Anna Lee Fisher ’71, M.D. ’76

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For one little girl from San Pedro, a dream of adventures in space was to come true. At the age of 12, Anna Lee Fisher thought about a career in space medicine. However, since no space stations had yet been built, she had to choose a more earthbound alternative; earning UCLA degrees in chemistry and medicine, she launched a career as an emergency room physician. Learning that the space shuttle program had opened up to a new class of mission specialists, she and her husband, who is also a physician, both applied and were ultimately selected. In November 1984, Fisher – the first mother in space – flew on the first space salvage mission in history. It was the same little girl from San Pedro who operated the shuttle’s robot arm to retrieve and return to earth two malfunctioning satellites.

This young woman astronaut finds both a thrill and satisfaction in managing in a totally new environment. To her, the rewards of risk-taking will always outweigh the potential dangers or the fear of the unknown.

Anna Fisher reached for the moon, and touched the stars. No longer earthbound, she firmly believes that the utilization of space if feasible: “Once we break the confines of earth,” she says, “we have the whole universe as our frontier.”