After my test I did not have anything scheduled immediately, so I did office work - straightened up at my desk; put away all the study materials that I had carted home over the weekend; tried to catch up on e-mail, etc - and spent some time at the gym. At the end of the day I had a single systems training class on malfunctions associated with the payload communications system.

I had a T-38 flight first thing Tuesday morning. We zipped over to Austin and back. It got a little interesting at Austin We had decided to do a GPS approach and had coordinated with the air traffic controllers our plan of attack. However, when I went to call up the approach in our fancy flight management system, we discovered that the approach simply was not there. For some reason, this approach was not in our data base even though the approach exists in the book of approach charts. Go figure. Luckily, at the time we discovered this, we were still flying according to the directions being issued to us by the air traffic controllers based on radar data. And, luckily, it was a beautiful, clear day. So, we were able to do a visual approach that mimicked the GPS one. We did a touch-and-go and another approach (one that did not require the flight management system database) and then headed back to Ellington.

After flying I had very fun class. This was the last make-up class I had to do since missing those days in February. It was on the operation of the Shuttle's galley. Yes, we got to cook at eat real Shuttle food. No better way to learn how to use the galley than by doing. . . We ate all kinds of stuff. Most of it was pretty yummy, although, I understand that one's taste buds are not as sensitive when in orbit, since so much fluid shifts to your head. So, I am not sure how things will really taste. Here is the rundown on what we had - sweet and sour chicken, spicy chicken and veggies, creamed spinach, asparagus, macaroni and cheese, seafood chowder, chicken salad, tuna spread with crackers or tortillas, eggplant and tomatoes, and rice pilaf. A brownie for dessert and tea and orange/pineapple drink for beverages. That was just a small sampling of what foods are available for a flight.

Most of the food is freeze-dried and you add either hot or cold water to its package and then let it hydrate before eating. For food that you want to eat hot, you add hot water and then place the food packet in the oven to heat it through and through. Once the food is cooked and hydrated, you carefully cut open the package with scissors and eat your fare with a fork or spoon. There is an art to keeping your food in its packaging when in space. If you aren't careful, you can end up with food everywhere. To help prevent this from occurring, most of the food is sort of mushy in order to keep it together and to help it stick to your utensil. What you will not find in space is food that makes crumbs. Crumbs are a definite problem since they can float into your eyes. So, there is no bread (tortillas instead); the brownies are gooey; and crackers are not too crumbly.

The drinks come powered (yes, sort of like Tang, but Tang is not actually flown) and you drink them through a straw. The straws have clamps that you must use when on orbit after you have taken a sip. If you don't, the drink will keep coming out of the straw and you will make a very big mess. I have to say that the powered tea is not that tasty. Not quite like the iced tea I prefer. The fruit juice was not bad, though. Unfortunately for me, no diet coke in space. . . To season the food there is liquefied salt and pepper. The pepper is quite zippy. Tabasco sauce is also flown to liven things up.

After all that food, I was ready for a nap after class. But, I had a Russian lesson instead.

Wednesday morning we had a class on our solar system. In addition to all our technical training on the Shuttle, we also have training in astronomy and space physics, which I think is great. I love this stuff. This class covered what it would take to travel to other planets - everything from how you would get there and how long it would take to what the environment would be like and what you could do once you were on another planet. The bottom line is that space travel to other bodies is currently limited by our propulsion technology. If we are going to seriously travel to other planets or moons (moons of other planets), then we are going to have to develop new technologies or it is going to take an absurd amount of time and propellant to get anywhere - it takes days to get to the moon and months to get to Mars (and months to get back). If you want to go anywhere else farther away, you are talking years (and tens of thousands of years to go to another solar system).

Wednesday afternoon was filled with a class on what is termed ascent guidance. This is the software that steers the Shuttle in the right direction to get it into orbit. The software takes in information from various sensors and figures out if it is heading in the right direction at the right speed. Of course, the software also figures out how to correct things if you are not going the right way at the right rate. The class covered what the software does and what cues the crew has to tell if the software is working properly.

I started my Thursday with a Russian lesson. After that we were supposed to have a briefing on space physiology, i.e., what happens to your body when in space. But, there was some mix-up and the flight doctors were not able to give the briefing. I got to fly again in the afternoon. We did an out and back to Dyess Air Force Base which is near Abilene. We decided to have dinner while they were fueling the plane. That was quite an event. At first, they were only going to let us eat on base. That would have been OK, but the only thing open at that time was McDonald's. Then, they decided that we could borrow one of their "UDIs" (a U drive it). So, they had to drive us over to the motor pool, fill out the paperwork for a loaner car, and then give us directions on how to get to a restaurant off base. Turns out the directions were wrong and we spent quite a bit of time tootling around looking for where we were trying to go. When we finally found the restaurant, we discovered that it had a very long line so we had to go somewhere else. We ended up at a Chinese buffet. Once we made it back to base, we had to wait a long time for the maintenance folks to come out with the equipment to start the plane. They were busy with some other planes that had just landed. It was a nice flight to and from Dyess, just a lot of hurry up and wait while we where there. As a result, I did not get home until well after 10:00.

