When I First Looked Back At The

Why Don't You Light That Candle ?

You've Done It In The Simulator So Many Times, You Don't Have A Real Sense Of Being Excited When The Flight Is Going On. You're Excited Before, But As Soon As The Liftoff Occurs, You Are Busy Doing What You Have To Do.

I Woke Up An Hour Before I Was Supposed To, And Started Going Over The Mental Checklist: Where Do I Go From Here, What Do I Do? I Don't Remember Eating Anything At All, Just Going Through The Physical, Getting Into The Suit. We Practiced That So Much, It Was All Rote.

I Think All Of Us Certainly Believed The Statistics Which Said That Probably 88% Chance Of Mission Success And Maybe 96% Chance Of Survival. And We Were Willing To Take Those Odds.

I'd Like To Say I Was Smart Enough To Finish Six Grades In Five Years, But I Think Perhaps The Teacher Was Just Glad To Get Rid Of Me.