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Astronaut, WFU grad tells of adventures in space
Journal photo by Walt Unks
Lily MacLachlan, 8, presents a hand-drawn picture to astronaut Tom Marshburn after his presentation at SciWorks Friday, October 2, 2009. MacLachlan said she drew his rocket blasting off into space with swirls that were inspired by VanGogh's "Starry Night".
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Published: October 2, 2009
When Tom Marshburn was a medical student, he and others talked about what they wanted to with their lives.
Some talked about being pediatricians; other said they wanted to be surgeons.
Marshburn's answer stood out. He wanted to be an astronaut.
Charlie Miraglia said he remembers having those conversations with Marshburn when they were students at Wake Forest University's Bowman Gray School of Medicine.
"He knew what he wanted, and he did it," Miraglia said. "He worked long and hard and we're very proud of him."
Twenty years after finishing medical school, Marshburn returned to Winston-Salem to talk about his adventures in space. Today at SciWorks, he spoke to about 75 people, including Miraglia, about his July voyage to the international space station aboard the space shuttle Endeavour. He also spoke to medical students at Wake Forest and students at Hanes Middle School. Saturday, he will be recognized at the Wake Forest football game.
Marshburn, a Statesville native, was one of seven astronauts on Endeavour, which delivered a segment of Japan's space station lab, as well as food and equipment for the six people living in the space station.
In his 45-minute presentation, Marshburn answered such questions as whether astronauts brush their teeth in space ("they better") and what it felt like to walk in space for the first time ("a little frightening").
Marshburn didn't grow up with a dream to be an astronaut.
"But I had a fascination with space and flight," he said.
He was also drawn to adventure. When he was 19, he hiked the length of the Pacific Crest Trail, which links Canada and Mexico.
After graduating from Wake Forest in 1989, he decided to pursue his interest in space more actively. He became a flight surgeon at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and in 2004, he was among 11 applicants chosen to be a NASA astronaut.
While in space, Marshburn helped anchor a 6-foot dish antenna and a backup cooling system pump on the space station. One of his spacewalks lasted about seven hours.
"I kept thinking, 'I hope I don't mess up.' There are 1,000 steps you have to do," he said. "But when you first step out, it's breathtaking."
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