Author Topic: Pam Melroy interview - ask a question (Read 13489 times)

kimmern123 · « **on:** 12/03/2007 08:23 pm »

Hi everyone!

Thursday I'm scheduled to interview Pam Melroy for a Norwegian spaceflight magazine, and I'm in need of questions. I then thought that I'd ask all of you if you have any interesting question for Col. Melroy?

I'll select a couple of your questions and post the answers here after the article I'll use them for is published. I need the questions by Wednesday.

ShuttleDiscovery · « **Reply #1 on:** 12/03/2007 08:39 pm »

Wow! Here's my question(s) - I prefer the 2nd question myself.

- How did it feel to be back in the cockpit of the shuttle now the fleet is flying again? Did it feel strange compared to your other 2 flights doing TPS inspections and RPM, etc.?

- You performed a perfect landing at the end of the mission, what was going through your mind during those final minutes before touchdown when you were guiding Discovery back to KSC?

Melroy Fan · « **Reply #2 on:** 12/03/2007 09:52 pm »

Kimmern, I send you a PM with my questions.

Many thanks for the opportunity to ask her a question. Very much appreciated. Looking forward to your article.

Andrewwski · « **Reply #3 on:** 12/03/2007 10:33 pm »

I'd ask her if, being from Rochester, she's a Sabres fan...

Just kidding...maybe...

Jeff Lerner · « **Reply #4 on:** 12/03/2007 10:58 pm »

I'd ask her what her secret was to having such a fun crew. They were high-fiving, cracking jokes, etc throughout the mission....I'd say they set a new record for most fun orbit by any shuttle crew. How did she set the tone for the type of crew experience..??

Gary · « **Reply #5 on:** 12/03/2007 11:22 pm »

I'd be curious to know her thoughts on the SAW repair. As it was an unscheduled spacewalk and an untested procedure did she have any concerns over the saftey aspects of that repair?

blane · « **Reply #6 on:** 12/03/2007 11:41 pm »

I'll second Gary's question, I have always wondered if the on-orbit crew feel "pushed" to do an extra task, or if they are eager and the ground staff are more conservative.

bodge · « **Reply #7 on:** 12/03/2007 11:47 pm »

Question: "How did you feel about the problems with the PGSCs that you were having during the flight? Did you feel like there was someone to blame, or this was a normal funny?"

or

"Could you explain what it was like having Clay Anderson onboard the Shuttle to return home? Any Clay antics you care you share?"

Just ideas - thanks!

jscott227 · « **Reply #8 on:** 12/04/2007 12:16 am »

I would ask about her future at NASA. Does she envision flying again? Shuttle or Orion? Or serving in some other capacity

Thanks

claudiadg · « **Reply #9 on:** 12/04/2007 12:43 am »

I'll second Wildthing question: the harmony (no pun intended!) of the crew was amazing, and clearly exceptional, I can't wait to meet them all when they're coming in Italy in January. I wonder (and you could ask her) if she thinks that being a woman commander helped her to set a somehow less competitive and more friendly mood.

tx

edfishel · « **Reply #10 on:** 12/04/2007 12:47 am »

Prior to the flight, she referred to her excitement about being a pilot and landing the shuttle. Now that she has done it, what was it like? How close were the simulations to the real thing?

ed

Lee Jay · « **Reply #11 on:** 12/04/2007 01:08 am »

Quote

edfishel - 3/12/2007 6:47 PM

Prior to the flight, she referred to her excitement about being a pilot and landing the shuttle. Now that she has done it, what was it like? How close were the simulations to the real thing?

ed

I'd add asking her how she felt physically flying final approach and landing while beginning to acclimate to feeling a g-load again after a couple of weeks in zero g.

Endeavour118 · « **Reply #12 on:** 12/04/2007 01:10 am »

I have 2 questions
1. how did you keep the crew together?
2.Since you notice that starting from sts-122 till sts-126 with the crew slection that the commander took someone with them from their previous flight ex: Fergie took heidi piper with him. if you are given another flight and if you could pick someone. who would you pick?

rsp1202 · « **Reply #13 on:** 12/04/2007 01:17 am »

triddirt · « **Reply #14 on:** 12/04/2007 01:20 pm »

When we watch live many of the tasks look easy based on the excelling training.. Can she talk about tasks that were actually more challenging than the training or talk about some unplanned activity..

What was her personal highlight/defining moment in the mission.

bkellysky · « **Reply #15 on:** 12/04/2007 01:49 pm »

I'd like to ask Col. Melroy about piloting the Shuttle.... From your pilot's seat, what was the most interesting piece of flying you did? The technical terms for flying the shuttle can make it sound so everyday, but what was the maneuver that, after it was over, you just wanted to cheer because it was so challenging to do and so exciting?

edfishel · « **Reply #16 on:** 12/04/2007 05:37 pm »

Now that a sizeable number of women have flown in space, what have we learned about the adaptability of women versus men in the zero-g environment? Have we made any discoveries about bone decay, muscle tone, or other physical issues that can be instructive for long duration flights in the future?

