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John Daley ReportingOne Utah family is following the shuttle story closely, as they wait to watch a close relative go up on the shuttle and set a milestone.
That astronaut's name is Lisa Nowak. Her maiden name is Caputo. She's a cousin of Tony Caputo, owner of a well-known market and deli in Salt Lake.
Of great pride to the family, she's the first female Italian-American to go into space.
Since they began flying off into space, a NASA launch is always news. But that's especially true today at the Caputo household, where Tony and his wife Mary intently follow the situation on TV.
Tony Caputo/ Cousin of Shuttle Astronaut: "I feel good about it obviously, just being a cousin. It's really kind of cool."
Tony is a second cousin to Lisa Nowak, the first female Italian-American to go into space. Other family members are in Florida for lift off. Tony is staying here, looking forward to hearing the stories.
"Can you imagine looking out the window at things like that? That would be great stories."
Lisa Nowak will have a key job, operating the shuttle's robotic arm.
This Discovery mission has been a bit tense so far, with some debate about whether the shuttle is ready to go back after Columbia disintegrated in 2003.
But Tony says his cousin was a Navy test pilot, and she and the rest of the crew know something about danger.
"Life's a crap shoot. You just hope it works out."
Tony says Lisa's trip to space is a proud moment for her family, especially considering Lisa's grandfather, Tony's uncle...
"Came here with absolutely nothing. Like hundreds and thousands and millions of other Americans. But his granddaughter could be in space tomorrow. That's a source of pride, probably should be for all of us."
On the list of meals she's scheduled to eat in space, there are no cold cuts from Tony's listed. Instead it's a fair bit of Mexican food, with chicken fajitas, tortillas, and chicken strips in salsa.
But Tony will be happy to know, also on this list is cheese tortellini, turkey tetrazzini and lasagna.
