Clare Grant
Q: Marvel or DC?
Clare: I’m a Marvel girl. I grew up reading Marvel
comics, and love their relatable characters and
storytelling. But DC has created the most iconic
superheroes of all time, so I have mad respect for
them as well. Plus-DC has Batman.
Q: Favorite astronaut, scientist, engineer or inventor?
Clare: Does my college physics professor count?
Because he introduced me to physics, which I fell
in love with, and made me realize how much I like
science. But if I had to pick someone the rest of the
world knows, right now it would be Nikola Tesla. He is
fascinating.
Q: Favorite planet?
Clare: My favorite planet is actually Saturn’s moon,
Titan. I grew up reading a lot of Kurt Vonnegut, and
love Sirens of Titan so much, I adapted it in to a play
that I directed in college. That book romanticized
Titan in a way that will stick with me forever.
Q: Star Wars or Star Trek?
Clare: I am definitely more passionate about Star
Wars, as it is one of the most influential movies of my
life, and something that bonded me with my younger
brothers and sisters. And now it is something that I
share with my husband. But I also grew up watching
Star Trek with my Dad, who is a huge Trekker, so I have
a lot of love for Star Trek.
Q: Favorite space agency?
Clare: NASA. I went to Space Camp in Huntsville
for a field trip and was immediately fascinated by
space . When I moved from Memphis to Houston, my
new neighborhood & schools backed up to NASA
property. My Intermediate school was even called
Space Center. Being completely immersed in NASA
like I was during that time, I fell even more in love with
the agency and everything it stands for.
Q: If you were on a long space journey, what food
and beverage could you not live with out?
Clare: Coffee, chocolate & bacon.
Q: Build things or destroy them?
Clare: I’ve been taking things a part just to put them
back together again since I was a little girl, beginning
with my NES. Getting my first computer was fun
because I immediately took it apart, switching parts
added things to it.
Q: Favorite space mission?
Clare: I saw the final shuttle mission launch, STS-135,
and it was beautiful. But STS-134 is the most
memorable for me personally. I went down to Florida
with my husband and a couple friends for the launch
for STS-134, and STS-135. STS-134 was scrubbed, so
instead, the kind folks at NASA gave us the most
incredible tour of Kennedy Space Center and of the
Air Force base down there. We sat in the cockpit of
Discovery, touched the belly of Atlantis, played flight
director in command central, and go