Flying High: New Record for Women in Space

Today, with the launch of the Discovery, four women astronauts are now in orbit--and that's a record high! Three of the seven astronauts on Discovery are women--former high school teacher Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, robotic arm expert Stephanie Wilson, and Naoko Yamazaki, the second Japanese woman to reach space. They'll be joining chemist Tracy Caldwell Dyson at the International Space Station, forming history's largest gathering of women in space. 
     Metcalf-Lindenburger (shown above), a geologist, wants her three-year-old daughter to view her accomplishments as unspectacular, claiming, "My daughter doesn't know that there's a big deal or not a big deal. To her, flying is cool, running around is being cool, and just running around and growing up as a kid is cool. And there's not a lot of distinction, and that's how I want it to be." 
     Wilson, an aerospace engineer, is making her third trip to space. "I hope that part of our legacy is that we continue to inspire young women to pursue careers in science, engineering or math," she said. 
     Yamazaki, also an aerospace engineer, commented, "It was especially important to me that my husband quit his job and made it possible for my family to stay together" for her training in the U.S.
     Read more on the history of women in flight.