posted 02-20-2016 09:55 AM               

It was special because it was a night launch and absolutely memorable in every way. I had never seen a night launch before and it was like seeing an artificial sun rising "quickly" from the horizon and the shuttle went right by the glow of the moon in the night sky. Totally forever awesome.

I was lucky enough to meet and become friends (loosely) with Dr. Cleave years later when we both worked in Washington DC and were participants together in a long-term professional program. What a special woman with a fascinating life story. Unfortunately I have not crossed paths with her for several years now.

One of the things that she told me that sticks in my memory is how starkly she noticed the difference in appearance of the Amazon forests between his first mission in 1985 and her second mission just 4 years later. A view from space of large deforestation!

Last I talked with her around 2006 or 2007 she was essentially serving as the Science chief at NASA HQ.