After Sept. 13, you'll want to take a closer look at the International Space Station as it passes by in the night sky, because a Chanhassen NASA astronaut will be aboard.
Well, OK. Mark Vande Hei doesn't live in Chanhassen. But his parents Tom and Mary Vande Hei do.
Last Saturday, they proudly hosted a bon voyage party. He heads to the space station on Sept. 13, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. He'll be in space for five and a half months.
Before guests arrived, Vande Hei, 50, sat down to talk about his upcoming mission.
He flies to Russia on Saturday, Aug. 12, to prepare. Then Sept. 13, he and NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will launch to the space station aboard the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft.
Once there, they'll participate in scientific projects and experiments, and help with the operation and maintenance of the space station. He'll be living in zero gravity, bunking in a cubby about the size of a shower stall, and enjoying the greatest view of Earth from the cupola of the space station.
Vande Hei grew up in Plymouth, and is a Benilde-St. Margaret's School graduate. As a kid, he thought that being an astronaut "was cool," Vande Hei said. "You think of astronauts being super heroes, like Superman."
He graduated from St. John's University and was commissioned in the U.S. Army through ROTC. He was assigned to Italy, and later Iraq, as a combat engineer.
The Army sent him to Stanford University for a master's of science degree. In 1999, he became an assistant professor of physics at the United States Military Academy in West Point. It was there that Vande Hei switched his focus to space operations.
After a tour of duty in Iraq, he became a space operations officer. In 2006, he reported to Johnson Space Center as a capsule communicator in the Mission Control Center Houston. In 2008, NASA started asking for astronaut applicants with military backgrounds. His boss passed him an application.
"I thought that would be amazing, but the competition is so tough."
He credits his wife, Julie, for encouraging him.
"Mark, youve got to do it, otherwise youll never know," he recalled. "Without Julie, I may never have ever gotten off couch."
He passed NASA's thorough physical and a series of interviews and psychological testing, a process that winnows applicants down to 40 or 50 individuals.
Applicants undergo a round of interviews with a panel of up to 12 or 15 engineers, astronauts, flight directors and high-level managers from both Johnson and Kennedy space centers; if you're called back, the next round of interviews takes a week.
"The first interview " Vande Hei shook his head at the memory. "They said, 'Tell us about yourself.' Fifty-nine minutes later, I realized I had talked the whole time." But he made the cut, and paced himself. "I made the second interview more conversational."
Like any competitive situation, he and the other applicants would gather during their free time, comparing notes. "What questions did they askyou? You hear all the horror stories," Vande Hei said. "You don't know what questions they'll ask."
"By convincing myself I wouldnt get the job," Vande Hei said. "I looked at it as having a deluxe tourist pass into areas of NASA no other person would have an opportunity to see. I approached it with curiosity as opposed to 'My whole life rests on this entire hour,' especially if your dream was to become an astronaut."
He sees himself as enormously fortunate. When speaking to school kids, he's a little embarrassed admitting being an astronaut wasn't his No. 1 career goal.
"I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up," Vande Hei said. "But I kept saying yes to any opportunities that let me keep learning more."
Vande Hei was assigned to a mission in 2015, and has been in training for it ever since. He spends half his time in Russia and half in the U.S.
Training for his first flight into space has less to do with the physical effects of flight, but learning the instrument panel and controls that get you to the space station. Astronauts train in a space craft mock-up with full-scale models of the interior. Space walks are practiced underwater.
Astronauts conduct all types of science experiments during their time aboard the space station, using themselves as subjects for blood draws, muscle and bone density tests, and other physiological studies.
And they are trained as medics, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, and any other skill set necessary to ensure a well-run and maintained workshop and living quarters in the isolation of space. Vande Hei said they even learn dental procedures in the event an astronaut has a dental emergency.
It's a multi-team effort as all the training drills include the ground control team. "The space station is really flown by the ground crew," Vande Hei said, "and they become more and more important the farther we get from earth." Drills test not only the astronauts but even more crucially, mission control.
Earlier this year, Vande Hei had a raffle at his alma mater Benilde-St. Margaret's. He'll take the two winners' high school ID badges up to the space station with him, giving them bragging rights when he returns them in 2018. He plans on taking family photos with him that he'll shoot selfies with. And, of course, he'll have his wedding ring.
