Seven astronauts braving unknown

updated 6:51 a.m. ET Aug. 9, 2005

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The seven astronauts who will brave the unknown on NASA's return to space have explained the shuttle safety improvements to their children and tried to calm their spouses and parents.

Among them, they have four wives, one husband and 13 children who are understandably nervous about their loved ones being the first to fly on a space shuttle since Columbia's catastrophic re-entry in 2003.

"It's going to be much worse on the family this time than it was before," said Discovery's pilot, James Kelly, pointing to the conventional wisdom before the Columbia accident that most of the risk involved the launch — not the return.

Yet the families are all supportive.

That's because commander Eileen Collins, co-pilot Kelly and the rest of the crew strongly believe Discovery is safe enough to ride into orbit — or they wouldn't climb aboard. At the same time, they realize spaceflight is risky and that anything can go tragically wrong from the moment of liftoff until wheels stop at touchdown.

For the Discovery seven, exploration is worth the incalculable risks.

Here is a brief look at each crew member:

Commander Eileen Collins isn't the least bit worried about leading NASA's first space shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster.

She shows no emotion, only incredible focus. She developed the ability to screen out distractions and pressure long ago.

Collins was the second woman to enter Air Force Test Pilot School, the first woman to become a space shuttle pilot and the first woman to command a U.S. space mission, in 1999 — all this despite a fear of roller coasters.

The 48-year-old commander, married to a commercial airline pilot, has assured her 9-year-old daughter that she'll return safely. Her 4-year-old son is too young to understand.

"I'm doing this mission because this is something I believe in and we need to carry on the mission of the Columbia crew," Collins said she told her daughter.

This will be Collins' fourth shuttle mission and probably her last. She recently retired from the Air Force as a colonel and may go back to teaching math. She is from Elmira, N.Y.

Pilot James Kelly says his concept of the dangers of spaceflight did not change after the Columbia accident. That's because he walked into the astronaut job in 1996 fully aware of what happened a decade earlier with Challenger.

Kelly was attending the Air Force Academy when Challenger blew up. One of his classmates was the son of the Challenger commander.

His wife Dawn has had second thoughts, though, about his career choice.

"I've been flying high-performance airplanes and things like that" for nearly two decades, said Kelly, 41, a lieutenant colonel and former test pilot from Burlington, Iowa. "She'd much rather I didn't do any of this stuff probably."

He's discussed the technical aspects of the Columbia accident with his two teenage sons. With his two young daughters, he's gently explained "why I do what I do, why I love space, why I think we need to be out there."

Kelly — whose nickname is Vegas because of a lucky poker streak years ago — will be making his second visit to the international space station.

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