The truth behind why Robinson chose to be an astronaut
I'm the reason Steve Robinson is an astronaut. At least that's what he told me, and I have witnesses.
On a visit to UC Davis in October 1997, Steve enthralled a standing-room-only audience at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center with the story of his first space shuttle flight, completed that August. Steve's slides, videos and insider details of life in orbit drew a spirited standing ovation from the campus crowd--and a surprise musical tribute from the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh. It was certainly the most exciting Staff Assembly meeting I've ever attended.
After the talk, UC Davis Magazine editor Teri Bachman and I joined the excited well-wishers crowding around Steve. When our turn to speak to him finally came, Teri introduced herself. She and Steve had exchanged e-mails and phone calls, and he greeted her with a smile and gracious thanks for the article she had written. She then turned to me and said to Steve, "And here's my boss, Jan Conroy."
‘Steve's eyes opened wide with surprise, and he burst out with what may be the most amazing thing anyone has ever said to me….’
Steve's eyes opened wide with surprise, and he burst out with what may be the most amazing thing anyone has ever said to me: "Jan Conroy?! Jan Conroy?! You're the reason I'm an astronaut!"
I'm sure I looked as astonished as I felt. Steve laughed and began to explain.
So many things in common
He and I had been contemporaries at UC Davis--I graduated in 1977 and he in 1978--and not surprisingly had had friends and activities in common. He was working at KDVS when I designed a logo for the radio station, for one thing. And we had shared another experience, one I had forgotten, though it made a lasting, life-changing impression on him.
We were students together in a drawing class, sat at the same table, in fact, and Steve vividly remembered a day when the instructor's assignment to the class was "draw a fish."
At the time Steve was wrestling with two equally attractive career choices: He loved drawing and had a wide-ranging fascination with science, so technical illustration sounded appealing. But he also was drawn to the challenges of engineering and flight.
Careful, exact fish drawing
That day he began to carefully, exactingly and accurately draw a fish. At one point he happened to glance at my drawing. I had taken the assignment less seriously and had drawn four fish floating around a table playing the card game called "Go Fish."
"I knew at that moment that art wasn't for me," Steve recounted. So fortunately for all of us, he focused on engineering, and, being Steve Robinson, he made the most of it.
And me? Well, as Steve has gone on to glory in orbit, I take great pride in the small but significant role I played in furthering humankind's exploration of space.
Editor's note: Jan reports that his original drawing is long gone and lives only in Steve's memory.