Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/807066
t m c ยป p u l s e | a p r i l 2 0 1 7 7 Q | One of the most intriguing aspects of being an astronaut is returning from space. What was that adjustment like for you? A | When you first land you feel very heavy, but that goes away pretty quickly. There are also neurovestibular changes. You can find it hard to walk straight. You can feel like you're dizzy. If you lean down or lean one direction it feels like you're being shoved in that direction and can spin a little bit. I would say those are the things you most notice when you land. Q | Having that weightlessness and floating in the air has got to be priceless. A | It is. It's quite unlike anything else that you do. It's fun. Q | Can you describe what it was like? A | You have to work out different ways of doing things. If you're going to be working on a particular piece of equipment or something, you have to be very methodical because you can't ever put anything down unless it has Velcro on it. You have to make sure you're really thinking step by step and being very deliberate so that things don't float away or you don't have some unintended consequence. Of course, some things are easier. If you're trying to move what would be a very heavy piece of equipment on Earth you can do that much easier in space. You can move your body upside down or sideways if that helps give you better leverage as you're trying to do a task. If you want to move across the cabin you can push off with one fingertip and that gets your going. If you push any harder than that you're going way too fast. You have to get used to all of that when you first get to space. Q | Under your leadership, NASA has launched several research initiatives to detect and monitor diseases at very early stages, many in partnership with TMC member institutions. A | Here at Johnson Space Center, we really value our collaborations with dif- ferent institutions at the Texas Medical Center. I think we are very lucky to be located in Houston, where we have the largest medical center in the world. We have world-renowned experts in areas that are important to us, including radiation and, now, much more person- alized medicine, which is becoming important to us, as well. Q | For both male and female astro- nauts, it must be dicult to be away from families. You were a new mom before your third flight. That must have added a whole new dimension to your mission. A | On my third flight, I had a 1-year- old. By my fourth flight, I had had my second child. My youngest turned two while I was in orbit, and the other one was three-and-a-half. For my third flight, I made a tape of myself talking to my 1-year-old and reading a book that he liked so that my husband could play it while I was gone. I thought, 'Shoot, he's only one. He's going to forget about me.' The mission itself wasn't that long, but when you added in the week of quaran- tine ahead of time and the fact that you might delay before you launch, I figured I might be away three weeks, which is a long time for a 1-year-old. (continued) Credit: NASA