Astronaut makes West Island, family proud

With gouges taken out of the space shuttle Endeavour's heat shield, and a potential killer hurricane descending on the shuttle's mission control and landing area, the space shuttle Endeavour mission featuring Beaconsfield native Dave Williams could hardly be called uneventful.

But the Endeavour's flight, which wrapped up Aug. 21, was far from your run-of-the-mill space-shuttle mission. The 14-day mission ended last Tuesday a day early, amid fears that Hurricane Dean would hit Houston and force evacuation of Mission Control.

But Williams, who grew up in Beaconsfield and graduated from Beaconsfield High School, landed safe and sound, with no ill effects and a lifetime of memories, his wife of 21 years Cathy Fraser, said Monday morning.

"He's really happy to be back, but he's really excited about the mission," said Fraser, who grew up in Pointe Claire and met Williams when he was a lifeguard instructor at the Pointe Claire Aquatic Centre.

"Certainly, there was cause for concern, but we were well-informed, and NASA was confident everything was going to be OK, and they had us reassured on the ground as well. For the most part, they made sure we knew what was going on," she said.

Williams performed three space walks in the 14-day mission – a Canadian milestone.

"He also got to ride on the Canadarm, and he was really pleased about that. We're just excited to have him back," she added.

Canadian Space Agency mission manager Edward Tabarah agreed, saying the mission, while beset by outside forces over which neither NASA or the CSA had any control, was a success by any measure.

"We spoke to Dave about that, and he was on top of the world because everything went so well in the end. He knows it was a very successful mission," he said. With the weather, the gouges in the heat shield and everything else, it was still an excellent mission."

To read more about Williams' mission, visit the Canadian Space Agency's website at www.space.gc.ca.