Wendy Lawrence, one of the women who faced spacesuit fit problems, climbing out of a T-38 jet, 1998. NASA

  Rather quickly, Lawrence flew again on STS-86 (1997) and STS-91 (1998), both shuttle missions to dock with Mir. The first of these included an exchange of the US Mir crewmember, a joint spacewalk by Parazynski and a cosmonaut, and the transfer of supplies and experiments between the shuttle and space station. The later mission was the ninth and final docking in the shuttle-Mir series. This crew picked up the last US astronaut to stay on Mir, transferred cargo, and carried out research. Lawrence was the flight engineer and loadmaster for the transfers and also shared responsibilities for the onboard experiments with crewmate Janet Kavandi.

  After her 1998 flight, the Navy assigned Lawrence to a rotation at the National Reconnaissance Office in the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate. The two organizations wanted to apply her experience to advanced technology initiatives and partnerships. She remained a member of the astronaut corps during this assignment and returned to duty at the Johnson Space Center two years later.[18]

  On her last spaceflight, Lawrence was a member of the STS-114 (2005) return-to-flight mission commanded by Eileen Collins after the Columbia tragedy. This was a high-stakes mission to demonstrate that the shuttle could safely fly again and that astronauts were able to verify whether the orbiter had sustained damage and repair any damage detected. This mission to deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station introduced several techniques to visually inspect the entire vehicle exterior and repair any damage to its protective shield. Lawrence had several operator roles on the mission—using the laser ranging device during approach to the ISS, overseeing the orbiter docking system, and operating the station’s robotic arm during vehicle inspection, cargo transfers, and spacewalks.

  Upon returning from this mission and completing post-flight duties, in 2006 Lawrence retired from NASA and the Navy. She transitioned into working with aerospace companies, advocacy for STEM education, and service on boards. She also supports programs at Space Camp, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and Higher Orbits, an organization that engages students in STEM by developing experiments to be flown on the ISS. Additionally, she is a founding member of AstraFemina, a nonprofit that partners with other organizations to inspire today’s girls to be tomorrow’s STEM stars.

  In 2019, as Lawrence was honored as a US Naval Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate, her wife was acknowledged as matter-of-factly as anyone’s spouse.[19] This public occasion with no fanfare was the first reported disclosure of their marital status. Lawrence had served in the military under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, when such disclosure would have ended her career.[20] After she retired, that policy no longer affected her and eventually was repealed in 2011. She married in 2013.

  Lawrence has given interviews on the topic of LGBTQ and space and says that “it’s not a big deal” in the mission-driven astronaut corps; what matters is what each person contributes to the success of the mission, and everyone has opportunities to demonstrate their abilities. She also has noted that there are other astronauts who self-identify as LGBTQ, but not publicly, “Just because you’re not hearing about it doesn’t mean it’s not in existence.”[21]

  The life lesson Lawrence shares with young people is, “You have to be able to persist.”[22] Reaching a goal or fulfilling a dream is a process, sometimes a long one, and commitment and persistence are key. Setbacks and failures are opportunities to learn and figure out how to move forward. Lawrence’s career in both the Navy and NASA reflect her persistent pursuit of a lifelong goal.

  Flights: 4 on space shuttle; 2 to Mir, 1 to the International Space Station • 21st US woman astronaut in space • 28th woman worldwide • Time in space: 51 days, 4 hours (1,228 hours)

  Mary Ellen Weber

  With degrees in chemical engineering from Purdue University and physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley as her academic credentials, Mary Ellen Weber came to NASA as a research scientist, aviator, and avid competitive skydiver. Weber gained experience as an engineer while still a student by interning, and then, after earning her doctorate, by pushing the boundaries in chip manufacturing as a research chemist at Texas Instruments. Along the way, she earned a patent and published papers in technical journals.

  Her interest in aviation was sparked while at Purdue, where she began skydiving in the early days of the sport with round parachutes, belly-mounted reserves, and combat boots.[23] Growing up in an era when women were barred from many careers—the first American woman in space finally flew during her senior year in college—Weber never even dreamed of becoming an astronaut until graduate school, when her passion for aviation matched her passion for science and, at last, women were recruited to be astronauts. She went on to become a medalist at the US skydiving national championships, an instrument-rated pilot, rock climber, scuba diver, and accomplished researcher in industry before submitting her astronaut application.

  When she joined the NASA astronaut class of 1992 as a mission specialist, Weber at age twenty-nine was among the youngest candidates ever selected. Within three years, she was in space on her first mission, STS-70 (1995). Weber was responsible for the checkout and deployment of the large Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), one of several in an orbital constellation that NASA used to monitor and communicate with the space shuttle, space observatories, and various other scientific satellites. She also was the crew medical officer, the operator of myriad scientific experiments, a member of the flight deck crew for entry and landing, and the primary contingency spacewalker if an EVA became necessary.