See the original post here:
To infinity and beyond: Chan couple's son heads to space station - SW News Media
- Fermi Telescope Caps First Year With Glimpse of Space-Time - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Antarctic Airborne Science Mission Nears Mid-Point - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Awards Education Research Grants to Minority Universities - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- New Celestial Map Gives Directions for GPS - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Invites Reporters to Tranquility Node Ceremony at Kennedy - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Happy Halloween - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA's Fermi Telescope Detects Gamma-Ray From "Star Factories" in Other Galaxies - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Announces Advisory Council Chairs and Committee Structure - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA and X Prize Announce Winners of Lunar Lander Challenge - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- MESSENGER Spacecraft Reveals More Hidden Territory on Mercury - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Successful Flight Through Enceladus Plume - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Education Secretary Hosts DC Students for Talk with Space Station - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Operation Ice Bridge Studies Antarctic Sea Ice - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA West Point Welcomes Home One of Their Heroes - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Spitzer Observes a Chaotic Planetary System - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- X-38 Crew Return Vehicle Finds New Home - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Frost-Covered Phoenix Lander Seen in Winter Images - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Have some faith He is doing his best - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The Cross - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Spring Bloom in New Zealand Waters - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Hubble image showcases star birth in M83, the Southern Pinwheel - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Take Me Out to the Ballpark - On Mars! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Poisk Poised for Live NASA TV Space Station Docking - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Ceremony Reset for ESA Handover of Tranquility to NASA - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- NASA Reproduces a Building Block of Life in Laboratory - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Now Online: Aeronautics Goes E-Book - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Water on the Moon, Drought on Earth: NASA Experts Available for Radio And Podcast Interviews During Major Science Meeting - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Launch of NASA's Wise Spacecraft Delayed Until Dec. 14 - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Connecticut Students Set for Cosmic Conversation with Space Station Commander - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Magnetic Dance of Titan and Saturn To Be Main Attraction during Flyby - December 12th, 2009 [December 12th, 2009]
- Hubble's Deepest View of Universe Unveils Never-Before-Seen Galaxies - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Earth's Moon - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- How do you Make a Helicopter Safer to Fly? You Crash One. - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Physicist Earns Title as Kennedy's Best - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Hubble Unveils Never-Before-Seen Galaxies - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Saturn's Mysterious Hexagon Emerges from Winter Darkness - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Fermi Sees Brightest-Ever Blazar Flare - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Magnetic Power Revealed in Gamma-Ray Burst Jet - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Just 5 Questions: Aerosols - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Hometown Heroes 2009: Astronaut & Terrible Towel Return to Pittsburgh - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Garver Honors Four for Saving the Life of a Fifth at NASA Langley - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Administrator Bolden Speaks at AAIA-WIA Luncheon - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Best (Meteor) Shower of 2009 - No Towel Required - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- NASA Making Government More Accessible With Cutting-Edge Use Of New Media - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Scarce Water, Our Quiet Sun and Space Rocks Among NASA News Highlights at American Geophysical Union Meeting - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Press Credentials Deadlines Set for Next Space Shuttle Flight - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Reddish Dust and Ice Migration Darken Saturn's Moon Iapetus - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Galaxy Collision Switches on Black Hole - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- I’m watching the launch of NASA’s WISE spacecraft - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- SOFIA Aloft - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Guide to the International Space Station Laboratory Racks Interactive - December 14th, 2009 [December 14th, 2009]
- Freezing WISE's Hydrogen - December 14th, 2009 [December 14th, 2009]
- Local High School Wins Invention Challenge - December 14th, 2009 [December 14th, 2009]
- WISE Ready to Soar Into Space - December 14th, 2009 [December 14th, 2009]
- NASA Data Reveal Major Groundwater Loss in California's Heartland - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- NASA Looks for Safer Icing Forecast For Pilots - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- Challenges of Living and Working Aboard the Space Station: NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott Available for TV Interviews - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- NASA Astronaut, Food Scientist Available for Interviews about Holiday Feasts in Space - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- NASA Launches Web Site for Teenagers That Want More Class - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- A Unique Geography -- and Soot and Dust -- Conspire Against Himalayan Glaciers - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- New Study Turns Up the Heat on Soot's Role in Himalayan Warming - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- NASA's WISE Eye on the Universe Begins All-Sky Survey Mission - December 15th, 2009 [December 15th, 2009]
- NASA Offers Sound Clips for Radio, Online Newscasters - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- NASA Gets Up-Close Look at Far Corner of the Globe - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Orion Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor Test-fired - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Hubble Finds Smallest Kuiper Belt Object Ever Seen - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- The Dark Side of Carbon - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- R97UYEA6HD8W - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- NASA's AIM Satellite and Models are Unlocking the Secrets of Mysterious "Night-Shining" Clouds - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Classroom Learning Takes Off with NASA-Funded Education Projects - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- NASA Buys Additional Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motors - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Searching for New Vaccines and Studying Butterflies in Space; NASA Offers TV Interviews about Latest Space Station Science Research - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- NASA Partners with Saudi Arabia on Moon and Asteroid Research - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- New Results from a Terra-ific Decade in Orbit - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Deposits in Martian Trough Point to Complex Hydrological Past - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- NASA Outlines Recent Greenhouse Gas Research - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Unexpected Wheel-Test Results - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Solar Storms and Radiation Exposure on Commercial Flights - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Global Digital Elevation Model - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]
- Hubble's Festive View of a Grand Star-Forming Region - December 17th, 2009 [December 17th, 2009]