Staring down from the Space Shuttle Columbia, astronaut Lawrence DeLucas, O.D., was mesmerized by peaceful planet Earth despite smoke trails emanating from the oil fires burning in Kuwait, a remnant of the Persian Gulf War.

 The only optometrist/astronaut has a hard time finding words to properly describe that scene from his research mission in 1992. It was strange to see those fires, because at the same time, the Earth looked so serene and peaceful, Dr. DeLucas says. You knew there was tension, yet you are looking at something so breathtaking and beautiful.

Optometry and outer space may seem worlds apart, but the combination provided a fortuitous common ground for this renowned researcher. Dr. DeLucas is the first to be featured in our new series, Out of the Office, in which we profile optometrists who lead fascinating lives outside their practices.

The Final Frontier
As a child, Dr. DeLucas didnt dream of refracting patients. Instead, this Star Trek fan built a telescope and studied the stars as a young boy.

He didnt become interested in optometry until a chance meeting on a basketball court at the University of Alabama, where he was a student. Although he was pursuing his Ph.D. in biochemistry, Dr. DeLucas wasnt sure if he would obtain one of the few staff positions in crystallography, his area of research.

During a pick-up game on the basketball court, an optometry professor told him that the college was recruiting graduate students to examine the structure of vision-related molecules.

So, as a backup career plan, Dr. DeLucas earned his Ph.D. and O.D. degrees jointly. That backup plan eventually became a passion for Dr. DeLucas.
Once I got my degree, I really loved optometry, Dr. DeLucas says.

Dr. DeLucas taught at UABs optometry school and attained several research grants to study proteins in diabetic retinopathy. His research helped in determining the structures for a protein called aldehyde reductase, similar to another protein implicated as a factor in diabetic cataract, retinopathy and neuropathy.

The Beginning
Just how does an optometrist go from watching Mister Spock and Captain Kirk to become a full-fledged astronaut?

The Marshall Space Flight Center was just a few miles from UAB. During the 1980s, NASA scientists met with UAB scientists to see if they were conducting any similar research.

They found a common ground in crystallography, Dr. DeLucas first love. Crystallography allows researchers to determine atom structures of protein molecules, which form crystals. After scientists analyze these crystals to learn how protein molecules are constructed, they input data into computers to create a map of the particular protein structure. This knowledge of how proteins work can lead to the production of new medications to fight disease. Crystals grow more slowly without gravity, so space provided a unique environment for this work.

Blast Off
After UAB and NASA decided to collaborate, Dr. DeLucas was determined to become part of a space mission. He recalls the first time he watched a NASA shuttle blast off from the launch pad in 1985, which reaffirmed his quest to fly in space.

You never realize what it sounds like when you are actually there; what it looks like with the ground shaking, Dr. DeLucas says. It brought tears to my eyes, and I dont cry at funerals. I turned to my wife, and said, Im going to do this.

Five years later, he was finally a candidate for a mission that required crewmen with medical and science backgrounds. It was very important that I had my combined degree to be in the running, he says.

He thought he had a good chance of being selected until a basketball game nearly derailed his dreams. As he went in for a rebound, a player accidentally ran into him. The result was a detached retina. I thought, That does it; Ill never get selected, he says.

 Dr. DeLucas was treated for his injury, but he still had to pass a required eye exam to be selected for the mission. I walked in and told the optometrist, Look, I had a detached retina, but its OK, he says. The optometrist looked at me and said, You dont have to worry. I am an optometrist and we are getting you on there.

Dr. DeLucas retinal injury had indeed healed. He passed the exam, and was approved for the mission.

Still, the work was far from over. To get in tiptop condition, he first had to go through grueling physical tests that rival Marine boot camp. From 5:30 a.m. until 10 p.m., Dr. DeLucas rappelled off the top of the shuttle, parachuted, drove a tank, rode in the centrifuge, and underwent training in fire fighting and water survival. He also jogged five miles a day.

Mission Accomplished
Finally, in 1992, the training was over and it was time to blast off. As the shuttle roared off the launch pad, Dr. DeLucas said the sheer wall of sound was  tremendous for the first 34 seconds. Suddenly the engines became very quiet. For a brief moment, Dr. DeLucas was afraid the quiet meant something was very wrong, until he realized the shuttle had at that very second accelerated past the sound barrier.

The seven crewmembers pose during training in the Microgravity Laboratory. Positioned above the American flag is Kenneth Bowersox; second row, left to right: Dr. DeLucas, Richard Richards, Bonnie Dunbar; front row left to right: Carl Meade, Ellen Baker and Eugene Trinh. Top photo: The seven member crew en route to board the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Aboard the Columbia, Dr. DeLucas did more than stare at the stars. He conducted combustion experiments, life science research, crystal growth and fluid wetting experiments. NASA designed a retinal scope with a video downlink for Dr. DeLucas to examine his crew members retinas. In micro-gravity, fluids shift upward and retinal vessels become engorged with blood, a phenomenon he viewed in his crewmembers eyes. After 14 days in space, the shuttle landed safely on earth. Dr. DeLucas was named chief scientist for the international space station at NASA headquarters between 1994-1995. In 1997 he received NASAs public service medal for contributions to biotechnical and protein crystal growth research.
This excitement gave way to sadness on February 1, when the  Columbia crashed killing all seven crewmembers on board. That day hit especially close to home for Dr. DeLucas because he knew all the astronauts on the mission. Also, he lost more than 1,000 experiments that were on the doomed shuttle.  

The 52-year-old former astronaut today is the director of the Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering at UAB. When hes not studying crystal growth, this husband and father of three works on his bowling arm and trains the familys six dogs for competition.

And, he just got a new telescope so he can still look at the stars.