• Tracy Caldwell

  Astronaut and Physicist

Profession:

Astronaut and Physicist

Education

• B.S., Chemistry, California State University at Fullerton, 1993
• Ph.D., Chemistry, University of California at Davis, 1997

Tracy Caldwell was a high school student in Arcadia, California when Christa McAuliffe was chosen as the first teacher to go into space. McAuliffe served as an inspiration for Caldwell to pursue a career in space. The Space Shuttle Challenger accident in 1986 didn't deter Caldwell from pursuing her dreams. After receiving her doctorate in physical chemistry, she was selected by NASA for training and in August 2007 she fulfilled her childhood dream by flying on the Space Shuttle Endeavor.

When did you first decide you wanted to pursue a career involving science?

I was sixteen years-old when I was trying to decide what I wanted to do later on in life. Not knowing I went to my parents because I was going to graduate in the next year, from high school and start college. I went to them and said I have no idea what I want to be in life. They said think about it, what do you think you would want to do? Things like science, I didn't know I was particularly good at, but I was very interested in it. I thought whatever I did later on in life I wanted to involve science and learning science.

What should someone study in order to become an astronaut?

If there is any student out there who wants to become an astronaut, then they have got to start now studying hard with science, math and perhaps aerospace engineering. We're talking about going onto the moon and mars and in order to do that we need a lot of different minds out there ranging from doctors to engineers to material scientists to technology experts. There is a whole wide range and right now the traditional roles are serving the purpose to get us through the space shuttle program. I think when we go beyond low earth orbit and visit other planets we're going to need a whole lot of different traits and personalities to help take us there. I would say if there is anything that kids are particularly interested in that they pursue that.

How do you overcome the challenges of pursuing a dream?

Nobody is going to make it happen but you. The people who tell you that you can't do it are people who don't believe they can do it themselves. You're better served to believe in your desire to accomplish whatever that is.

Interview

Nobody is going to make it happen but you. The people who tell you that you can't do it are people who don't believe they can do it themselves.

Tracy Caldwell
Astronaut and Physicist

Web Resources

• NASA Pre-flight Interview
• Cal State Fullerton: "Alumna Set for Maiden Space Voyage"
• Titan Magazine: "The Sky's No Limit"
• The California Aggie: "UC Davis alumna Tracy Caldwell set to launch to International Space Station"
• UC Davis Spotlight: "Aggienaut II"
• Orange County Register: "CSUF grad Tracy Caldwell heads into space"
• Beaumont Unified School District: "Out of This World Wisdom"
• Today@UCI Profiles: Tracy Caldwell
• Fox News Radio - MP3 Interview with Tracy Caldwell
• Wikipedia: Tracy Caldwell