Atlantis Astronaut Wobbly During Ceremony

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper found out the hard way... recovery from space flight, even a relatively short one, is harder than it may seem.

Stefanyshyn-Piper collapsed twice during a welcome-home ceremony at Ellington Field in Houston Friday. She was to be the second to last speaker of the six astronauts from the crew, but according to ABC News, appeared confused before her knees buckled while at the podium.

Her fellow astronauts caught her before she fell, then helped her sit down. Stefanyshyn-Piper, gamely determined to give her speech, got up and continued to applause from the crowd.

She said, "Boy, if that's not a little embarrassing."

But, once again, her wobbly legs got the better of her and her crewmates helped sit before a pair of NASA officials helped her leave through a side door.

Stefanyshyn-Piper and her crew returned Thursday after a dazzling display of professionalism during STS-115. The crew completed three grueling space walks installing massive trusses weighing 17 1/2 tons that support new solar panels for the ISS.

Stefanyshyn-Piper was involved in two of the space walks as a mission specialist and 'cosmic electrician.' She is one of only six other US and one Russian women that have orbited the earth outside a spacecraft.

Anousheh Ansari is currently aboard the ISS conducting physiological experiments designed by the European Space Agency to help better understand the effects of space flight on the human body.

One thing we know for sure... it makes you tired!

Keep your chin up Heidemarie -- after a mission like that, you've no reason to be embarrassed.

FMI: www.nasa.gov