  urlLink Houston Family - HOUSTON - Parenthood.com - Houston Moms in High-Profile Jobs Balance Work and Family Issues Daily : "Being away from home is the hardest part, says Nowak, who has been an astronaut for seven years and a naval officer for 18. Travel is an essential part of her profession, and Nowak says she has made quite a few trips to Russia, Canada and Japan -- some trips lasting several weeks.
We go to these places to work with our international partners on space station issues, see the hardware they're building and participate in training, Nowak says. We also do a lot of domestic travel. To make things a little more complicated, Nowak's husband, Richard, is a flight controller in Mission Control for the International Space Station.
During one of her technical job assignments, which lasted three years, Nowak also worked in Mission Control as a CAPCOM, which once stood for Capsule Communicator an astronaut who talks directly with the crew orbiting in space in real time. We both had to work three- to seven-day shifts with unusual hours evenings and overnight -- and had to make sure we never got assigned at the same time so that someone was home with the kids, Nowak says. " 
