ON MY FIRST SHUTTLE FLIGHT, I learned to float. On my second, inside the space station, I learned to fly. For three days my job was to move bags of equipment from the Spacehab laboratory module at the back of Discovery to the Zarya module at the end of the station. In those three days I learned a brand new sport-flying. It is magical. The only difference between the movies and real life is that you can't change direction in midflight. I learned how to push just right so that I flew without tumbling and without crashing. I learned to carom off walls to move around an obstacle. I learned to compensate for a heavy bag I was carrying. I arranged trains of multiple bags, flying in formation, with me as the sheepherder. It was exhilaration beyond imagination.
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