Out of this World "Chicks Network"
CHETRY: She sure does. Astronaut Cady Coleman is preparing for the trip of a lifetime. She's going to the International Space Station in the not-too-distant future. Our John Zarrella has been following her yearlong journey to prepare. He's live in Miami this morning. And we've seen her through some of her grueling training exercise. But now we're learning about the support she's getting from fellow female astronauts. It's pretty neat.</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is, Kiran. And you know I had an e-mail from Katie just yesterday. And she said last week she said she felt like ground beef when they finished with her on Friday night because they literally took her into a room where they basically hang you in your space suit on the wall and they vacuum chamber where they make sure your space suit is OK. Then they put her through all kinds of other tests last week. So it was a very busy week. One of the things, though, that we wanted to know is, is there more pressure because you are both a woman and an astronaut?</s>ZARRELLA (voice-over): Katie Coleman puts on a space suit.</s>NICOLE STOTT, NASA ASTRONAUT: Does that feel OK?</s>CADY COLEMAN, NASA ASTRONAUT: Yes. Just put these shoulder things.</s>ZARRELLA: Her friend, Nicole Stott, prepares for a walk outside the International Space Station.</s>STOTT: And we have a very important piece of equipment that we have is our com cap. It allows us to talk to each other.</s>ZARRELLA: Kay Hire repositions storage racks on the shuttle. There's no special attention. None of this is a big deal because women flying in space is no big deal. Not anymore.</s>COLEMAN: In terms of the astronaut thing, I have to say that when I grew up -- you know, I was born in 1960 -- girls didn't really do this.</s>ZARRELLA: Cady was 18 when they started doing it. Six women made history and helped make Cady's future possible. They were part of the astronaut class of 1978. Sally Ride, America's first woman in space, was one of them. Those are tough footsteps to follow in. There's pressure standing on the shoulders of giants.</s>COLEMAN: Being a woman there, you are just by -- you know, just by when people look, you are more visible. By definition. And so by being more visible, you would always like that to be good visible.</s>ZARRELLA: And good visible is a heck of a lot easier when you're looking out for each other.</s>STOTT: We kind of have like this little chicks network set up, I think. For the EVA, I've compiled a list of things I thought might be interesting to you and the rest of the ladies.</s>ZARRELLA: Nicole Stott spent three months on the International Space Station. Cady is headed there in December. Their e-mail is one of many Nicole sent down to Cady while she was up there. It dealt with the challenges of spacewalks for women. Other e-mails were more down-to-earth.</s>STOTT: I think we feel an obligation to each other. You know? There's no reason why somebody should go up there and have to figure out that they should have brought hair conditioner. I mean, it's just -- you just should know it.</s>COLEMAN: Sometimes the women astronauts will get together are the ones on the station. And talk about, you know, just hygiene up there and just, you know, what you're going to wear.</s>ZARRELLA: The bond they share makes it easier to focus on why they are there.</s>COLEMAN: I think I can say that -- it's probably true for all of us -- that we do what we do because we feel very passionate about it. And we don't do it because we're women, we just really want to be part of exploring the universe.</s>ZARRELLA: And they are. Because being a woman and an astronaut is no big deal. Not anymore.</s>ZARRELLA: Now next Monday morning when the shuttle "Discovery" lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center, three of the six astronauts on board are going to be women. Only the third time in the history of the U.S. space program that's happened. And we're hoping that Cady Coleman will be there to join us on the set, Kiran. And we'll have a lot to talk to her about -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: That's going to be great to talk to her in person. We love it.</s>ZARRELLA: Yes.</s>CHETRY: All right, we've been following her this whole time. I can't wait until that actually happens for her. Thanks John.</s>ZARRELLA: Yes.</s>ROBERTS: It's 46 minutes after the hour. Now, the weather turning serious in South Florida; we showed you a picture of Miami not long ago. And look at all that red. There were possible tornadoes embedded in that storm. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather for us. He's coming up next. Stay with us.