DISCOVERY’S
June 2, 2008—The mission of Space Shuttle Discovery is underway to deliver the billion dollar lab module for
Foale’s flight on STS-45 led to cardinal rule # 1 for life in weightlessness—fight the urge to play “Superman”. Foale recalls how he and his colleagues would push off too hard while floating in space to imitate the caped super hero. The result was smashing into walls with enough force to leave bruises that were felt a week after entering orbit.
Cardinal rule #2—Keep your arms up. Foale says even seasoned Astronauts have to remind themselves to keep their arms up and out while floating around. Gravity on Earth, he says, pulls your arms down, so Astronauts need to fight that urge in orbit.
Cardinal rule #3—Keep your head back. Again, Foale says, gravity pulls your head down toward your chest. Keeping your head back while in space, he says, allows Astronauts to keep their windpipes better open for easier breathing, and less neck strain. The rookies aboard Space Shuttle Discovery may be putting similar guidelines to use.
On a separate issue, many thanks to all who took time away from their Memorial Day barbeques to take a look at the YouTube clip of an interview I did about “Final Countdown” on UCF-TV’s “Expressions” program. If you’d like to have a look, here’s the link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_lMXGFtFA
More to come... |
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Mike Foale’s rookie mission was on STS-45 to study the atmosphere in 1992. He went onto make the first rendezvous mission between the Space Shuttle and the Russia MIR Space Station, worked aboard MIR as a long-term crewmember, and commanded an expedition aboard the International Space Station. That hard won experience came, naturally after first-timer mistakes.