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By DAVE KONOPKI [email protected]
Wednesday, July 13, 2005     Page: 1A

Samantha Marquart has been anxiously waiting for this day for more than two
years.
   
So when the space shuttle Discovery lifts off from its Cape Canaveral
launch pad at approximately 3 p.m. today, the 16-year-old will be sitting on
the edge of her living room seat.
    And perhaps the only thing bigger than the 184-foot-high, 4.5 million-pound
space vehicle will be the smile on Marquart’s face.
   
“I am so, so excited,” said the daughter of Eric and Marjorie Marquart, a
young woman with a passion for space flight who hopes to become an astronaut.
“I can’t wait for the launch. I’ve been waiting for this since February of
2003.”
   
That’s when space shuttle Columbia exploded during reentry, killing all
seven astronauts aboard. This afternoon’s launch – which will send Discovery
and its seven-member crew to the International Space Station – will mark
NASA’s first space shuttle mission since the tragedy.
   
“It was a real difficult time, a real difficult day for me,” said Marquart,
referring to Columbia’s explosion. In the months following the tragedy, she
spent countless hours poring over the 248-page Columbia Accident Investigation
Report.
   
Becoming an astronaut is far from a pipe dream for the soon-to-be Wyoming
Seminary Preparatory School junior. Marquart has been flying planes for more
than three years. She flew her first solo flight on her 16th birthday and
hopes to earn her full pilot’s license – and the right to fly others – when
she turns 17.
   
“I knew I wanted to be astronaut when I was in kindergarten,” Marquart
said. “In middle school, I was even more interested. Now, it’s the major focus
of my life.”
   
So much so that she spent the month of June in Russia to learn the
country’s language in preparation of her career in space.
   
“Russia is our biggest ally in space, so I will need to be able to
communicate with them during space flights,” Marquart said. “The commander of
the International Space Station (Sergei Krikalev) is Russian. I needed to
learn the language.”
   
Marquart has spent parts of the last five years at space camp at the U.S.
Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. During underwater training last
year that simulates walking in space, she broke the camp’s duration record of
12 minutes by more than three minutes.
   
“It’s the same kind of training the astronauts go through,” said Marquart,
who was the only mission specialist at the camp chosen for long duration
training. “You do things like deploying solar panels. It’s very challenging.”
   
In addition to earning a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from MIT,
Princeton or Stanford, Marquart plans to study pre-med in college.
   
“I think that when I go to the moon or to Mars, the (medical education)
will definitely help,” she said.
   
But for now, Marquart is focused on today’s launch.
   
“I know everything will be safe,” she said. “If I was an astronaut, I would
go (on this mission) immediately. I think it’s going to be one of the safest
in NASA’s history. They’ve checked every minor detail.
   
“I’m really happy they’re getting back up there. It’s where they need to
be. It’s been a long time.”