Atlantis astronaut Mike Fossum isn\u2019t going to the moon, at least not yet, but is headed to the International Space Station, where he\u2019ll get to walk in space. <\/p>\n
One of just 321 men and women in the history of the U.S. space program to become astronauts, Fossum now is training for his 12-day mission on STS-121. The launch is scheduled for Sept. 9 \u2013 currently down in the media\u2019s attention span, as sister ship Discovery prepares for launch.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI was 12 when we landed on the moon. I thought it was the greatest thing,\u201d said Fossum, who\u2019s now 47. \u201cI wanted to do that some day.\u201d<\/font> <\/font> STS-121 would get an unexpected jump in the schedule \u2013 should anything major go wrong with Discovery \u2013 with Atlantis moving to STS-300, a rescue mission \u2013 as per requirement of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CIAB).<\/p>\n Fossum will make three space walks during the mission. One job for him will be inspecting Atlantis\u2019 tiles and wings. He also will attempt to use new materials and techniques to repair damaged tiles the crew is taking along, an experiment to see whether crew members would be able to make shuttle repairs if needed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to make repairs in a laboratory environment. It\u2019s another to roll up your sleeves in a big, bulky space suit and do it right,\u201d Fossum said. \u201cIt\u2019s like trying to repair plaster in sheetrock while wearing all of your winter clothes while standing on ice.\u201d<\/p>\n The Atlantis flight will be only the second in the shuttle program since the Columbia disaster of Feb, 1, 2003. NASA has set a launch date of July 13 for the first flight, and Shuttle Discovery is already on the launch pad.<\/p>\n The Atlantis mission originally was targeted for last November, but was pushed back as NASA finished its process to ensure the shuttle flight is as safe as possible. Although Fossum is eager to fly, he doesn\u2019t mind the delay.<\/p>\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t bother us a bit,\u201d Fossum said. \u201cNobody wants to fly until everything\u2019s ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Fossum, accepted into NASA\u2019s astronaut program in 1998, and the other six crew members started hard-core training in January 2004. During a typical week at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, he spends 10 hours one day practicing launches and landings in a space simulator. Mission Control members sit in the control center, just as they would be during a real mission, and throw problems at the crew.<\/font> <\/font> Fossum, who was born in Sioux Falls, will have a large contingency of South Dakota relatives at Cape Canaveral watching the launch. Although his family moved to Texas when he was 4, he has uncles, aunts and cousins living in South Dakota.<\/p>\n Uncle Carroll Fossum of Canton is eager for the trip to Florida to watch the Atlantis carry his nephew into space.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really proud. When he was accepted into the program, we were really happy,\u201d said Carroll Fossum, 71. \u201cI\u2019ve just seen launches on TV. It will be nice to see this one.\u201d<\/p>\n Carroll\u2019s wife, Vivian, said it will be thrilling to see her nephew reach his goal.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s wonderful for us but also wonderful for the country. We need something to rally around,\u201d she said. \u201cMike wanted to do this always. Isn\u2019t that every little boy\u2019s dream?\u201d<\/p>\n Vivian Fossum said she is determined that her 7-year-old grandson, Christian, be a part of the group that watches the launch. Maybe, some year, he\u2019ll follow in his uncle\u2019s space steps.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s on his agenda, this week \u2013 becoming an astronaut,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Although Mike Fossum is a member of an elite group to reach astronaut status, his relatives say he\u2019s a grown-up version of the normal kid who spent many summer weeks camping with cousins Jim and Jeff beside a creek bed in his uncle Ken\u2019s pastures. He hasn\u2019t forgotten his roots. \u201cHe\u2019s just a regular guy when he comes back to visit,\u201d Carroll Fossum said.<\/p>\n There was a time when Fossum almost let his dream die.<\/p>\n He studied engineering at Texas A&M University, then received a commission in the U.S. Air Force. After completing his graduate work at the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1981, he got his first break when he was detailed to NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center where he supported space shuttle flight operations.