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Whitson shares space stories for Iowa transportati

Reprinted courtesy of the Des Moines Register, May 2, 2009. By Tom Barton, DesMoinesRegister.com.

Grinnell, Ia. — A record-setting female astronaut, a former governor and a U.S. congressman came together Friday to launch an exhibit that honors Iowans who have made significant contributions to the state's transportation heritage.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson gave the keynote address at a ceremony at Grinnell High School. She was accompanied by former Gov. Robert Ray and Rep. Leonard Boswell at the kickoff for the
“Transportation Heroes Center," an Internet education exhibit on Iowa's transportation history.

Whitson, 49, a Beaconsfield native, became the first woman to command the International Space Station in October 2007.

She has completed five spacewalks and logged 192 days in space. She has spent more time in space than any other American, accumulating 377 days over two missions.

The girl from a hog and soybean farm, who graduated in 1978 from Mount Ayr High School, showed slides of life as a child in Beaconsfield — population 10 — combined with photos of herself and other crew members inside the space station.

She said that fellow Iowa Wesleyan College graduate and noted physicist James Van Allen advised her against becoming an astronaut, but that “Iowa brute force and determination persevered."

"He said they wouldn't need astronauts in 10 years and it was not a worthy profession to pursue," Whitson said of Van Allen, who helped design the country's first orbiting research satellite and promoted unmanned space vehicles. "Luckily, I just kept going. I still wanted to be an astronaut."

Whitson recalled watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon when she was 9.

"I thought, 'Wow! What a cool job,' "she said.

Her father, who flew for fun, took Whitson on her first plane ride a year later. Soaring over the cornfields, Whitson said her inspiration to pursue a career in flight grew. It was her senior year in high school when she heard NASA had chosen the first female astronauts.

"It was the timing of inspirational moments, all the pieces happened to come together," Whitson said.

A farming background came in handy, Whitson said, when she had to repair a tear in one of the International Space Station's solar arrays during her last mission. Whitson said she and the crew created makeshift "cuff links" out of metal pieces and wire to hold the tear together.

"My dad used to say you can fix anything with No. 2 wire and a pair of pliers," she said.

Grinnell freshman Nathan Criswell, 15, said he admired Whitson for her bravery and her experiences.

"You always hear about people breaking records, and we have one from Iowa and we can actually see her," Criswell said.

Whitson received the Hero of Valor honor. Other recipients include Alfred Haynes and Dennis Fitch, the pilots who controlled and landed United Airlines Flight 232 in Sioux City in 1989 after in-flight damage destroyed the plane's hydraulic systems.

Dennis Putz of Manchester also received the award. In December 2007, he rescued a man trapped in a semitrailer truck after a collision.

Others were recognized as "heroes by example" and "heroes of industry and technology." New transportation heroes will be added each year.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090502/NEWS/905020325/-1/SPORTS09