(07/20/09)
Knoxville residents Ruth and Richard Smith have remained glued to the NASA website and NASA-TV since last Wednesday. That is when Ruth's brother, astronaut Tom Marshburn, made his first flight into space. Marshburn serves as a flight surgeon and mission specialist aboard the current flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-127.
"We tried to go see the launch several times, but it kept getting scrubbed," said Ruth Smith about the oft delayed Endeavour launch. "When it finally launched, we watched it at home on television and recorded it for our children."
"I've never felt such a mix of excitement and nervousness in my life," said Richard Smith, Marshburn's brother-in-law. "You can't help but think about the Challenger accident, but we also know from all of the delays that NASA would not launch until it was absolutely ready to go."
Ruth added, "I thought I would be jumping up and down in excitement, but it was really more of a solemn moment. I stood there silent, just following the countdowns for all of the stages until it finally made it into space. The first eight and a half minutes was the hard part."
Marshburn, the youngest of seven children, joined a list that includes slightly more than 500 people in world history to fly in space. Monday morning at around 11:30, Marshburn will join an even smaller fraternity of astronauts who have stepped outside their vehicles and walked in space.
"Tom is a sweet guy, he is smart, and this has just been a dream of his," said Ruth. "I'm just so proud of him, mostly because he is doing what he wants to do. I also wish our parents were still around to see the things he is doing."
At an altitude of between 200 to 250 miles, Marshburn remains a click away from his family. He has sent several emails with photographs during the mission (the photographs displayed on the right side of this page were emailed by Marshburn from space to his family). Sunday he was able to have a telephone conversation with his wife and family from the International Space Station, the day before the first of his three scheduled spacewalks.
"He will sleep on the space station in a special room with increased oxygen and decreased pressure to prepare him for the conditions of the space walk," said Ruth Smith. "The EVA (extra-vehicular activity) is six hours long. I'm going to be watching him when he walks out."
For Ruth, the spacewalk brings a level of excitement and anxiousness analogous to the initial launch.
"I mean if he were not tethered, he is gone. They are very careful, I know, but that is the scary part," said Ruth. "I'll absolutely be nervous, but again I know they are so careful with them."
Marshburn will be accompanied by fellow astronaut Dave Wolf. Those watching the live NASA-TVvideo feed cantell the two apart in their space suits by the stripes on the legs of the space suits. Wolf's suit will have a solid red stripe around each knee while Marshburn's suit has dashed red stripes.Update: The live video feed includes helmet cameras from the two astronauts during the spacewalk. Tom Marshburn's helmet features the number 18 in the bottom-right of the screen while Wolf's helmet camera displays the number 16.
The Smiths said the community has eagerly shared in the excitement surrounding the current mission.
"We've gotten lots of calls and emails from people in the neighborhood and our church," said Ruth.
Richard added, "People are excited. I think people realize what an incredible thing it is to be in outer space. It is something where people really go, 'Wow!'"
