First Native Houstonian In Orbit

Despite the fact that Houston kids have grown up since the 1960's with NASA's Johnson Space Center in our backyard and being immersed in space flight news, it was only yesterday that we had our first native Houstonian launched into space.

Astronaut Shannon Walker accomplished that historical footnote when she blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft along with NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock and cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin from the Baikonur Cosmodrome yesterday afternoon.

Her launch from Baikonur was also the 100th combined launch to the space station, including Soyuz and Russian Progress vehicles as well as the space shuttle. During Walker’s mission the ISS will mark 10 years of continual habitation.

They will dock with the International Space Station on Thursday and stay on board the ISS until November.

When the Rice University grad arrives and joins Tracy Caldwell Dyson on board the ISS, it will mark the first time that two women have served together as long-duration station residents.

But it's also cool that a native Houstonian gets an opportunity to make some of that space history.