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Lucid had a thick Oklahoma ('Sooner') accent, which she shared with astronaut Tom Stafford. She was utterly dedicated to her work, and indifferent to office politics. This set her apart from the other TFNG women who were competing hard to become the first American woman in space. Her dedication to her work resulted in her becoming the most flown woman in space and the American with the duration record after six months aboard the Mir space station.
On one mission her crew included Saudi Prince Sultan. When the crew visited Saudi Arabia, a flap developed when Lucid was told she could not enter the country unless being accompanied by a male family member. She refused and Saudi Arabia offered to designate her an honorary man, which caused no end of ribbing from the male chauvinists in the astronaut corps.
Lucid was a member of the Bible study group which expelled Mullane after a sexist remark.
Dr. Lucid is a commercial, instrument, and multi-engine rated pilot.
STS-51G Discovery (June 17-24, 1985) was a 7-day mission during which crew deployed communications satellites for Mexico (Morelos), the Arab League (Arabsat), and the United States (AT&T Telstar). They used the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and later retrieve the SPARTAN satellite which performed 17 hours of x-ray astronomy experiments while separated from the Space Shuttle. In addition, the crew activated the Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF), six Getaway Specials, and participated in biomedical experiments. The mission was accomplished in 112 orbits of the Earth, traveling 2.5 million miles in 169 hours and 39 minutes. Landing was at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB), California.
STS-34 Atlantis (October 18-23, 1989) was a 5-day mission during which she deployed the Galileo spacecraft on its journey to explore Jupiter, operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone, and performed numerous secondary experiments involving radiation measurements, polymer morphology, lightning research, microgravity effects on plants, and a student experiment on ice crystal growth in space. The mission was accomplished in 79 orbits of the Earth, traveling 1.8 million miles in 119 hours and 41 minutes. Landing was at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
STS-43 Atlantis (August 2-11, 1991) was a nine-day mission during which the crew deployed the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E). The crew also conducted 32 physical, material, and life science experiments, mostly relating to the Extended Duration Orbiter and Space Station Freedom. The mission was accomplished in 142 orbits of the Earth, traveling 3.7 million miles in 213 hours, 21 minutes, 25 seconds. STS-43 Atlantis was the eighth Space Shuttle to land at KSC).
STS-58 Columbia (October 18 to November 1, 1993). This record duration fourteen-day mission was recognized by NASA management as the most successful and efficient Spacelab flight flown by NASA. The STS-58 crew performed neurovestibular, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and musculoskeletal medical experiments on themselves and 48 rats, expanding our knowledge of human and animal physiology both on earth and in space flight. In addition, they performed 16 engineering tests aboard the Orbiter Columbia and 20 Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project experiments. The mission was accomplished in 225 orbits of the Earth, traveling 5.8 million miles in 336 hours, 13 minutes, 01 seconds. Landing was at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In completing this flight Dr. Lucid logged 838 hours, 54 minutes in space making her America's female space traveler with the most hours in space.
Dr. Lucid currently holds the United States single mission space flight endurance record on the Russian Space Station Mir. Following a year of training in Star City, Russia, her journey started with liftoff at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on March 22, 1996 aboard STS-76 Atlantis. Following docking, she transferred to the Mir Space Station. Assigned as a Board Engineer 2, she performed numerous life science and physical science experiments during the course of her stay aboard Mir. Her return journey to KSC was made aboard STS-79 Atlantis on September 26, 1996. In completing this mission Dr. Lucid traveled 75.2 million miles in 188 days, 04 hours, 00 minutes, 14 seconds.
Characteristics
Degree: PhD. Marital Status: Married. Children: Three children. Childhood: Grew up in Bethany, Oklahoma.. Education: Oklahoma.
Birth Place: Shanghai.
Status: Active.
Born: 1943.01.14.
Spaceflights: 5 .
Total time in space: 223.12 days.
Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. 8,079 applicants, of which half met the basic qualifications. 208 invited for physical tests and interviews. Of the 35 selected, six were women, three were male African-Americans, and one was a male Asian-American.