Go For Orbit

Former NASA astronaut Rhea Seddon was inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame in Florida on May 30th. Seddon’s biography, “Go For Orbit” was published in May. The book, which was self published, highlights her experiences as a surgeon, astronaut, wife and mother of three. Seddon was selected by NASA in 1978 as part of the first US class of astronauts to include women. She flew on three space shuttle missions and logged more than 722 hours in space. Seddon lifted off aboard Space Shuttle Discovery STS-51D on April 12, 1985.  Seddon, a medical doctor, performed the first ultrasound of a human heart in space on that mission. She later flew on Space Shuttle Columbia STS-40 during the first Spacelab Life Sciences flight. Her final flight, Space Shuttle Columbia STS-58, was launched October 18, 1993 and she was in charge of all the science activities aboard the shuttle.