Shannon Lucid (born January 14, 1943) is an American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut. Lucid earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1963, a master's degree in biochemistry in 1970, and a PhD in biochemistry in 1973. In 1978, she was recruited by NASA for astronaut training in the first class to include women. She flew on STS-51-G, STS-34, STS-43, STS-58, and completed a six-month mission aboard the Russian space station Mir in 1996, traveling there on the Space Shuttle Atlantis with STS-76 and returning with STS-79. Lucid is the only American woman to have stayed on Mir. From 1996 to 2007, she held the record for the longest duration spent in space by an American and by a woman. She was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in December 1996, making her the tenth person and the first woman to be accorded the honor. Lucid was NASA Chief Scientist from 2002 to 2003 and a capsule communicator at Mission Control for numerous Space Shuttle missions, including STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle program. She announced her retirement from NASA in 2012.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Lucid

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1900:

Giacomo Puccini's opera Tosca, based on the play La Tosca by French dramatist Victorien Sardou, premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosca

1939:

Norway claimed Queen Maud Land, a 2.7-million km2 (1.0-million sq mi) region of Antarctica, as a dependent territory. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Maud_Land

1957:

Hindu spiritual leader Kripalu Maharaj was named the fifth original jagadguru, meaning 'world teacher'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadguru_Shri_Kripalu_Ji_Maharaj

1973:

Elvis Presley's concert Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite was broadcast live to audiences in Asia and Oceania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloha_from_Hawaii_via_Satellite

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

go pear-shaped: (intransitive, Australia, Britain, New Zealand, idiomatic) To go awry; to go wrong. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/go_pear-shaped

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I don't ask tabloids to chase me around every week. But at the same time, I would never take back any part of who I am or where I came from. I would never want to be part of anything else. I'm honored and proud of my family and my dad.   --Lisa Marie Presley https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lisa_Marie_Presley