Laurel Clark
Laurel Clark
Laurel Blair Salton Clarkwas an American medical doctor, United States Navy Captain, NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle mission specialist. Clark died along with her six fellow crew members in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAstronaut
Date of Birth10 March 1961
CityAmes, IA
CountryUnited States of America
american-astronaut multitude orbit possible scientific space
We're doing a multitude of different scientific experiments on orbit on things that are only possible to be done in the space environment.
space long research
It's such a long mission and we get to spend so much time in space... we're doing such exciting research. And I don't want to overemphasize the life science research, but as a physician the life science research that we're doing is extremely exciting.
space different process
The microgravity or the very, very low amount of gravity that we have up in space forces some changes in different processes. It forces changes in us as human beings.
home space coming-home
Everyone that I've talked to who's been to space has thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and what you often hear them say is: It was great, but we just had to come home.
numbers space people
Life science research can be done on multiple platforms. Since we have a very small number of people flying into space, the more people you have, the better.
couple space hitting
This has been a great experience for me. The first couple of days you don't always feel too well. You adjust to the fluid shifting, how to fly through space without hitting things or anybody else. But then you get in a groove.
ozone-layer space atmosphere
We're looking at Earth science, observing our planet. Also space science, looking at the ozone in the atmosphere around our Earth. Also looking at life science. And on a human level, using ourselves as test subjects.
ocean weather space
Some things are only capable of being done in space. Examples of that are looking at our Earth from that far away, and understanding the entire processes of storms and weather patterns, and oceans, and coastlines.
space glasses water
Gravity pulls our bodily fluids down, like water in a glass goes to the bottom part of a glass. In space, the water doesn't stay in the bottom of the glass. It distributes itself evenly over time throughout the entire volume of the glass.
above american-astronaut earth incredibly lucky planet
We're incredibly lucky to be able to be working where we are up above the Earth and being able to see our planet from that vantage point.
american-astronaut crew exciting mission sure
I can't think of anything that's as exciting as I'm sure this mission will be, and actually being in space. But, we did some training as a crew together.
american-astronaut gone phases
When you talk to crews that went to Mir or have gone up to International Space Station, they say that you go through different phases of adaptation or getting used to the space environment.
american-astronaut
We trained for a lot more malfunctions than any ever happen.
american-astronaut exactly found happening immediate mysteries physician
We'd like to have immediate answers to all of our questions. I think medicine in particular. I found it frustrating as a physician sometimes to not be able to tell someone exactly why something was happening to them. There are still so many mysteries in medicine.