-there s this big countdown clock. i just remember staring at that clock, like, watching every second go down, like, is it now? is it now? -i don t know what i expected when i saw that clock like, for them to just magically arrive when it reached zero. -iain was very excited. -mom s coming home, and, you know, he s gonna get mom hugs, great meals. you know, life will be back to normal. -somebody from nasa said, you ll see the big kind of parachute that pops out of the back. and i think that s probably what i was most excited about [laughs] was watching the parachute come out. -there was something not right. i remember our capcom, charlie hobaugh, trying to re-establish communications. and he said, over and over again, columbia, houston, comm check.
she s almost back. -i didn t talk to laurel about the foam issue. that conference was for iain and laurel, and i was a bystander. -i knew she was going to come back. you know, i never had a question in my mind.
Im just really looking forward to being able to spend that much time up in space. But i tell my son all the time that my most important job is being his mother. Motherhoods been incredible. I relied on my mom for so much. So much. Three weeks from the launch, we were flying from houston To Albuquerque for christmas, Iain And Laurel and i. It was my dad flying the plane and me and our dog in the back seat. And we start hitting some of this turbulence, and all of a sudden the plane gets into this, like, downwash. Its going down like this. Well, i mean, we just crashed. It was just, you know, bam, slapped down. And the fact that we survived is, to this day, something i cannot explain
And were very excited. All the crew kids are just enjoying each other, too, so running up and down the bleachers and just enjoying being there. At the runway, there was just a lot of energy in the air. And so as a kid, you kind of just kind of ride that energy. But all of the waiting just felt like an eternity. Here we go. Theres this big countdown clock. I just remember staring at that clock, like, watching every second go down, like, is it now . Is it now . I dont know what i expected when i saw that clock like, for them to just magically arrive when it reached zero. Iain was very excited. Moms coming home, and, you know, hes Gonna Get mom hugs, great meals. You know, life will be back to normal. Somebody from nasa said, youll see the big kind of parachute that pops out of the back