Dave Williams - Defying limits: lessons from the edge of the universe

Praise for

DEFYING LIMITS

Dave Williams is a Canadian hero. As a distinguished Canadian astronaut, he was part of an elite core of individuals who had both the courage and the privilege to turn their dreams into reality. Through Daves story, we can all be inspired to set goals, overcome obstacles, and, with hard work and determination, know that we can make a difference.

RICK HANSEN

In Defying Limits , Dave describes how his passion for aviation and medicine set him on the path to becoming a Canadian astronaut.... Daves humility, teamwork, leadership, and operational skill prove that he has the right stuff. Id fly with him again anytime.

SCOTT KELLY , author of Endurance

An inspirational tale of a remarkable Canadian doctor, astronaut, spacewalker, aquanaut, CEO, and loving father who turned failure into astounding accomplishments in space and on the ground. A fabulous example of how to live life to the fullest.

BOB MCDONALD , CBCs chief science correspondent and host of Quirks & Quarks

Riveting, inspiring words from a man who has the right, bright stuff. Its all here, from his pitch-perfect pursuit of becoming a physician and astronaut to the perilous, peerless moments during three space walks when wonder captures his heart like love. This is a bracingly informative portrait about exploration, discovery, and what makes life worth living.

DR. JOE MACINNIS , author of Deep Leadership

Every astronaut is deeply affected by the experience of viewing Earth from space, but how do you share that feeling with others who will never be there? Canadian astronaut Dave Williams uses his most brilliant moments in spacefloating alone, anchored only by a tetherto remind himself, and us, to cherish every moment here on Earth. Very few of us can be astronauts, but we can all do that.

JAY INGRAM , bestselling author of the Science of Why series

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Williams, Dafydd, 1954, author

Defying limits: lessons from the edge of the universe / Dave Williams.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-5011-6095-0 (hardcover).ISBN 978-1-5011-6096-7 (ebook)

1. Williams, Dafydd, 1954. 2. AstronautsCanadaBiography. 3. PhysiciansCanadaBiography. 4. Autobiographies. I. Title.

TL789.85.W55A3 2018629.450092C2018-902312-0

Interior design by Lewelin Polanco

ISBN 978-1-5011-6095-0

ISBN 978-1-5011-6096-7 (ebook)

This book is dedicated to those who aspire to lead happy, fulfilled lives. Time is our most precious resource, not to be squandered but to be nourished into rich experiences that will stay with us forever.

A Lifetime in a Moment

Time is infinite. Our lives are not. We all know this and the older we get, the more we feel it. As a child, time was something I never really thought about. Days seemed to last forever, filled with continuous activity and new experiences. As I got older, time didnt change, but I did. Days, months, years, whirled by in a flurry of activity. Its so easy to become complacent. But moments can last forever, if we remember to pay attention to them.

Ted Rosenthal, the late poet and author, put it best when confronted in his thirties with his imminent death: You can live a lifetime in a moment. A lifetime in a moment. That means an hour, a day, a conversation, or an encounter can be as rich and fulfilling as an entire lifetime, but only if were mindful and self-aware enough to truly embrace the gift of every second we spend on this earth.

I first heard Teds message years ago when I was in medical school. At the time, I thought I fully understood it. Since then, Ive always tried to live my life to the fullest. But it wasnt until much later, when I was outside the space shuttle Endeavour during my second space walk, that I lived Teds words. In that moment I understood what Ted meant. It was a moment that will stay with me forever.

It was August 8, 2007. I embarked upon STS-118 as a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle Endeavour . This was my second voyage into space, but that didnt make it any easier. This was after the tragic loss of seven crew members on the Columbia in 2003, when the shuttle disintegrated during reentry. Those men and women were incredible astronauts. They were also my friends.

The night before my departure, I said good-bye to my wife, Cathy, and my two amazing kids.

So Ill see you in two weeks? Cathy said to me as she kissed me.

Looking forward to it, I replied. We both understood the risks of this trip.

Finally, the moment of the launch arrived. I was ready. With launch preparations completed, I was strapped into the shuttle with my crewmates, and the final countdown was rapidly nearing completion. Three, two, one, zero. We have ignition, and liftoff.

The crackling boom of the solid rocket boosters was followed by a blinding flash. The raw power threw me back and forth against my restraining harness, and my body was thrust back as we rocketed into the sky. Id felt it all once before, but that didnt matter. Every time was new. The bouncing and shaking eventually subsided, and a few minutes later I saw the checklists floating around me. I turned to my fellow mission specialists, Barb Morgan and Al Drew, and flashed a thumbs-up.

The trip to reach space lasted only a few minutes, but we still had a two-day journey ahead of us to get to the International Space Station (ISS). During that time, we inspected the orbiter tiles and prepared for our rendezvous, but the real work began after we docked.

On August 13, six days into our trip, it was time to complete one of the primary goals of the mission: a space walk to replace a faulty gyroscope on the space station. Although I didnt know it then, by the end of the trip I would log more than seventeen hours of spacewalking, achieving a new Canadian record. But I didnt care about records. What I cared about was making sure we got the job done and were able to return to the station without issue.

On this walk I was accompanied by one of my crewmates, Rick Mastracchio. Its no small task to leave the relative safety of the space station, remove damaged equipment, and install a brand-new 1,200-pound gyroscope in the vacuum of space. To make it over to the shuttlewhich was docked to the U.S. lab at the center of the stationI rode on the end of the Canadarm2. Charlie Hobaugh, who went by his call sign Scorch, was our pilot. He had the job of controlling the robotic arm. With precision rivaling that of a neurosurgeon, he moved me from one part of the space station to another, down to the payload bay of the space shuttle, and back to the station.

Rick and I made it out of the station airlock successfully and removed the failed gyroscope together. Teamwork is always critical for success. The next step was to install the new gyroscope, a task that required a complex choreography between the robotic arm and the two of us.