Canadian astronaut wrestles with gravity after spaceflight

[Buster's Uncle]

Canadian astronaut wrestles with gravity after spaceflight
By Irene Klotz | Reuters – Fri, May 17, 2013..

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield speaks on the phone after the Russian Soyuz space capsule landed some 150 km (90 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan, in central Kazakhstan May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Mikhail Metzel/Pool

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Back on Earth, Canadian astronaut and cyberspace tweeter Chris Hadfield is getting a rough re-introduction to gravity after a five-month stint aboard the International Space Station, the former commander told reporters during a video webcast from Houston.

Hadfield became a social media rock star with his zero-gravity version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and a continuous stream of commentary on Twitter about his life in orbit. But living without gravity for five months has left him feeling dizzy, weak and prematurely aged. A veteran of three space flights, he is wearing a pressure suit under his clothes to help his circulation as his body re-adapts to getting blood back to his brain.

"Without the constant pull-down of gravity, your body gets a whole new normal, and my body was quite happy living in space without gravity," Hadfield, 53, said in a video conference call with Canadian reporters on Thursday, three days after returning to Earth.

The video conference was posted on the Canadian Space Agency's UStream channel.

"Right after I landed I could feel the weight of my lips and tongue ... I hadn't realized that I had learned to talk with a weightless tongue," he said.

He is suffering overall body soreness, particularly in his neck and back which are again having to support his head after months in weightlessness.

"It feels like I played full-contact hockey, but it's getting better by the hour," Hadfield said. "The subtle things and the big things are taking some re-adaptation to get used to and they are coming back one by one."

Hadfield, who is the first from Canada to command a space station crew, NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko landed in Kazakhstan on Monday. He and Marshburn were then flown to Houston to begin rehabilitation.

As a departing finale Hadfield created a music video rendering of Bowie's classic "Space Oddity," which as of Friday had 13 million hits on YouTube.

Hadfield, who is the lead singer and bass guitarist in the all-astronaut rock band Max Q, said it is too early to think about what he will do next.

"For now, I'm still trying to stand up straight. I have to sit down in the shower so I don't faint and fall down, and I don't have calluses on the bottom of my feet yet, so I'm walking around like I walked on hot coals," he said.

It usually takes about three weeks until a returning astronaut can return to driving, according to the Canadian Space Agency.

"We're sort of tottering around like two old duffers in an old folks home," Hadfield said, referring to his crew mate Marshburn.

Hadfield's orbital odyssey ended with a parachute descent of their Soyuz space capsule onto the steppes of Kazakhstan.

"We hit the Earth just like a car crash, like we expected," Hadfield said. "There was enough wind so that we rolled up on our side. I was the guy hanging from the ceiling."

"Our first true sense of being home was a window full of the dirt of the Earth and the smell of spring and the growing grasses in Kazakhstan wafting in through the open hatch," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-astronaut-wrestles-gravity-spaceflight-155914826.html

[Buster's Uncle]

After Months in Space, Gravity's a Drag for Astronauts
By Megan Gannon | SPACE.com – Fri, May 24, 2013..

Astronauts (L to R) Kevin Ford, Tom Marshburn and Chris Hadfield take part in an online chat on the social media platform Google+, May 23, 2013.

 
Three astronauts who recently spent months together aboard the International Space Station reunited on Earth today (May 23) during a Google+ Hangout to talk about their experiences aboard the orbiting lab and the challenge of readapting to life with gravity.

"It's great to all be back together," said NASA astronaut Kevin Ford from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Ford, who returned to Earth on March 15 after a five-month mission, joined up with two of his Expedition 34 crewmates, Canada's Chris Hadfield and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, for the live video conference.

Hadfield and Marshburn came home just last week, and they talked about how it was difficult at first to their Earth legs back after spending five months floating. [Chris Hadfield's Most Memorable Moments in Orbit]

"There's this gigantic magnet that's sucking you and every part of your body into the ground," Marshburn said of the feeling he had when he touched down aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft on May 13.

"When we get to space, your body immediately starts to adapt to weightlessness," Hadfield added. "It starts turning you from an Earthling into a spaceling … But then when you come home, gravity just feels so unfair."

Hadfield's social media following skyrocketed while he was at the orbiting lab thanks to his Twitter updates, photos, and home movies that included David Bowie covers and cooking lessons. Though Hadfield once showed how to make a peanut butter and honey sandwich in microgravity, he said a real sandwich was one of the things he savored most upon his return.

"Living on the space station, the food is really good but there's no way to preserve the texture," Hadfield said. "It's sort of like eating the world's best baby food. It's nothing like a big, messy, crunchy sandwich."

Sandwiches aside, Hadfield takes his online presence seriously.

"I've been trying for 20 years to share the experience that we're trusted with of flying in space," the astronaut said. "This is an enrichment of the overall human experience … and we now have a way to make it interactive."

The same three astronauts held the first-ever Google+ Hangout in space back in February. This time around, Ford, Marshburn and Hadfield all highlighted the astounding range of research going on in the hundreds of experiments at the ISS, with some tests for tracking climate change on Earth and others aimed at making discoveries about the makeup of the universe.

The astronauts' own bodies are often testing grounds for experiments. With longer missions to other planets in mind, scientists and mission planners are very interested in knowing about the physiological effects of space. Hadfield pointed out that data from the space station astronauts could help scientists figure out what it will take for humans to acclimate to the gravity of Mars after spending months in weightless conditions.

They also discussed the international politics involved in the orbiting lab, as a handful of groups from the Model United Nations were participating in the hangout.

"I don’t think there's any turning back at this point in terms of international cooperation," Ford said. "Future major endeavors like this are going to be international endeavors … That will be a good legacy for the space station."

