Space Shuttle Mission STS-101 In 1998, Dr. Weber was assigned to her As an original STS-101 crewmember, the late
change had Dr. Weber take on a great deal of additional
responsibilities. She was part of the “flight
crew” for both launch and reentry, and in this role,
she revised procedures and monitored for aborts during all phases
of launch. Rendezvous with another spacecraft,
particularly the Station, is among the most thrilling, complex,
and delicate operations in any spaceflight and is an all-crew task.
Her part was to control the elaborate docking module and oversee final “capture”. During
a 6-hour space walk, she manipulated the Shuttle’s
robotic arm to maneuver the spacewalkers around the Shuttle
and Station to retrieve and install equipment. Her view was all
but obstructed, since the Station was docked within inches of the
crew compartment windows, a unique situation at
the time. She therefore developed new techniques to use only camera views and animation during these very delicate
operations. She was also in charge of the “Spacehab”
module installed in the back of the Shuttle’s bay,
which provided storage and living space, and she oversaw
the internal transfer of thousands of pounds of equipment
to the Station.
Space Shuttle Mission STS-70
In addition to its great success, this mission was renowned for two other reasons. First, it was known as the “All Ohio” flight, since four of the five crewmembers were from Ohio and the governor officially designated the fifth an “honorary Ohioan.” With Ohio’s renowned devotion to its home teams, a media frenzy ensued and continued throughout their training and flight. Another notable aspect of this mission was the highly unusual cause for a five-week launch delay—woodpeckers damaged their Shuttle insulation while trying to build a nest. The ensuing events presented NASA with some of its most unusual media requests, as the “woodpecker flight” would even become the subject of a film from the young Olsen twins, The Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley: The Case of the U.S. Space Camp Mission.
NASA Experience
Outside of training for spaceflight, there is no standard career for an Astronaut, and assignments vary dramatically. Dr. Weber’s Astronaut Office assignments included developing with international space agencies the training and facilities for experiments aboard the Space Station, participating in critical launch, landing and test operations at the Kennedy Space Center, and testing Shuttle flight software. Although unusual for someone so early in her Astronaut career, she also received assignments at NASA Headquarters, reporting to the head of NASA and other top executives. She served as a key spokesperson in government relations and on an oversight team that revamped the $2 billion space station programs across the country. She was also the lead in a highly successful initiative to build businesses from space research with venture capital, working with a VC firm to assess prospective businesses for their market potential, feasibility, and various risks.
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After only two years in the Astronaut corps, Dr. Weber
was selected for her first Space Shuttle mission, STS-70, aboard Discovery. In July of 1995, the
crew of five delivered to space a critical communication
satellite to an orbit 22,000 miles over the equator, and
Dr. Weber was responsible for its check out and launch.
Throughout the nine-day mission, she also performed groundbreaking
biotechnology experiments, in which human cancer tissues
were grown outside the body with amazing fidelity, to later become one of NASA’s authorities in biotechnology.
She was also the primary “contingency” spacewalk
crewmember, trained to fix potential problems outside the
safety of the crew compartment, the Crew Medical Officer,
and a member of the flight crew for entry and landing,
monitoring all systems of the Shuttle during this critical
phase. 
