Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 6, 1991 TAG: 9103061180
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
NASA normally avoids putting husbands and wives on the same shuttle flights. But because Lee and Davis got married after being assigned to a 1992 scientific research mission, the agency decided against splitting them up.
Lee and Davis are the third married couple among about 80 current astronauts and 23 astronauts in training.
"It's good to think the space program is becoming like the real world," said astronaut Rhea Seddon, wife of astronaut Robert "Hoot" Gibson. The other astronaut couple are Bonnie Dunbar and Ronald Sega, an astronaut in training.
Lee and Davis were married in January, 1 1/2 years after being assigned to a September 1992 mission aboard the new shuttle Endeavour.
NASA officials spent nearly two months deciding what to do.
"You can worry about a lot of things with married people flying together," Seddon said. "Will a spouse show their mate preference of some sort, or will it be a problem if they're having disagreements at home? But I think all of those are kind of far-fetched."
NASA spokeswoman Barbara Schwartz said Tuesday an exception was made for Lee and Davis. "It does not change policy," she said.
NASA believes each crew member should be an equal interacting with the others, and couples could upset the balance. Also, if the couple have children, NASA doesn't want both parents on the same flight in case of an accident, Schwartz said.
Lee, 38, an Air Force lieutenant colonel, will serve as payload commander for the Spacelab mission, a joint U.S.-Japanese venture. He has flown in space once before.
It will be the first shuttle flight for Davis, 37, an engineer.
Lee and Davis have refused interview requests regarding their marriage. But Schwartz said they are thrilled about flying together.
Seddon and Gibson would have jumped at such an opportunity after they were married in May 1981, but not now that they have children. One son is 8 years old, the other is almost 2.
"You don't want to leave the kids as orphans," Gibson said.
Because of the risk, Seddon and Gibson also refuse to fly together in training jets. They even avoid traveling on the same commercial airliner.
Gibson, 44, a Navy commander, is more nervous watching his wife being launched into space than he is when he's going up, and she feels the same way about him.
Seddon has an added worry - her husband is a self-described "hopeless flying addict."
Gibson was racing a single-engine plane in a Texas air show in July when he collided with another plane. He landed safely, but the other pilot was killed.
NASA grounded Gibson for violating a policy that restricts high-risk recreational activities for astronauts assigned to shuttle flights.
Free to fly for pleasure during his one-year shuttle suspension, Gibson set a world altitude record for small piston-engine aircraft on Jan. 31. He flew to 27,040 feet in his home-built plane.
"You would think with the jobs we have . . . perhaps he would want to minimize risks in other parts of our lives," said Seddon, 43.
by CNB