MONTREAL - She's been through it all once before, but watching her Canadian astronaut husband Dave Williams blast off into space a second time won't be any easier for Cathy Fraser.
Fraser, caught up in the planning and protocol that comes with being the wife of an astronaut readying for launch, says focusing on the positive is key for herself and their two children.
Williams, 53, will be part of the crew on space shuttle Endeavour, which is now scheduled for liftoff on Wednesday.
The Saskatoon-born Williams is expected to break a Canadian record by spending 19 hours floating outside the space station as he does assembly and repair work.
The work will be spread out over three separate spacewalks.
One would think the prospect of setting a Canadian record would be an intriguing accomplishment but the low-key Williams hasn't let it get in the way of the task at hand.
Nor has his family.
"We feel very fortunate to be this close to it," Fraser, an Air Canada pilot, said in a recent interview from Houston.
"I won't say it's not novel because we recognize the uniqueness of it. The record itself is secondary to the work he has to do so he's focused on that right now."
Fraser says their children, Evan, 12, and Olivia, 9, have talked about the walks but they take on a different significance since they live in a community dominated by NASA employees, where at least a dozen school chums have parents who've been to space.
Williams has been in space once before, spending 16 days on the shuttle Columbia in 1998. His children were too young to remember then, but have a firm grasp now on what their dad will be doing.
"Around here, it (a spacewalk) is pretty routine and we're surrounded by people who have actually done that sort of thing," Fraser says with a laugh."
"It's a little different, it's a little bit more routine for them than you'd expect."
The kids have been caught up in the pre-launch hype, checking out simulators and watching their father train for a gruelling two weeks in space.
"They see (other) parents go off to space and come back two weeks later and all the hoopla that goes with it," said Fraser.
The items Williams will take into space include a CD of his daughter playing a piano version of one of his favourite songs, "It's a Wonderful World" which he said he'll listen to as he looks down at Earth.
"When I was in space the last time, being able to orbit the Earth listening to Louis Armstrong was quite a moving experience," Williams said during a recent conference call with the other Endeavour crew members.
During his two weeks in space, the seldom-used television set at the Williams home will be tuned to NASA television. The family will watch his spacewalks from mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.
But while not in orbit, Williams is grounded by his family life, says his wife of 21 years.
"He make conscious choices to not necessarily do as much media, to not travel as much," she said. "There are a lot of demands on him and he really tries to balance that."
