Davis: I really enjoyed the training aspect of being an astronaut, and the jobs we had. We heard from experts in the field, and went on field trips in geology. We went to a planetarium for astronomy training. We learned all about medical things and geography and meteorology and orbital mechanics. Plus, we were with our astronaut class and became very close, and were fine to go through all the simulator training, focusing on flying the T-38, all those things. It was a great time.
After that first year, we were eligible for having jobs in the astronaut office. My jobs were focused on what they called mission development at the time, things that were needed to complete a mission, whether it be robotic arm training, or EVA training, or working on crew displays and procedures before a crew was assigned, or integrating a payload, which is whatever flies on the shuttle. How you get all these experiments to work together and keep the scientists happy, and make it so the crew can do the science on orbit. I was involved in a lot of those things, and eventually became the branch chief for that.
I think I mentioned in the book that I felt like, as a mission specialist, there were a couple of areas where I could hone my skills. One was payload development, making sure that whatever we flew on the shuttle could be successful. But also the Canadian robot arm, the Canadarm, I felt like robotics was an area just like a flying skill. It's like developing flying ability. You need to work at it, to have the situational awareness and the capability to integrate all the information you have to make the right decision on how to operate the arm. I worked hard at that.
I have a small frame and short arms, and so I wasn't very good at EVA. You know, it would have been fun to do a spacewalk, and I was the EVA crew member for my first two flights in the event there was a contingency EVA, which we didn't have, but I was trained for all of that. But I didn't feel like I could get good at that, because of my physical limitations. So I concentrated on the robotics and the payload development. Both of those things were very satisfying. I flew the Canadarm on my second and third missions, and I flew a Japanese robotic arm on my third mission. I did do a lot of robotics, and enjoyed that. I felt like I contributed to the missions.