From Out of This World. . . To Under the Sea

    What does it feel like to blast into space? Ask Kathy Sullivan. She’s done it three times. Each time, she was on the space shuttle Challenger.

    It starts with a rumble. That’s the engines starting. “It’s like a giant is pushing on the back of your chair,” she says. It feels like being at the bottom of a roller coaster. But it lasts more than 8 minutes. 

    The ride is rough at first. It’s like you’re in the middle of an earthquake. Engines burn rocket fuel. Little explosions push the shuttle up. It goes faster by the second. 

    Then the giant’s hand is gone. What you see outside turns from blue to black. Pencils and papers float around in zero gravity. 

    Welcome to outer space.

    Want to know what it feels like to leave Earth and blast into space? Ask Kathy Sullivan. She’s done it three times—on the space shuttle Challenger.  

    The trek begins with a low rumble as the engines flare up. “It’s like a giant is pushing on the back of your chair,” Sullivan says. The force is similar to what you feel at the bottom of a roller coaster—but it lasts more than 8 minutes. 

    At first, the ride is rough, as if you’re sitting in the middle of an earthquake. The engines burn tons of rocket fuel under your seat, and little explosions push the shuttle faster by the second. 

    Then suddenly, the giant’s hand is gone, blue turns to black outside the window, and pencils and papers float around in zero gravity. 

    Welcome to outer space.

    Sullivan first went to space at age 33. It was a dream come true. As a kid, she watched Jacques Cousteau [zhahk koo-STOH] on TV. He was a deep-sea diver. She read about the first astronauts in a magazine. “I wanted that kind of life,” she says.

    This was in the 1960s. Most scientists and explorers were men. But that didn’t stop Sullivan. Her parents told her to pursue whatever she loved. “If I was interested, I’d go explore it,” she says. “No one gets to edit your interests.”

    Sullivan’s work paid off. In 1978, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) hired her as an astronaut. Six years later, she became the first American woman to walk in space. 

    Sullivan was 33 when she went on her first space mission, but she’d been dreaming of making the journey for years. As a kid, she watched the deep-sea diver Jacques Cousteau [zhahk koo-STOH] on TV and read about the first astronauts in Life magazine. “These guys are going all over the world, and they’re on ships and spaceships,” she says. “I wanted that kind of life.”

    Back then, in the 1960s, few women worked as scientists or explorers. That didn’t stop Sullivan. Her parents encouraged her to pursue whatever she loved. “If I was interested, I’d go explore it,” she explains. “No one gets to edit your interests.”

    In 1978, Sullivan’s hard work paid off when NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) selected her as one of its first women astronauts. Six years later, she became the first American woman to walk in space. 

    From space, Sullivan saw the world in a new way. “The Earth is like a big beach ball that you’re going around,” she says. “You can see a whole continent at once.”

    She saw how connected everything is on Earth. “We are all sharing this one home, this one little spaceship Earth,” she says. “We have to look at it as a place to cherish and a place to protect.”

    Visiting space is not an experience Sullivan will ever forget. Being in orbit caused her to view our planet in a different way. “The Earth is like a big beach ball that you’re going around,” she says. “You can see a whole continent at once.”

    This perspective showed Sullivan how connected every part of the planet is. “We are all sharing this one home, this one little spaceship Earth,” she says. “We have to look at it as a place to cherish and a place to protect.”