Member Spotlight

Barbara Feinman talks to NASA’s orbiting Miataphile Mary Ellen Weber.

Mulling over how I’d describe Miata-driving astronaut Mary Ellen Weber, only one adjective comes to mind: down-to-earth. And you’ll have to forgive the pun, because that truly is the impression I was left with after our very pleasant conversation.

An honest-to-goodness Shuttle veteran with a 1995 mission good for 142 orbits to her credit, Mary Ellen now works for NASA and lives in Houston, Texas. In her spare time she skydives, scuba dives, and enjoys her MX5, which she’s owned since 1990. Revealingly, even after experiencing some considerably more powerful modes of transportation, Mary Ellen is still as enchanted with her red 1990 as any of us. “I love driving my Miata,” she says proudly, adding “It’s never in the shop.”

I have to admit it: At first I was a little nervous to be talking with a genuine, been-in-space astronaut. I’ve interviewed everyone from movie stars to senators in my line of work, but never anyone who’s orbited the Earth.

Almost immediately, Mary Ellen put me at ease. She was even gracious enough to act like my dumb questions weren’t all that dumb. “Is there any similarity between driving a Miata and traveling in a rocket?” I asked.

She explained that the experience of space travel is, well, different, but that “…we also fly T38 jets as a part of our training, and that does give you the same sensations. You sort of ‘fit’ into the Miata, (and) you’re surrounded the same way in a cockpit.”

Interestingly enough, neither NASA nor the Miata were goals that she’d planned on. Back in graduate school at UC Berkeley (where she earned a PhD in physical chemistry), Mary Ellen used to drive a Plymouth Horizon. But when the Miata started appearing on the road, there was no shopping around—she knew it was the car for her. Mary Ellen chose a red one, and after three or four years had it painted emerald green. (She jokes now that she’s gotten a little bitter—her custom-chosen paint is now offered from the factory, making her longtime ride a little less unusual.)

Unlike a lot of NASA’s spacefarers, Mary Ellen didn’t always dream of becoming an astronaut. But, she believes, that’s mostly because it had simply never occurred to her as an option.

“When I was a little girl I never even considered it,” she confessed. “I didn’t even think it was a possibility. It wasn’t until college—when I got into aviation and skydiving—that I decided to give it a shot.”

Mary Ellen’s official NASA bio doesn’t get into her Miata dabblings, but it does points out that she’s logged over 2500 skydives since 1983; was a silver medalist at the US National Skydiving Championships in the 20-way Freefall Formation event in 1991 and ’95; and that in 1996 she was part of the current world-record free-fall formation (297-way).

Skydiving, the space shuttle, flying T38 training jets…. So, I asked, how does she fare with speeding tickets? Mary Ellen responded by saying that she really doesn’t go over the speed limit. “I have on occasion pushed the envelope in the Miata. (But) I drive the way I fly, and that’s very precise, by the book. I just don’t feel the need to take chances.” But doesn’t a car (even a Miata) pale in comparison to traveling through space? “Being up in space is certainly a spectacular experience,” she agreed, “but I enjoy many things: riding on a rollercoaster, skydiving, scuba diving. Just because you’ve had one great experience doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate others.”

I thought that would be a nice note to end our conversation on, but then I remembered the pressing question my editor instructed me to ask: “Is space food really as yucky as they say?”

Mary Ellen laughed, ever the good sport. “We get to pick our whole menu—(from) shrimp cocktails to fajitas…to fresh vegetables. There’s just about anything you can imagine. I’ve eaten better food on the ground, but I’ve also eaten worse.”