'A fierce pride'

At 9:52 a.m. on a January morning 25 years ago, the space shuttle Discovery thundered into the clear blue Florida sky with a fiery blast. 

The lift-off at the Kennedy Space Center was an hour late, but it was still a spectacular sight, as 7,000,000 pounds of thrust launched the NASA shuttle into an orbit 187 miles above the earth for what would be an eight-day science mission.

It was a history-making event that propelled Sault Ste. Marie's Roberta Bondar to new heights and made her hometown oh so proud.

On Jan. 22, 1992, Dr. Bondar became Canada's first woman, and the first neurologist, to fly in space — a feat witnessed first hand at Cape Canaveral by hundreds of Canadians and more than 70 people from the Sault.

The 46-year-old, who grew up on McGregor Avenue where she dreamed of being an astronaut, was a payload specialist and part of a seven-member international crew whose job was to conduct dozens of experiments.

And while she was earning a spot in the history books as this country's first female space traveller, she also was just the second Canadian and 264th person in the world to have gone into space.

Marc Garneau, Canada's first astronaut, who flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1984, was at the space center when Bondar's shuttle streaked into orbit. 

Bondar's flight drew more than 75 Canadian journalists, including television and print reporters from her hometown, to chronicle her historic flight.

According to Florida Today, which describes itself as "The Space Coast's Newspaper," the flight began with a spectacular launch, that was viewed by 40,000 to 45,000 people — larger than normal crowds — in prime viewing areas in Titusville, a city west of the Kennedy Space Center.

A Page One story in the paper's Jan. 22 edition, headlined "Bondar draws fans from across Canada," noted a profusion of red and white Canadian flags and licence plates in the area.

The increase was linked to the launch of a "much honored neurologist from the Ontario community of Sault Ste. Marie scheduled to join six other astronauts for a week-long mission through the heavens.

"Her name is Roberta Bondar, her title is payload specialist and her fans have indeed arrived."

Sault residents, who watched the historic blast off, later described feelings of elation, excitement and exhilaration as they watched the "breathtaking" sight.

Many were choked up with emotion and pride.

The late Russ Ramsay, a former MPP and broadcaster, said he was overcome with "a fierce pride, not only because she's a Canadian but (because she is) from Sault Ste. Marie."

David Elgie told Florida Today "I guess for people down here it's mundane, but for us it's pretty historic."

When Bondar returned to her hometown in February, she received a rousing hero's welcome that began with crowds of people waiting to greet her at the airport.

Hundreds of school children waving Canadian flags lined her motorcade route along Second Line West, and even more had gathered at the Bondar Discovery park, where there was a life-size snow replica of her space shuttle.

City councillor Steve Butland, who was the city's MP at the time, "distinctly remembers the ride in from the airport" where the community showed up in the thousands to watch Bondar make her way along city streets to an official civic homecoming event.

Her unique accomplishments were totally apparent, and nobody had brought more international attention to Sault Ste. Marie, he recalled in an interview.

"She brought a lot of positive attention, then and since."

During a hectic four-day visit, Bondar was lauded with standing ovations at a civic dinner and cheered by 4,500 hockey fans at a Soo Greyhounds game.

Signs around the city welcomed her home, including one at Sir James Dunn, the high school she attended, that proclaimed her as "our highest flying eagle."

Young and old admirers filled the Memorial Gardens to hear the astronaut, who had gone where no other Canadian woman had gone, to speak about her space trek.

There was no doubt to the people of Sault Ste. Marie that Roberta Bondar had the Right Stuff.

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The Bondar IML-1 Mission Insignia is pictured at left. The insignia worn by the seven astronauts aboard the STS-42/Discovery is pictured, right.

To commemorate Roberta Bondar's participation in the mission, the Canadian Space Agency issued a commemorative insignia to be worn on Dr. Bondar's flight suit (left).

The rod and serpents of Aesculapius, the Greek god of medecine, at the top of the crest, represent Bondar's medical background as a neurologist. The red maple leaf, gradually transforming into the space shuttle, signifies Canada's significant participation in the mission. 

The shuttle is shown in orbit above a green Earth, symbolic of the terrestrial application of space research. The three Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan and Huron) mark the location of Sault Ste. Marie, Bondar's hometown.

The insignia, developed by Bondar and her sister Barbara Bondar, expresses Dr Bondar's feeling toward her mission.

The artistic rendering was interpreted by Sault Ste. Marie science teacher and artist Susan Chow.

The STS-42 International Microgravity Lab-1 insignia (right), designed by the crewmembers, depicts the shuttle orbiter with the Spacelab module aboard.

The number 42 is represented by six white stars __ four on one side of the orbiter and two on the other.

The single gold star above Earth's horizon honors the memory of astronaut Manley L. (Sonny) Cater, who was killed in a commuter plane crash in April 1991.

A crew spokesman described Carter as "our crewmate, colleague and friend."

Blue letters set against the white give the surnames of the five astronauts and two payload specialists aboard the flight.

They are Ronald J. Grabe, commander;  Stephen S. Oswald, pilot; mission specialists William F. Readdy, Norman E. Thagard and David C. Hilmers; and payload specialists Roberta L. Bondar (Canada) and Ulf D. Merbold (West Germany).