Mission for Japan

Traditions frequently arise from the unlikeliest of places. One tradition which had become entrenched in NASA’s astronaut psyche since the early Shuttle era was the practice of a crew’s spouses to organise and host farewell parties. Of course, astronauts became as close as family with their crewmates, to such an extent that invitations to dinner or excursions with each other’s children were commonplace. In the early days of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, when space missions were male-dominated, parties were organised by the astronauts’ wives, but as women began flying aboard the Shuttle, party-making responsibilities fell to both genders. It made little difference, of course, and much celebration was planned and executed both before and after missions, with few obvious problems.