GROUND CONTROL TO AGGIE ONE: When Stephen K. Robinson '78 attended UC Davis, he once spent an entire night in the Tercero dining commons assembling a hang glider. Although he now flies slightly larger aircraft, Robinson looks back on that night as a crucial step toward "the ultimate aviation experience." Now, Robinson is ready, willing and NASA-cleared to become the first Aggie in space.

Having completed NASA's rigorous training program, Robinson expects to receive his first shuttle assignment within the next year or two. As a mission specialist, one of the astronauts who perform scientific experiments in orbit, Robinson specializes in "extravehicular activity" (NASA-ese for spacewalking outside your shuttle). He's also an expert in docking with other spacecraft, such as the Russian space station Mir and, someday, the international space station. Though it sounds about as easy as grabbing the diamond ring out of the trinkets at the penny arcade, Robinson has only one complaint about his job. "The Houston summer weather, hands down. It's about as hot as Davis, but humid."

Robinson spends much of his pre-flight time in shuttle simulators and testing the software necessary to send a shuttle spaceward. Spacewalk training is done under water, working in bulky spacesuits around a simulated shuttle at the bottom of a NASA training pool. Because of the importance of microgravity practice, Robinson spends between three and six hours at a time under water. "It's a totally different environment. Your tactile sense is very much reduced because of the huge, thick pressurized gloves--like oven mitts. Everything is so much more awkward to do that you have to relearn all your motions, retune your motor skills."

For those of you who feel a little queasy at the thought of being flung 200 miles above the surface of the Earth, rest assured that Robinson is fearless. "We're so safety-conscious in this organization that it's the most reassuring thing you could imagine--having more smart, dedicated people backing you up than you're ever going to meet. It's their lifetime career to make sure you get off the planet and back down safely." Good thing, too, because Robinson's current glider weighs 200,000 pounds and zips around at 17,500 miles per hour. Harder to control than the Tercero type? "I'll tell you more about it once I've been up."

-- Clare Homan '96