"Today In UB History: Feb. 21, 1990"

Astronaut and UB graduate Ellen Schulman Baker, M.D., returned to her alma mater last week for a presentation on her experiences on board the space shuttle Atlantis.

During the presentation, Baker returned a UB banner and Department of Geology flag taken with her on the October launch. UB President Steven B. Sample and John King, Baker's former geology professor, accepted the flags on behalf of the university.

"We orbited the earth 79 times and went 1.8 million miles, and these two flags went with us," Baker said.

Probe launched

One of the more important tasks of the mission was the launching of the Galileo probe, Baker explained. The craft is currently traveling at 90,000 miles per hour and will reach Jupiter near the end of 1995. Baker described the probe as "the most complicated interplanetary spacecraft ever built or launched."

Baker acknowledged that it was a special thrill for her.

"Being a former geologist, I really look forward to some of the data we will get back from this terrific spacecraft," she said.

She also noted that despite seeing thousands of pictures and other flight films, she was unprepared for the beauty of the view from the shuttle.

"It is really magnificent, and there are no pictures or words that can do it justice," she said.

The morning after the probe was launched, the crew was awakened by the UB fight song.

Experiments in orbit

During the mission, an experiment to measure the ozone and a study of the fluid shift that occurs in the human body in space were performed.

"Fluid that normally is held in your legs moves up to your upper extremities and thorax in the absence of gravity," Baker said.

In addition to the Galileo deploy and experiments, the astronauts also made a film for the Smithsonian using the I-Max camera.

Baker graduated from UB in 1974 with a major in geology, and earned her medical degree in 1978 from Cornell University. She joined NASA as a medical officer at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1981, and was selected as an astronaut in 1985.

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