Kay Hire

Biography

Kay Hire is a U.S. Navy captain and NASA astronaut. She has 38 years’ experience. A graduate of the US Naval Academy and trained as a naval officer, she has flown more than 3,400 hours in various aircraft on missions around the world. In 1989, Kay began working for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center as a Space Shuttle Engineer, while continuing to serve in the Navy Reserve. In 1991 she earned a master’s degree in space technology from the Florida Institute of Technology. In 1993, Kay became the first woman assigned to a U.S. military combat post, flying a maritime patrol aircraft. Kay flew 711 hours in space as a mission specialist. She made her first flight in 1998, aboard the Columbia STS-90 mission, as a payload specialist. She made her second flight in February 2010, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, mission STS-130. Kay Hire is founder and President of Astra Portolan Corporation.

Conference: Can astronauts defy time?

The countdown starts very early. At the start of the selection process to become an astronaut, even earlier, as soon as the idea of a possible trip outside the atmosphere crosses the candidate’s mind. Then it’s one step after another, success after success, all the way to the ultimate accolade, when the candidate becomes part of the team – a group of extraordinary human beings ready to train for a space mission. Many months of intensive preparation, with a meticulously concocted program, still separate the future hero from departure. Every day, he has to keep up the pace and even improve. Once quarantined, he’s only a few hours away from lift-off. On the launch pad, curled up in his seat, he will be propelled into space within the time limit imposed by the firing procedure. In less than nine minutes, it will travel at an orbital speed of 28,000 km/h, circling the globe 16 times every day. Its real mission has just begun. Whether it’s ensuring the proper functioning of instruments, repairing them, carrying out scientific experiments, communicating with the ground, exchanging with teammates, getting around, playing sports, sleeping or eating, the man in space evolves at a certain pace – his own and that imposed on him. Even if he’s very busy, his return to Earth, close to those he loves, can sometimes seem a long way off. At each of these stages, to which we could add a spacewalk or the return journey, can the astronaut defy time?