One of the six astronauts riding in the space shuttle toward the international space station graduated from Denmark-Olar High School…Dr. Robert Satcher Jr.

The 44-year-old Satcher specializes in bone cancer and is the first orthopedic surgeon in space. The shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Monday and it is Satcher’s first space flight.

Being a physician and treating cancer patients was very rewarding says Satcher, but space was a dream that came true for the Denmark-Olar High School’s 1982 valedictorian.

“I went to high school in Denmark, South Carolina, which is a small town of about three thousand people, rural South Carolina and not a whole lot of my classmates went to college, to tell you the truth, but again that’s where the family influence was really a determinate for me. I mean, I knew I was going to go to college and I also knew I was interested in math and science,” said Satcher.

Born in Hampton, Va., Satcher, has a medical degree from Harvard University and a doctorate in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was teaching at Northwestern University and an orthopedic surgeon at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago when NASA invited him into the astronaut corps in 2004.

“I had the privilege of meeting Ron McNair; he came to M.I.T. a few times when I was there as a student, and I knew about his story. He actually was from South Carolina also and got his PhD at M.I.T., and then came to NASA and became an astronaut.

McNair was killed along with six other crew members in 1986 aboard the space shuttle Challenger.

“The highlight of the flight for me will be going out and really stepping out and seeing the vastness of the view of the Earth and the space station and the shuttle and then, of course out beyond. That is going to be spectacular. So, I don’t know that I can fully anticipate what that’s going to be like. I am sure it will be a life-changing experience.”

His father, Robert Satcher Sr., is president of St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville, Va. His uncle, Dr. David Satcher, served as U.S. surgeon general from 1998 until 2002. His wife, Dr. D’Juanna White-Satcher, is a pediatrician in Houston. They have a 2-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.

Atlantis will reach the space station Wednesday and the 11-day flight will include three spacewalks.

Source NASA