Pam Melroy, commander of STS-120

Today in Space History recently conducted a phone interview with shuttle astronaut (and commander) Pam Melroy. She is a veteran of three shuttle missions: STS-92 (2000) as pilot, STS-112 (2002 as pilot, and STS-120 (2007) as commander.As of January 2008 Melroy is the only active female astronaut in the astronaut corp who is also on the list of shuttle commanders (meaning she has test pilot experience). There are roughly 25 woman on the active astronaut NASA list for assignments.

Here are some previous posts we have made related to Pam Melroy:

• Historic Handshake between two female commanders
• Young women looking for mentors?
• Melroy finds fulfillment in ISS growing
• Pre-flight (STS-120) NASA interview with Melroy
• Melroy in elite company as commander
• Pam Melroy career bio

Questions we asked:

1. Talk about why the STS-120 shuttle mission (October 2007) was a success. – listen
2. What did the ‘historic handshake’ between you and Peggy Whitson mean to you personally? – listen
3. ‘October’ has been a good month for you, why? – listen
4. What does your future career look like for NASA? – listen
5. Can you talk about the next-generation vehicles and your role with them? – listen
6. Who have been some of the key influencers in your life? Melroy – listen
7. Are astronauts typically first-borns? Melroy – listen
8. You struggled with physics and still graduated from MIT? - listen
9. How is important is education for young people interested in space exploration and sciences? Melroy – listen