Women have a natural defense alerting us to what is intuitively unsafe. Thank goodness. The expansion of the human race may be credited to her care. Perhaps that is why less than 7% of pilots are women. But data show us that our accident rate is much lower.

Taking on fear and risk may not come naturally. But when we do take them on, we take them on in considered, healthy ways. Prepared. Studied. Well aware. And course through the skies, taking on the turbulence, and the glories too.

Every hour in the sky is an hour of hard work. And learning the basics was not enough for MJ. Reaching for more pilot licenses meant charting a course for more studying, flying the sky in arcs and pitches, and feeling the difficulties and successes.

Then charting the course to the edge of space: taking space training at NASTAR and preparing missions for other civilians, considering the right level of risk.

Long-term space missions will require the right equipment. Next: MJ’s research has begun on the critical virtual reality content for astronauts going to Mars. With risks and fears well-considered. The findings? What happens on the way to Mars may be useful to helping us here on Earth.

How did all this begin? It all started with a dream … followed at midlife.