Heide became a mentor for me during high school. A family friend's daughter, found out that I was attending the same high school Heide had graduated from. Knowing how much I loved space and that I wanted to be an astronaut, she found my email address and gave it to Heide. One morning while at school I received an email from Heide saying that she heard I wanted to be an astronaut and that I loved science. She also told me that if I needed anything she would be glad to help. I was incredibly excited.
Over the course of the next few years Heide and I exchanged emails fairly regularly. She talked me out of biology and psychology majours and suggested I look into engineering. I had always loved figuring out how things worked and taking them apart. She apparently knew engineering was right for me and gave me little pushes towards it when I needed them. Everyday that I learn something new or really enjoy something I'm doing in school, work, or in the engineering community I am extremely grateful to her for everything she has done and is doing.
During Heide's first mission STS-115 in fall '06, I never turned off the tv. I would come back to my room after class and sit in bed with my textbooks all around me. The EVAs and daily activities played in the background and I would catch myself becoming distracted often. I loved watching every moment of the mission. I was so proud to know such an amazing person and to see what an awesome job she was doing.
That spring I went to Houston to fly and conduct experiments on the C-9 at Ellington Field. When we found out that we would both be in Houston at the same time, Heide told me that she would take me around and show me some of the behind the scene activities at Johnson Space Center. I had gone to JSC countless times as a kid (I first went when I was 3. My parents thought I would be tired and lose interest in the Space Center within a few hours. We got there when it opened. ...And stayed until it closed. I was enthralled and didn't want to leave. That was the beginning of my love for space.) but I was where everyone on the tour wanted to be. Down on the training center floor. With an astronaut! Heide reserved a few of the trainers for us. I got to climb in orbiters, flip switches, ask questions. It was amazing and is something that I will never forget.
My favourite memory from that trip to Johnson was when Heide was taking me back to Ellington. We drove by one of the hangers for the T-38s and she saw my face light up. She asked me if I wanted to stop by there to look around the hanger. I of course said yes. We stopped in the office to make sure it was okay to walk around. As soon as the door opened a chorus of "Heide!"s begun. It was a common thing for me to hear. Heide introduced me to everyone as a friend of hers. When someone asked how we knew each other she turned to me with a huge grin and said "my turn!". "I graduated from the same high school she did." She was so proud. And I couldn't hold back my smile.
This past summer Teledyne Brown worked on some hardware for Heide's new mission assignment, STS-126. The hardware was having a lot of problems and had been redesigned by the crew a few times. Heide and I emailed back and forth and joked about what was going on. I was so excited when the hardware finally shipped to the Cape. A few days later I got an email from Heide asking for my address because she was putting me on the guest list. I had never seen a launch before and what better of a launch to see than one with a friend in the crew (who also happened to be the first and currently only female lead spacewalker) and hardware I helped build in the Bay? The night launch was amazing and I met some wonderful people while I was at Kennedy Space Center.
Today's Crew Visit was fun to attend. I got to watch footage from their mission and also heard the four of them speak. The crew seem like a great group of people. Afterward they had an autograph line. Heide was the first in line so I got to talk to her for a quick second. She was really happy to see me there and told me I should send some of our pictures to Derham. :) I also got a pretty big hug.
Sadly, Heide is probably best known for two exciting events, one from each mission. She was the astronaut who fainted not only once, but twice during the STS-115 welcome back ceremony at Ellington Field the day of their landing. After the second time she collapsed she was ushered off the stage and taken to visit the Flight Surgeon. It just turned out to be a touch of reacclimation sickness. Happens all the time. Seriously. Heide's other infamous happening was from her more recent mission, STS-126. During an EVA to fix the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints her grease gun exploded in her bag. As she was cleaning it out one of the toolbags floated away. After talking to people at Kennedy I am fairly confident that it wasn't Heide who let go of the bag; the bag and it's contents weren't packed and tethered correctly for microgravity. Though Heide has gotten the blame, it more than likely wasn't her fault. Though what is the point of finger pointing, now?
Heide ranks up there in the top of my heros. Not necessarily because she is an astronaut. But because she took the time to really care. She has pushed me when I had stopped reaching. She has encouraged me when I got frustrated. She has been a role model when I needed someone to look up to. She has taught me a lot through her actions and I hope I am able to one day be a "Heide" to someone else. I am truly proud of everything she has done and I cannot express how grateful to her I am.
