Dee O'Hara
Dee O'Hara | |
---|---|
Born | Nampa, Idaho, U.S. | August 9, 1935
Known for | First Nurse to NASA's First Astronauts |
Dolores B. "Dee" O'Hara (born August 9, 1935, in
Early life
O'Hara was born on August 9, 1935, in Nampa, Idaho. In 1956 graduated from the Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Portland, Oregon.[2] After graduation, between 1956 - 1957 O'Hara completed coursework in Operating Room Technique in the University of Oregon. She worked as a surgical nurse at the University of Oregon Medical School.[1] Because of back problems, she moved on to work with three diagnosticians in Portland, Oregon, and learned how to do lab work and X-rays.
U.S. Air Force
Convinced by her roommate, she decided to join the Air Force, which was not common for women to do at the time.[1] O'Hara completed officers' training at Maxwell Air Force Base Alabama at the rank of second lieutenant.
In May 1959, O'Hara was assigned to
O'Hara resigned from the US Air Force in 1964, in order to move to the Manned Spacecraft Center (later the Johnson Space Center) to set up the Medicine Flight Clinic.[3]
Space Nurse
In November 1959, O'Hara became the first Staff Nurse of the
O'Hara gained the confidence of the astronauts. She had made a deal with the astronauts that they would not hide information from her, and she would not betray their confidence, unless, she thought it may jeopardize them or the mission.[3] She was the only nurse assigned to the astronauts. O'Hara became close to the astronauts and their families. Before every launch she performed the pre-flight physicals including height, weight, temperatures, blood pressure measurements.[1] The astronauts would not agree to let anyone else but O'Hara draw blood before launch.[4]
O'Hara also helped set up the portable hospital at the
In 1964, she moved to Houston to set up the Flight Medicine Clinic at the Johnson Space Center. She was the Occupational Health Nurse until 1967, and the manager of the Preventive Medicine Office between 1967 and 1971.
During the
Between 1971 and 1974 O'Hara was the manager of the Medical Operations Division in the Flight Medicine Branch until moving to Ames Research Center.[2] She was involved in the decision to ground astronaut Ken Mattingly from Apollo 13 due to the concern he might have contracted German measles.[6]
O'Hara participated in every launch in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. After Skylab, she was also invited to participate in the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program (ASTP) and the first shuttle flight in 1981. [3] During her time as the Astronaut's Nurse, she received a lot of fan mail.[1]
Ames Research Center
In 1974, O'Hara moved to the Ames Research Center where she managed the Human Research Facility until her retirement in 1997.[2] Among her projects, she was in charge of bed rest studies which discovered physiological parallels between bed rest and spaceflight conditions, findings that were foundational for ground-based studies of astronaut orbital health.[7]
After her retirement O'Hara continued to volunteer at the Ames Human Research Center. She is also an outside member of the Human Research Institutional Review Board.[1]
Portrayals
In the 1998 miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, O'Hara was portrayed by Ann Magnuson.
In the 2020 television series The Right Stuff, she was portrayed by Kaley Ronayne.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Dolores B. "Dee" O'Hara on the NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project". NASA Johnson Space Center. 23 April 2002.
- ^ a b c "O'Hara biography" (PDF). NASA. January 14, 1999. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ a b c "Meet: Dee O'Hara, First Nurse to NASA's First Astronauts". NASA. October 24, 2004. Archived from the original on October 15, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ a b "Nursing NASA astronauts". Space Boffins podcast (Podcast). The Naked Scientists. September 10, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ISBN 9781846280788.
- ^ "Nurse to First NASA Astronauts Discusses Her Career". spaceref. January 3, 2008. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2018.
- ^ Avi Solomon (June 29, 2016). "To see Earth and Moon in a single glance". Medium.
External links
- Nursing NASA astronauts Space Boffins podcast, The Naked Scientists, September 10, 2016
- To Tell the Truth CBS Mercury astronauts nurse; PANEL: Johnny Carson, Betty White (Mar 12, 1962)
- Dee O'Hara, astronauts' nurse; the complete life story of the first aerospace nurse, Virginia B McDonnell, 1965, open library edition