Tracy Caldwell Dyson, astronaut and specialist in atmospheric chemistry and pilotage, contemplates the Earth through the International Space Station\u2019s windows, at 350 km altitude.<\/p>\n
This photo was taken in September 2010 in the “Cupola” observatory module, which has seven windows used to conduct experiments, dockings and observations of Earth. It \u00a0takes only 90 minutes to circle the Earth completely.<\/p>\n
Tracy Caldwell Dyson, with four medals of merit and three NASA spacewalk missions, became the mentor of thousands of young people who want to pursue their dream:<\/p>\n
\u201eWhen you are young, you are told to pursue your dreams; to reach for the unreachable and somehow accomplish the impossible (\u2026).\u00a0A teacher, Christa McAuliffe, was selected to be an astronaut. [She] inspired me to search and reach for a goal that I thought was unreachable.<\/p>\n
I inherited a love for craftsmanship and working with tools from my father, who was an electrician (\u2026). I had also taken time to learn American Sign Language (ASL) in high school, which instilled an appreciation for learning new languages. It seemed that a job that included each of these aspects would be a perfect fit. After finishing high school, I attended California State at Fullerton and pursued my interest in chemistry (…). I decided to become a research assistant and continue with my education at graduate school, which eventually culminated in a PhD from the University of California at Davis. However, I still wanted to pursue my original goal of becoming an astronaut.<\/p>\n\n\t\t