  In addition to its primary objectives, the STS-70 mission became known for two coincidences. The first was that four of the five crewmembers were from Ohio, and after the governor declared the fifth an honorary Ohioan, they became the first and so far only all-Ohio crew, proudly celebrated throughout the state. The other coincidence led to STS-70 being called the “woodpecker mission” when nesting woodpeckers damaged the foam insulation on the shuttle’s external propellant tank. The entire shuttle stack had to be rolled back from the launch pad for repair of numerous divots, delaying the flight. This serious technical problem prompted a lot of humorous commentary.

  Weber’s next mission was to the International Space Station, STS-101 (2000), so early in the development of the ISS that it was still rudimentary and vacant. The mission for which the crew trained was postponed several times by delays in launching the Russian module they were to outfit. Meanwhile, the vacant station’s batteries were losing the ability to recharge and needed to be replaced. This put the entire ISS program at risk, because dead batteries meant the ISS could not receive commands and thus no vehicle could dock with it. Rather than wait for the Russian module, NASA split this mission into two and tasked half of the original crew with urgent repairs. The other half of the crew was reassigned to a later mission to activate the Russian module after its arrival. Such a crew change had never happened before and was stressful for the entire mission team who, after more than a year of training, had to perfect new tasks in a matter of ten weeks. They persevered, though, and this crew delivered more than a ton of equipment, replaced the batteries, installed critical components inside and out, completed necessary maintenance, and used the shuttle to push the ISS to a higher orbit. As flight engineer, Weber was a member of the flight deck crew for both launch and entry, controlled the docking module, operated the robotic arm during a spacewalk, and directed equipment transfers from the shuttle to the station. The future Expedition 2 crew, including Susan Helms, participated in this flight for a preview of their soon-to-be home on the ISS the next year.

  In the interval between missions, Weber had leadership opportunities within and beyond the Astronaut Office. She went to NASA headquarters in Washington, DC, as the legislative affairs liaison to Congress and worked closely with the NASA administrator. There she also worked on a team in a fledging effort to commercialize space research operations, a precursor to NASA’s transformation into commercial space partnerships spearheaded and brought to fruition a decade later by Deputy Administrator Lori Garver. Weber also served on a headquarters team to revamp the ISS research facilities and worked with international partner space agencies to develop ISS training protocols and experiment facilities. Her time working with Garver at NASA headquarters to launch the commercial space era strongly affected her outlook.[24]

  Mary Ellen Weber working with an experimental bioreactor on the shuttle, 1995. NASA

  These activities and her master’s degree in business administration likely influenced Weber’s executive and entrepreneurial post-astronaut career. After ten years, she left NASA in 2002 and spent nine years as the vice president for government affairs and policy at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, a world-renowned medical school and research powerhouse in Dallas. There she helped launch world-class research centers by working with the state and federal government and prominent scientists. Thereafter, she founded Stellar Strategies, a firm through which she maintains an active consulting practice and speaking schedule, providing guidance in leadership, strategy, and high-stakes decision making informed by experiences in spaceflight. Since 2012, Weber has been on the executive education innovation faculty at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. In addition, she was a member of the NASA Advisory Council committee for technology, innovation, and engineering for eleven years. She also serves on various boards and provides space analysis and commentary for news media. Weber has remained active as a skydiver for forty-plus years, having completed more than six thousand skydives and earned more than two dozen medals at the US National Skydiving Championships.

  Weber notes that she has never thought of herself as a “first woman” or a female fill-in-the-blank, but always and only as a scientist, astronaut, or skydiver without a gendered modifier.[25] Reflecting on being an astronaut, she observes that many people still think of women astronauts as different from “real” astronauts, and it is important to dispel that myth.[26]

  Flights: 2 on space shuttle, 1 to the International Space Station • 22nd US woman astronaut in space • 29th woman worldwide • Time in space: 18 days, 18 hours (450 hours)

  The Class of 1995

  The next biennial recruitment notice, although basically the same as the last, added a statement by the flight crew operations director, astronaut David Leestma: “We are looking for multi-faceted individuals who are not only outstanding in their chosen disciplines but who will be able to handle various technical assignments, maintain spacecraft systems and experiments, work well with others and have excellent communications skills. We also like to have a balanced skill mix and a culturally diverse group in the astronaut corps.”[27] He was thinking ahead to staffing not just short shuttle missions but longer expeditions to the International Space Station. In the selection process, expedition skills, such as the ability to work and communicate well with crewmates from other cultures, began to gain importance. In this cycle, NASA selected nineteen US astronaut candidates from almost three thousand applications and welcomed four internationals to the group, for another large class of twenty-three.[28] Ten pilots and nine mission specialists were chosen, among them two women pilots, Pamela Melroy and Susan Still (later Kilrain), and three mission specialists: Kalpana Chawla, Kathryn “Kay” Hire, and Janet Kavandi. This group reported to NASA in 1995.