Friday morning, I got up and went flying again. Yes, this was a lot of flying this week. But, the end of the quarter is coming up and I wanted to make sure I got all of my required hours in. My flying adventures continued with this flight. Before we started the plane, I discovered that my mask was not working properly. One of the pre-flight checks that you do is on your mask. It turns out that my mask was leaking where the hose attaches to the mask. So there we were, all strapped in with the maintenance guys waiting to crank up the plane and I have to have my mask repaired.

That was not so bad, but one of the times that I took off my helmet for them to work on my mask, one of my earplugs fell out. You can not go anywhere if you think you have dropped something and can not account for it. We are very serious about not sucking things into an engine. I was pretty sure that the earplug fell into the cockpit, but I could not see it. A couple of the maintenance guys searched the ground while one of them helped me look in the cockpit. Since we did not find it anywhere, I had to unstrap and get out of the plane so that we could check underneath my seat. Luckily the earplug was there, but the whole episode was rather embarrassing. At least it gave us something to do while we were waiting for my mask to be fixed . . .

We finally took off and headed off to Corpus Christi. That was an uneventful trip, thank goodness. On the way back, we did an operational check on the plane. Previous to our flight, the plane we were in had had some issues with the pressurization system not working properly. The problem had been fixed, but before the plane is considered completely good to go, one of the instructor pilots has to give a formal once over. For this check we went out over the Gulf and flew at various altitudes to make sure that the internal pressure was holding at the right values. It was. While we were up at 38,000 feet we dumped all the pressure out to make sure it would repressurize properly. That will make your ears pop. Good thing I had my mask fixed. . . The plane checked out good and we cruised on back to Ellington.

I finished my week with a very interesting and challenging class. We had what is called a reach and visibility check. Four of us suited up in the orange launch and entry suits and climbed into a Shuttle mockup to see what it is like to be in it for a launch. The whole purpose of the class is to see just how limited your reach and visibility actually is because of the suits - and you are quite limited. In regular clothes it is simple to see all the panels and reach all the switches. It is also easy to turn your head and look at your crewmates or look down in your lap at your checklist. In a launch and entry suit you might be able to see one small piece of a panel but you probably can not reach it. Or, certainly not reach it easily. They have sticks for the mission specialists to hold to flip the overhead switches, if needed during a launch, since the commander and pilot aren't able to reach them. To turn your head to see your crewmates, you have to grab your helmet and swivel it around. Forget seeing anyone sitting behind you. If you have any pressure in your suit, it makes it that much harder to do anything. I can only imagine what it will be like with a couple of g's thrown in for good measure.

The mockup we were in had been rotated so that it was in the vertical position - like the Shuttle is for a launch. After spending so much time in simulators and mockups that are horizontal, it was very strange to see the inside in a vertical position. It as if the inside was not even recognizable. Everything was in the "wrong" place - the flight deck was on the "right" instead of on the top and the middeck was on the "left". I got to play the role of the pilot and climb into the pilot's seat. That was no easy feat. To get into the pilot's or commander's seats you stand on the mission specialist seats that are behind the two front seats. Then you grab onto handles and pull yourself up into the seat. With the extra however many pounds the suit weighs, it was quite a workout to get into the seat. I was really glad when my cooling was hooked up.

Another thing we did in this class was to be completely strapped in and then practice an emergency egress. The strap in part is rather simple from a crew member's standpoint (once you are in the seat). You just have to lie there on your back and let the technicians do their thing. It is much easier if you do not try and help them. They handle all the connections for the suit cooling, the seat harness, the normal and emergency oxygen systems, and the communications system. They are the ones that help you put on your gloves and helmets also.

After we were all strapped in we went through the procedures of getting out if there were an emergency on the launch pad. One of the first things you do when you egress is undo all those connections - no easy feat when you cannot see them. Then you have to get out of your seat and climb out of the Orbiter. That was really difficult for me. You may recall that I had trouble fitting in the suits when we did our suit fit checks a few weeks ago. One of the results of the suit not fitting properly was that my reach and my mobility were more limited that they should have been. In the front seats there are handles near the windows that you grab with your hands to help you get out of the seat. I was not able to grab both handles at the same time because of the limited mobility of my arms. Not good. I was eventually able to heave myself up and climb out of the seat. Trying to climb out of the orbiter was just as challenging. At one point I felt like a stuck turtle - I was having a hard time getting from the flight deck to the middeck (you actually have to climb up to do this). The bulky suit was getting caught on something and I could not reach anything to fix the situation. I eventually just muscled my way out. This class was very eye opening in terms of how difficult operations are during a launch because of the suits we wear.

After that work out, it was time to head home and relax. It was quite an interesting and fun week.