In 2002,1 flew on the Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station -1 was on STS-113, the 112th Space Shuttle mission. My job was to take a crew of three people there, to bring three people home, and to install a large truss on the outside of the Space Station.
I carried with me a crew checklist and on it I taped pictures of my kids, so I could take a photo of them floating in front of the window with the Earth in the background. I also took an eagle feather and a flute, to honour my Chickasaw heritage - my native American heritage. They are symbols that natives understand the importance of and could then see in orbit. I was the first to play a flute like that in space.