<\/p>\n \u201cI had completely forgotten about my dream. Then I was loaned over to NASA and realized it could come true. I got to work with some of the astronauts and realized they aren\u2019t that much different than me,\u201d Fossum said. \u201cThat kind of awakened the dream in me and motivated me to try harder. Don\u2019t believe you have limits. I did and I about forgot. I gave up on my dream until I was lucky to be in a situation where it was achievable. Don\u2019t be afraid to work hard and go for it.\u201d \u201cI consider myself a very normal person,\u201d he said. \u201cNobody I grew up with thought, \u2018Gee, he\u2019s going to be an astronaut someday.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n One week before launch, the crew will enter quarantine in Houston. Four days before the launch, they\u2019ll be moved to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n On launch day, the astronauts will strap into seats much like an airliner\u2019s. They will lie on their backs for the launch with knees pointed upward.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a strange sensation,\u201d Fossum said. \u201cIt\u2019s very disorienting.\u201d<\/p>\n At full throttle, they\u2019ll experience up to three G-forces, essentially a stress on the body three times greater than the acceleration of gravity.<\/p>\n Astronauts also will have to be in a lying position on the return trip because the body loses its ability to control blood pressure after an extended time on the space station.<\/p>\n Once Atlantis goes into orbit and the main engines shut off, Fossum will jump out of his seat and get busy with his responsibilities.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen that\u2019s complete, I will probably look out the window and say, \u2018I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m here. Thank you Lord,\u2019 \u201d he said.<\/font> <\/font> The crew will deliver spare parts, supplies and an additional crew member to the space station. One of the primary assignments will be to test all the changes made since the Columbia disaster.<\/p>\n That shuttle\u2019s left wing was damaged during liftoff in January 2003 when a large chunk of fuel-tank insulating foam broke off and struck it. That caused the shuttle to break apart during re-entry two weeks later, killing all seven astronauts.<\/p>\n Fossum hopes this mission will be the first of several for him. Astronauts typically are limited to three or four space missions because of the number young astronauts eager for their turns to fly.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, I don\u2019t really harbor any hopes of going four times,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope to go on a couple.\u201d<\/p>\n If one of those should involve an extended tour on the space station \u2013 where Fossum helped persuade NASA to add an observation window \u2013 that would be all the better.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would be incredible, not to be up there for a sprint,\u201d he said. \u201cA space station tour is more of a marathon.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the chances he could one day set foot on the moon, Fossum said it\u2019s a possibility. But it would not happen for many years, and it wouldn\u2019t involve a space shuttle.<\/p>\n Plans call for the shuttle to be phased out in 2010. Work is in progress to develop the next generation of spacecraft, called the Crew Exploration Vehicle.<\/p>\n President Bush last year outlined a vision for space exploration that laid groundwork to return to the moon, as well as Mars. Fossum said it\u2019s just a matter of time before mankind sets foot on Mars.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I just pray there\u2019s an American flag on his shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n A mission to Mars will be a big challenge compared to the moon, which is about three days away.<\/p>\n \u201cThe moon is still close enough you can get out of Dodge and still get home in a relative hurry if you need to,\u201d Fossum said. \u201cMars is about an eight-month journey. We need to learn a bit more. That\u2019s really 20 years away, beyond my flying career. My kids are really dreaming about it.\u201d<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Atlantis astronaut Mike Fossum isn\u2019t going to the moon, at least not yet, but is headed to the International Space Station, where he\u2019ll get to walk in space. One of just 321 men and women in the history of the U.S. space program to become astronauts, Fossum now is training for his 12-day mission on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42353"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/font> Fossum was selected for Air Force Test Pilot School and graduated at the top of his class in 1985. He then served as an Air Force flight test engineer and manager. He resigned from active duty in 1992 and went to work for NASA as a systems engineer. Six years later, he was selected to become an astronaut.<\/p>\n