it," Anderson said. "Any time you break ground on something new, there's some benefit in that."
Anderson said he enjoyed being a role model to young blacks because he liked to do "anything I can do to inspire a young child, to tell someone about the importance of education."
Born on Christmas Day in 1959 in Plattsburgh, N.Y., Anderson grew up near Spokane, Wash., and was obsessed with space-themed TV shows. His parents, especially his father, encouraged his dreams.
Young Anderson never noticed that almost all the faces in space on his TV set were white. He still thought he could get there.
"I felt if I tried hard enough and the opportunities were available for me, I could achieve a dream," Anderson said. "I have a strong faith in God and really felt with him behind me, who could stop me?"
Anderson earned a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Washington in 1981 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. He became a pilot and eventually spent four years flying for the Strategic Air Command.
In 1990, he received his master's degree in physics from Creighton University. After graduate school, he served as an aircraft commander and an instructor pilot for refueling squadrons in Michigan and New York. NASA selected Anderson in 1994 to be an astronaut. Following his training, he was assigned technical duties doing flight support.
Anderson made his first trip to space aboard Endeavour in 1998 on the eighth shuttle flight to Russia's Mir space station. Endeavour dropped off science equipment, supplies and a new crew member for the station during its nine-day mission.
ILAN ROMAN
One evening in 1997, Israeli Air Force Col. Ilan Ramon was at his desk at Israeli Air Force headquarters when the phone rang.
The voice on the other end asked if he wanted to apply to be an astronaut. In Israel, the term astronaut often is used as an insult to describe those who are unstable or have their head in the clouds.
"I thought it was a joke," Ramon said.
It wasn't. The Air Force was looking for candidates to become Israel's first astronaut. Ramon had all of the necessary qualities: Gifted pilot. Team player. A technical background. A background conducting experiments in the Air Force. He was chosen after a short selection process.
Five years later, Ramon was returning Saturday from his first ship into space. Married with three sons and one daughter, the 48-year-old former combat pilot's flight has been front-page news throughout Israel.
"When I first started this, I didn't realize how big it was for Israelis and Jews," Ramon said. "I am a Holocaust survivor's son, an Israeli pilot and now, an astronaut. People can't believe it. It's very emotional for me also.
Ramon was born in a rural suburb of Tel Aviv in 1954 and grew up in the town of Beer Sheva in Israel's Negev Desert. When he was 16, a neighbor who worked with his father took Ramon for a ride in his small Cessna airplane. Ramon got to take the controls. He was hooked.
"To this day," Ramon said, chuckling, "he thinks I owe him my career."
Like all Israeli youth, Ramon began compulsory military service after graduating from high school in 1972. He joined the Air Force. The Yom Kippur War broke out the following year when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel. Ramon took part, then graduated from flight school as a fighter pilot in 1974.
Ramon was chosen in 1980 to be part of the team that would establish the first F-16 squadron in Israel. Dov Cohen, now head of space systems at Israel Aircraft Industries, was an engineer who spent time in Utah with Ramon learning about the F-16's systems.
"After I got to fly backseat in the F-16, I realized the talents a fighter pilot needs to fly the airplane," Cohen said. "They have to be so precise, so multi-talented, so disciplined. He had all of those qualities."
Ramon returned to Israel in 1981 as a deputy squadron commander. In June 1981, the squadron launched a controversial attack to destroy an Iraqi nuclear facility under construction near Baghdad.
A year later in June 1982, Ramon took part in Israel's bombing and invasion of neighboring Lebanon, an effort by the Israeli military to root out Palestinian guerrillas there. When asked about combat operations, he politely gives a generic reply: "I would rather not talk about that."
The 29-year-old combat veteran left the Air Force in 1983 to earn an electrical and computer engineering degree from Tel Aviv University. While attending the university, Ramon met his wife, Rona, at a neighbor's party and married her after a six-month courtship. He graduated in 1987 and returned to the Air Force.
For the next decade, Ramon worked his way up the chain of command - F-16 squadron commander, head of the aircraft branch of the operations department, head of weapons development and acquisition _ until the phone call came. He began astronaut training at Johnson Space Center in July 1998.
