James Newman '78, an astronaut for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, said he didn't always want to travel past the clouds at mach 25 or orbit the earth in zero gravity.
"As a kid growing up I wanted to be regular sorts of things - a farmer, a banker, a fireman," Newman said.
"I watched the gliders off the coast of San Diego, and became interested in flying. It seemed like the space program would be a way to combine a lot of my interests - math, science, flying," he said.
Newman flew his first NASA mission last September as part of a five-man crew on the space shuttle Discovery. The crew deployed an advanced communications satellite and an ultraviolet telescope during the 10-day voyage.
Newman and another crew member completed a spacewalk to test equipment for the recent Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.
Newman, who was the only civilian scientist in the crew, began training with the shuttle crew about a year before the launch. But, even after the training, the voyage still held a few surprises, Newman said.
"I was surprised by a few of the things that were so beautiful that no one really talked about," he said. "The first time actually seeing the earth from space is just spectacular. What's astonishing is how you're able to see evidence of people almost everywhere there's land."
When the shuttle passed the dark side of the earth every 45 minutes, Newman said he could identify specific cities through their formations of lights.
Although almost every waking hour of the astronauts' schedules was filled with work, Newman said he did steal a few moments to just enjoy the view.
"That first evening I couldn't bring myself to bed on time, so I got out my favorite tape ... and a walkman, and went up to the flight deck," he said. "Floating upside down, stretched over the commander and pilot's seats, I put my head up to the window ... watching the earth go by, listening to my music."
The shuttle's launch took place after three failed attempts. "I don't know how I would've felt if it had launched on our first attempt ... but I do know on our fourth attempt, I felt little more than relief. I was just glad not to have to go out and smile at the camera and go back to Houston," Newman said.
During the spacewalk on the fifth day of the mission, Newman and another crew member conducted tests outside the space shuttle while contending with zero gravity and space suits that restricted their mobility.
"Your feet are always floating. You have to fight against the pressure of the suit," Newman said. "You have a lot of mass, but you can control it with your fingertips if you're slow and deliberate."
Newman said the actual spacewalk in zero gravity was easier than the training for it, in which he had to wear a space suit underwater.
The suit Newman wore was completely self contained, with oxygen, pumps, water and other necessities crammed into a backpack weighing more than 300 pounds on earth, he said.
Newman graduated from Dartmouth with a physics major and received a master's degree and doctorate in physics from Rice University, in Texas.
Newman then worked at NASA for five years and was selected for the space program in 1990.
NASA flies about seven or eight missions a year and selects each crew from a pool of about 90 astronauts, Newman said.
"Rule number one is that whatever they assign me I'll go fly on," Newman said. He is currently developing technology for laptop computers which are now brought on board the shuttle flights, and hopes to be assigned a second mission early next year.