Looking on her flights, what were the most important aspects to her training? physical? mental?

Finally, her mission was so jam-packed...is it just a "blur" to her or did she have some particular moments that are particularly vivid in her memory?

Patriot1776 · « **Reply #17 on:** 12/04/2007 09:00 pm »

Quote

jscott227 - 3/12/2007 8:16 PM

I would ask about her future at NASA. Does she envision flying again? Shuttle or Orion? Or serving in some other capacity

Thanks

My question as well. Does she plan on staying with NASA long enough to try and get in a flight in the Orion capsule and try flying the way the Apollo guys flew.

ETEE · « **Reply #18 on:** 12/04/2007 10:51 pm »

I would like to ask her whether commanding Discovery was the most stimulating thing she had ever done in her life and how much sleep did she get in micro gravity? (I have trouble sleeping in 1g).

kimmern123 · « **Reply #19 on:** 12/05/2007 08:04 pm »

Ok, thanks a lot guys! I've selected a couple of questions and I look forward to asking them to Pam. I'll post the answers to the question after he article is published, which will be just over the New Year.

Again thanks a lot

Kim

apollo13 · « **Reply #20 on:** 12/08/2007 09:48 pm »

My question would be,
Do you think it was the chance of a lifetime to command a mission?

kimmern123 · « **Reply #21 on:** 12/09/2007 10:35 am »

Good question, apollo13! However the interview has already occured.

ShuttleDiscovery · « **Reply #22 on:** 12/09/2007 10:42 am »

Quote

kimmern123 - 9/12/2007 11:35 AM

Good question, apollo13! However the interview has already occured.

I thought that question was a bit late! Never mind...

BWP · « **Reply #23 on:** 02/07/2008 03:52 am »

I would ask any astronaut is it hard or easy on final approach to landing? I know the shuttle has a new cockpit. Atlantis was the first to upgrade to glass.

MKremer · « **Reply #24 on:** 02/07/2008 04:17 am »

Quote

BWP - 6/2/2008 10:52 PM

I would ask any astronaut is it hard or easy on final approach to landing? I know the shuttle has a new cockpit. Atlantis was the first to upgrade to glass.

"Glass" is insignificant once you're in the HAC - it's the HUD, your training/experience, and a good PLT to back you up that determine easy/hard.

I'd guess an average orbiter landing is probably easier overall than landing a high-performance fighter on a very wide, very long runway. The difference is handling the pressure of landing a one-of-a kind national treasure -vs- a production line fighter aircraft.

kimmern123 · « **Reply #25 on:** 03/10/2008 06:13 pm »

Hey everybody! I'm sorry for the delay. We've had some computer issues related to getting the magazine printed and I didn't want to post anything here before the magazine is published. I'm starting to run out of patience here so I'm going to give it a few more days before posting some of Pam's replies, at least to those questions that I managed to include from this site. Therefore, I wouldn't lock this thread just yet

Thank you for your patience. I'll be interviewing Leland Melving and Hans Schlegel tomorrow and I'll make a thread for it over in the Atlantis section. It's kind of short notice, but hopefully some of you will submit a few questions.

kimmern123 · « **Reply #26 on:** 04/10/2008 05:55 pm »

Absolutely not

I'll be posting Pam's answers during the next few days. I may not write up all of them at once, but I think I'll post at least a couple tonight, or early tomorrow.

kimmern123 · « **Reply #27 on:** 04/26/2008 03:18 pm »

Quote

Wildthing - 4/12/2007 12:58 AM

I'd ask her what her secret was to having such a fun crew. They were high-fiving, cracking jokes, etc throughout the mission....I'd say they set a new record for most fun orbit by any shuttle crew. How did she set the tone for the type of crew experience..??

I mentioned to Pam that to many of us that watched the flight, the crew always were joking and having fun. Here's her reply:

"That is exactly how I feel about it too. It was just a wonderful crew to work with and we loved to laugh. That was a big thing I learned about the crew very early on, that the more stressed out people got, the more the jokes were flying, and that was how our crew dealt with difficult situations -- was by making jokes and laughing, and relieving the tension that way. And, you know, that is unusual, it really is and it was just very special. We are like a big family and we all love each other very much"

kimmern123 · « **Reply #28 on:** 04/26/2008 03:26 pm »

Quote

ShuttleDiscovery - 3/12/2007 10:39 PM
- You performed a perfect landing at the end of the mission, what was going through your mind during those final minutes before touchdown when you were guiding Discovery back to KSC?

Here's what Pam said about the landing. That's also the last question from Pam's interview that I managed to include in my interview:

"The landing was very exciting. It's the highlight for any shuttle commander. What was interesting, though, that I perhaps should've thought more of, was what 15 days in microgravity would do to my body. You know, in space you get used to doing these slow gentle movements, fairly quickly, as bumping your head everywhere isn't that comfortable in the long run, but now all of a sudden I had to react very quickly. The six or seven minutes I had of manual flying really just seem like seconds. In one moment I started pulling the nose up and in the next I felt the gear touching down. When I look back it's really just the last few seconds before touchdown I can clearly remember"