MARATHON WOMAN

SHANNON LUCID MAY SET RECORDS IN ORBIT, BUT SHE DOESN'T DO PORTHOLES

Shannon Lucid looked forward to a lot of things while preparing for her fifth mission in space, but she never expected tomatoes. So in the third month of her stay aboard the Russian space station Mir other provisions, Lucid was delighted to find a generous supply of the plump red fruit. "For the next week, we had tomatoes three times a day," she wrote in the weekly summary of events she beamed back to Earth. "It was a sad meal when we finished the last one."

Tomatoes were a rare grace note in a grueling mission that was to end this...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!