  Kalpana Chawla

  Kalpana Chawla was born into a Punjabi Hindu family in Karnal, India, and educated in India through her university-level studies. In 1982, at age twenty, she came to the United States for graduate school in aerospace engineering, earning a master’s degree from the University of Texas at Arlington and a doctorate from the University of Colorado. She worked for several years at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California in computational fluid dynamics applied to aerodynamics before applying to become an astronaut in 1993. Chawla became a naturalized US citizen in 1991.

  A precocious, confident, even headstrong child, Chawla was so insistent on going to school that her family misreported her birthdate so she would be eligible to start sooner.[29] When she was three years old she chose her own formal name, Kalpana (“imagination”). She loved playing outdoors, sleeping under the stars, and going to the local airfield to watch planes. She rebelled against some of the expectations for girls’ appearance, clothing, and activities, and her mother and older sisters supported her independence. Her more traditional father had doubts about her atypical academic and career ambitions but relented in the face of her determination. Chawla was the first female to earn a BS degree in aeronautical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, where she was one of only seven women studying any engineering field.[30]

  Upon arriving in Texas in 1982, Chawla met the man who would soon become her husband, a British-born American citizen. Both of them earned various flight ratings, and he became a professional pilot and flight instructor while she was in graduate school. Chawla eventually earned flight instructor and commercial pilot’s licenses for single and multiengine aircraft, seaplanes, and gliders. She loved to fly.

  When Chawla was selected into the 1994 astronaut class as a mission specialist, the couple returned to Texas to pursue their respective careers. She became known as “KC” in the astronaut corps, succeeded in her technical assignments in robotics and software testing, and was assigned to her first mission the year after she completed basic training. Usually photographed with a radiant smile, petite Chawla was well liked for her kindness, humor, positive outlook, and perfectionism.[31] Chawla was a committed vegetarian, and as an astronaut she worked with NASA’s food science team to develop vegetarian options for shuttle and space station menus.

  Chawla was the prime robotics operator for STS-87 (1997), a US Microgravity Payload mission that also included solar observations, deployment and retrieval of a scientific satellite, and testing of EVA tools and procedures for future space station assembly. The crew had some difficulty deploying and activating the satellite. They were unable to recover it with the robotic arm but finally succeeded in capturing it manually during an EVA.

  Laurel Clark and Kalpana Chawla (center), STS-107 crewmates, 2003. NASA

  After that flight, Chawla was assigned as the Astronaut Office representative for shuttle and station flight crew equipment and then became head of the crew systems and habitability branch. She flew again on Columbia in 2003 on the STS-107 mission, the last shuttle flight dedicated to scientific research. She operated experiments in alternating daily shifts during the sixteen-day, twenty-four-hour work cycle, and she served as flight engineer assisting the pilots during launch and entry. Chawla was seated on the flight deck when Columbia disintegrated over Texas just sixteen minutes before its scheduled landing. As in the Challenger tragedy of 1986, the entire Columbia crew perished.

  According to her wishes, Chawla’s remains were cremated and her ashes spread where she loved to hike in Utah. As the first woman of Indian origin to fly in space, she is revered in India by children and public figures alike and admired by Indian Americans in the United States and elsewhere. In the year after her death, her husband and Indian family traveled around India giving talks about her career and presenting mementos for display in schools and elsewhere.

  In his grief, her husband challenged the romanticized view of astronaut deaths by writing, “Kalpana and her Columbia crewmates did not willingly sacrifice their lives, pay the ultimate price, or any other such nonsense. The Columbia crew lost their lives in an avoidable accident and had every intention of returning home safely.”

  Flights: 2 on space shuttle • 25th US woman astronaut in space • 33rd woman worldwide • Time in space: 31 days, 14 hours (758 hours)

  Kathryn Patricia Hire

  Kay Hire achieved two careers in parallel. For thirty years she was a NASA engineer and astronaut, while for thirty-five years she was on active or reserve Navy duty as a naval flight officer, instructor, wartime command staff officer, science and technology program manager, or commanding officer. In both careers she rose into significant leadership positions.

  Hire grew up in Mobile, Alabama, and while in high school, she noticed when the first Navy women entered flight school in nearby Pensacola, Florida. As she applied for college scholarships, the ROTC recruiter asked if she had considered applying to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. She was unaware of the military academies but learned that the previously all-male institutions would soon admit women. She remembered that the Navy had opportunities for women to fly, so she applied. Hire was accepted into the class of 1981, the second year the Naval Academy included women.

  Upon graduating with an engineering degree, Hire reported for flight training. Upon earning her wings in 1982, she was assigned to fly oceanographic research missions in the P-3 Orion aircraft. Over the course of three years, she participated in missions to twenty-five countries and became an airborne mission commander. She later became a master instructor and spent three years as the only Navy woman instructor teaching airborne navigation, communications, and avionics systems to hundreds of naval flight officers.[32]