Atmosphere: A Love Story

Joan Goodwin arrives at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and enters the Mission Control building. As an astronaut with NASA’s space shuttle program, she has already traveled on a mission in space. Astronauts not currently on a mission fulfill other roles. Today, she’s fulfilling the role of “CAPCOM on the Orion Flight Team for STS-LR9, the third flight of the shuttle Navigator” (3). As CAPCOM (Capsule Communications officer), Joan is the only person in direct contact with the astronauts on the shuttle, relaying commands from the flight director, Jack Katowski, and information from other specialists in Mission Control. She’s friends with all the astronauts aboard the Navigator. The Commander, Steve Hagen, was an instructor, and the others—pilot Hank Redmond and mission specialists John Griffin, Lydia Danes, and Vanessa Ford—were her training mates.

Today, the shuttle plans to launch an observation satellite. However, a malfunction requires John “Griff” Griffin and Vanessa Ford to perform a spacewalk to release the satellite manually. They leave the depressurized airlock and release the satellite. When they arrive back in the airlock, Griff decides to leave the hatch open.