DAVID M. BROWN
David M. Brown was planning a typical, traditional career in medicine while attending the East Virginia Medical School in the early 1980s. Then, one day, a Navy pamphlet changed his life.
"I got a brochure that showed a Navy physician standing on a flight deck next to an F-4 Phantom," Brown said. "I said `Boy, I've got to go learn about this.' "
That decision put Brown on a career path in medicine that turned out to be anything but traditional. Ultimately, it earned the 46-year-old doctor a spot among shuttle Columbia's crew. The mission was the bachelor's first trip into space.
"I remember growing up thinking astronauts and their job was the coolest thing you could possibly do," Brown said. "I thought they were movie stars ... and so, I couldn't see a path how a normal kid could ever get to be one of these people."
Brown was born outside Washington in Arlington, Va., and graduated from high school there in 1974. Four years later, he earned a degree in biology from the College of William and Mary. He was a varsity gymnast while in college and performed in the Circus Kingdom as an acrobat, unicyclist and stilt walker.
In 1982, Brown earned his doctorate in medicine, then did an internship at the Medical University of South Carolina. After his internship, he took the Navy brochure's advice and signed up. He was assigned to a Navy hospital in Alaska as director of medical services after completing flight surgeon training in 1984.
His next assignment was in the western Pacific Ocean aboard the USS Carl Vinson. For his work there, he was named Navy Operational Flight Surgeon of the Year in 1986. Working around airplanes and treating pilots gave Brown the itch to try flying himself. He applied to a rarely-used program that allowed Navy doctors to receive flight training.
"The first time they said `No, you're not going to do that,' " Brown recalled. "So, I thought and I said `Well, I really would like to do this.' So I reapplied, and they said `Yes.' "
In 1988, Brown became the only Navy physician in a 10-year period to be chosen for pilot training. He graduated first in his class from flight school two years later. Afterward, he was sent to the Naval Strike Warfare Center in Nevada, where he served as an instructor and planning officer.
He shipped out from Japan aboard the USS Independence in 1992, before beginning a stint as the flight surgeon at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1995. Since earning his wings, Brown has racked up more than 2,700 flight hours, including 1,700 in high-performance military aircraft.
Brown was selected as an astronaut in 1996. His assignments at NASA have included payload development for the international space station and a job on the astronaut support team responsible for setting up the shuttle's cockpit, strapping in the crew and landing recovery.
LAUREL B. CLARK
It was her interest in the Earth that led Laurel Clark to space.
Fascinated by the environment, ecosystems and the animal kingdom, Clark immersed herself in zoology at the University of Wisconsin, then moved toward a career in medicine, thinking she would do her life's work on her home planet.
"I can't think of anything specific growing up that pointed me toward NASA at all," said Clark, married with one child. "I was interested in the moon landings just about the same as everyone else of my generation. But I never really thought about being an astronaut or working in space myself."
Clark, 41, graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in zoology in 1983 and received a doctorate in medicine from the school in 1987. An Iowa native, she considers Racine, Wis., her true hometown.
She trained with a Navy medical diving unit while in medical school, then did a postgraduate year in pediatrics at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. From there, she completed her training in Connecticut and Panama City, Fla., becoming certified to work in submarines and as a medical diver.
From those kinds of close quarters, the idea of cramming into the space shuttle wasn't much of a leap.
"It was really just sort of a natural progression," Clark said. "When I learned about NASA and what astronauts do, and the type of things that they are expected to do, that I thought about the things I had done so far and became more interested in that as a career."
Clark also trained as a flight surgeon, and served in that capacity for the Naval Flight Officer advanced training squadron in Pensacola, Fla. She rose to the rank of commander, earning three commendation medals and the National Defense Medal, before being accepted by NASA for astronaut training in 1996. She was qualified for a flight assignment, as a mission specialist, two years later.
During her maiden flight aboard the space shuttle Columbia, Clark worked closely with the assorted experiments on board. That included using the astronauts themselves as test subjects, looking for changes in metabolism, hormone levels and other ways the body responds to life in orbit.
"As a physician, the life science research that we're doing is extremely exciting," Clark said. "It's just a great feeling to be part of the team of researchers and investigators that have been working for years to bring all of this to fruition."
- Orlando Sentinel correspondents Gwyneth K. Shaw and Robyn Suriano contributed to this report

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