NASHVILLE — Rhea
Seddon and Robert “Hoot” Gibson shared their out-of-this-world experiences as
astronauts with 1,000 people attending the 75th anniversary celebration
of the Civil Air Patrol Friday (Aug. 12) in Nashville.
As guests of MTSU’s Department of Aerospace, a sponsoring
partner of the organization’s national conference, Murfreesboro residents and
retired NASA astronauts Seddon and Gibson entertained the crowd with their
separate stories about life before, during and after their space careers.
The Civil Air Patrol, an official civilian auxiliary of the
U.S. Air Force, is a congressionally chartered and federally supported
nonprofit corporation. The CAP’s conference at Gaylord Opryland Hotel is 35
miles from MTSU, which features nationally ranked aerospace as one of its top
programs.
Just before starting one of several book signings for her
“Go for Orbit” now in its fourth printing and two more talks later in the day,
Seddon told an audience it is “wonderful to see young people get excited about
aviation and space.” A number of event participants are part of Civil Air
Patrol cadet programs.
During the three speaking sessions, Seddon shared the
challenges the small-town girl and “Southern Belle” faced in first becoming a
physician and then committing to NASA and its previously male-dominated
astronaut program before beginning the space shuttle Challenger program.
“They (NASA) were willing to give women a try,” said Seddon,
who praised Gibson for helping her master computer and technology issues. “Once
I got in the astronaut program, I knew nothing about engineering and
technology. I was stuck in the ‘SSSS’ portion of STEM (science, technology,
engineering and math).”
As a younger woman, one of her favorite sayings was, “It
doesn’t hurt to try.” And try she did, even realizing while looking toward
space, a half-million pounds of explosives were under her and someone was going
to light a fuse or, in this case, push a button for lift-off.
Gaining confidence and having determination helped her
persevere. A career with Vanderbilt University Medical Center and her book have
proven there can be life after NASA.
“I learned principles I used in aviation were not being used
well in medicine,” she said, mentioning teamwork, communication and
standardization of processes (crew resource management, she called it). “With
help from some pilots, we began taking those things to healthcare to improve
safety, reliability and team effectiveness.”
It led to the formation of a company to help other hospitals
do the same thing, she added.
“Those are things that can be used in every workplace — even
valuable in the Civil Air Patrol’s education and leadership program,” she said.
With “Go for Orbit,” she felt it was a “story worth
telling,” she said. “It was a labor of love to write my experiences down. I
hope by passing on a tale of what it took, how it felt, the good times and the
sad times … that young women can see what it takes to have a wonderful and
successful life. And women like you who are well along on your journey will see
the parallels with your lives.”
Gibson invokes plenty of humor in his presentation. Just as
his wife did, Gibson discussed the future of the Civil Air Patrol in his
closing remarks.
“The future of the country is great and the future of the
Civil Air Patrol is even greater … motivating and developing young people,” he
said.
MTSU vice president of marketing and communications Andrew
Oppmann, a lieutenant colonel with the Civil Air Patrol, introduced Seddon and
Gibson, and informed the group about the university’s special partnership with
CAP.
Dr. Wendy Beckman, interim chair in the MTSU aerospace
department, discussed the MTSU program that features professional pilot, air
traffic control and a five-year-old unmanned aircraft systems (drone)
concentration. In May, MTSU unveiled a new $700,000 flight simulator building
at the university’s flight operations center at Murfreesboro Airport.
Beckman introduced Seddon at the CAP Women’s Leadership
Forum sponsored by the aerospace department.
Alumnus Terry “Max” Haston, adjutant general with the
Tennessee Army National Guard, and state Sen. Jim Tracy, a strong supporter of
MTSU, attended the morning general session and were introduced by Oppmann.
Col. Barry Melton, commander of the Civil Air Patrol’s
Southeast Region, also is an MTSU graduate.
In May 2014, MTSU and the Civil Air Patrol’s Tennessee Wing
formed a partnership in aerospace education for Tennessee high school students
in the U.S. Air Force auxiliary’s cadet program.
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