Just more than 40 years ago, traveling in space was only a dream. Now many people have lived this dream, including one of Penn State's professors. James Pawelczyk, assistant professor of applied physiology and kinesiology, is Penn State's only resident astronaut.
Space travel is the crowning achievement in society.
Pawelczyk took leave from Penn State to fly aboard the space shuttle Columbia in April 1998 as a Payload Specialist on the STS-90 flight. During the 16-day flight, he was the first person to measure muscle sympathetic nerve activity in humans in space. He and the crew were subjects and operators in experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and the nervous system. Pawelczyk traveled with six other people. Pawelczyk's trip to space included a few glitches.