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| Baker associate blasts off with college flag |
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Newman enjoys busy schedule
by Laura Derr NASA astronaut and Baker College associate Jim Newman will travel into orbit this December, along with a Baker flag. Newman, 42, will serve on the crew of the first space shuttle mission to carry hardware into space for the assembly of the new international space station. "Jim Newman's crew will launch Dec. 3 from Florida aboard the space shuttle Endeavor," Johnson Space Center representative James Hartsfield said. Russia will be sending up a component into space called the Zarya module. Newman and crew will rendezvous with the Zarya module, capture it, dock it and attatch it to the space station. "[Newman will] conduct three space walks to make the final connections," Hartsfield said. The space station is a cooperative endeavor between the U.S. and Russia. The launch may be delayed due to complications with Russia. "It depends on when the Russian component is ready," Baker Master Arthur Few said. Newman's third journey to space continues a tradition. On each trip, Newman has "taken some artifact of Baker with him," Few said. Newman carried a parchment signed by the college's students in his last mission in 1995. This time Baker students wanted to give him "something unique and different to take into space," Few said. "The college came up with the idea of the flag." Last spring and early this fall, Baker held a contest for students to submit designs for the flag. "It came down to three or four different options," Resident Associate Greg Marshall said. Baker cabinet voted Sept. 15 to adopt a flag created by 1997-'98 Baker President Stella Hines. The flag shows the Baker crest on a field of red and white, which are the college's colors. Production of Baker's student-designed flag was completed Wednesday. Newman has been a Baker associate since he was a graduate student. He earned his master's and doctorate degrees in physics at Rice in 1982 and 1984, respectively. In 1985, he was appointed an adjunct professor in Rice's Space Physics and Astronomy Department. Newman finished astronaut training at Johnson Space Center in July 1991. Married and the father of two, Newman enjoys hiking, softball and squash. "He's a family man," Mendenhall said. "He brings his kids and wife along to associates' dinners."
This item appeared in the News section of the October 16, 1998 issue. |
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