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NASA Astronaut Gives Personal Account of Shuttle Mission during Visit to Trinity

By Chris Caudill ’13

Astronaut Michael Foreman visits a science class on the Trinity campus

November 2009– Astronaut and aerospace engineer Michael Foreman visited the Trinity campus on Oct. 12, sharing details of his NASA excursions, including a recent mission to the International Space Station. Speaking at Chapman Auditorium, the Columbus, Ohio, native gave an entertaining hour-long speech that included a video detailing a 16-day, six-and-a-half million mile space voyage to the space station in March 2008. He also detailed various parts of the space station and explained the undertakings of being an aeronautical engineer.

A graduate of the Naval Academy, Mr. Foreman earned both a graduate and bachelor degree in aerospace engineering and later became a test pilot for the United States Navy. After more than 16 years of piloting, he began his career with NASA in 1998. He first served as liaison between the Johnson and Kennedy space centers, and was eventually selected for his first spacewalk in 2006. His son, Jack, is a junior at Trinity.

Mr. Foreman’s first mission, STS-123, transferred modules to both Canadian and Japanese parts of the station, and during the excursion, the seven-member crew also successfully repaired numerous pieces of hardware attached to the station. Mr. Foreman detailed the feeling of being in zero gravity for over two weeks, likening it to being submerged in water, and he joked that sleeping for the first night was a problem because, “There’s no pillow. You just crawl into a sleeping bag attached to the wall.”

After his presentation, Mr. Foreman answered about a dozen audience questions, ranging from how his family life is affected when he is in space to where the space program is heading in the near future. He did not directly address the reported elimination of the human piloted space shuttle program next year, but simply said that humans are necessary in continuing the success of the space program. He also gave some hope to prospective Trinity astronauts, explaining that “[NASA] takes people with all types of skills.” Mr. Foreman will be embarking on his second mission in roughly one month, on STS-129.

Watch NASA video of Michael Foreman on recent mission to the International Space Station.

Chris Caudill is a first-year student from Lexington, Va. He is undecided on a major.