Hadfield highlighted the cooperation of the international crew during the emergency spacewalk on May 11 to try to fix a leak of ammonia, which cools down the orbiting lab's power systems.

"To me it was just a lovely little microcosm of how we all can be when we decide for whatever reasons to work together in a common direction," Hadfield said.

The International Space Station has been permanently staffed with rotating crews since 2000, when the first three-person team took up residence. Construction of the $100 billion orbiting laboratory began in 1998, with five different space agencies and 15 countries participating in its assembly.

As Hadfield and Marshburn acclimate to life on Earth, another NASA astronaut, Karen Nyberg, is counting down to her May 28 launch. She will head to the orbiting lab with European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin next week. They will join NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin as the crew of Expedition 36.

http://news.yahoo.com/months-space-gravitys-drag-astronauts-113854950.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Earth Living Is Tough for Astronaut Used to Space
By Elizabeth Howell | SPACE.com – Mon, Jun 3, 2013..

A technician performs an ultrasound of astronaut Chris Hadfield's spine, focusing on the vertebrae of his head and neck, a few days after Hadfield returned to Earth May 13, 2013.

 
In a few moments, astronaut Chris Hadfield changed from an orbiting Man of Steel-type to one who needs to heal from microgravity's effects.

Hadfield recently spoke of his Superman-like moments of strength during five months spent on the International Space Station: wielding refrigerators with his fingertips, or somersaulting with a simple tuck and turn.

Coming back to Earth, however, presented operational challenges for the Expedition 35 commander, Hadfield acknowledged in a press conference three days after his May 13 landing aboard a Russian spacecraft touching down in Kazakhstan. [Astronaut Chris Hadfield's 8 Most Amazing Space Moments]

"Right after I landed, I could feel the weight of my lips and tongue and I had to change how I was talking," Hadfield said in the press conference, which was broadcast on the Canadian Space Agency's website May 16. "I hadn't realized that I learned to talk with a weightless tongue."

Speech is one issue, but other health effects are more pressing for long-term orbiting astronauts. Bone density lessens at a rate of 1 percent a month. Muscle mass shrinks. Eyeball pressure changes, with roughly one-fifth of astronauts reporting vision issues.

Until about June 3, Hadfield will do an intensive battery of testing and recovery at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston before pursuing an independent physical rehabilitation program for a few months.

The data gathered during this period is crucial not only to ensure his health, but to add more information ahead of the one-year International Space Station crew missions NASA plans to begin in 2015.


'He's doing basically as expected'

Every day, Hadfield performs a couple of hours of medical tests. Some are scientific, to form part of larger studies about astronaut health. Some are more specific to his condition to ensure he is meeting recovery standards.

Several standard tests take place during the first few weeks of astronauts' return. For example, sometimes they'll stand on a neurodistibular platform that is tilted to test balance. MRIs and optical coherence tomography (infrared images of the retina and optic nerve) are done on their eyes to follow up on ultrasound testing in flight.

During this time Raffi Kuyumjian, the Canadian Space Agency's chief medical officer and Hadfield's personal flight surgeon, has been working closely with the astronaut. Kuyumjian, who normally works at the CSA's headquarters near Montreal, is spending three weeks at Johnson Space Center, where Hadfield is doing his rehabilitation. [Hadfield Hits: How To Shave In Space | Video]

"He's doing basically as expected in the aspects of balance, walking and strength," Kuyumjian told SPACE.com nine days after Hadfield landed. The major focus in the first few days was ensuring Hadfield's balance, blood flow and cardiovascular health, he said.

Notably, Hadfield's first press conference took place as he sat down. That's a custom NASA adopted for all astronauts after Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper briefly collapsed while standing during a press conference following shuttle mission STS-115 in 2001, Kuyumjian said. (It was a temporary problem associated with re-adapting to gravity.)

Hadfield had to adapt other Earthly activities to suit his condition, too. His first few showers took place while sitting in the bathtub. Under his clothing, Hadfield briefly sported a G-suit to make sure blood pressure got to his head.

The former flight pilot is also grounded from that most ordinary of human adult acts: driving. Hadfield and all long-duration spaceflight astronauts can't get behind the wheel until 21 days after landing.


Looking ahead to one-year flight

In 2015, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will visit the International Space Station for an entire year. A typical ISS stay is about five to six months.

Only four humans (all Russian) have ever ventured into space for a year or more, with Valery Polyakov holding the record at 437 days. A one-year spaceflight hasn't been attempted since the late 1990s, though, when the Russian Mir space station was still in orbit.

Kuyumjian said there will be changes to health monitoring practices during upcoming year-long spaceflights, but how long it will take Kelly and Kornienko to recover is not well known. Perhaps the effects of microgravity level off after six months spent in space, or perhaps they become more severe, he said.

Previous lengthy flights "were dedicated to the medical aspect," Kuyumjian said, adding that the Russians had no major long-term issues. The challenge on the ISS, however, is astronauts spend hours a day doing experiments outside of medicine, he added.

NASA, the CSA and other agency partners are in continual discussions about how to proceed. More frequent testing of eye pressure in orbit is on the table, and perhaps other accommodations as well.

Kuyumjian further predicted that the scientists and doctors would talk more regularly about their findings.

"There are some questions we need to answer, and for that mission, the collaboration between medical and science will be much closer than it is now," he said. "We will be sharing a lot of data back and forth to answer questions."

http://news.yahoo.com/earth-living-tough-astronaut-used-space-215149423.html

I suppose a centrifuge large enough for the crew to spend daily time in just isn't feasible for the ISS?  How about a tether and put the whole shebang under a little pseudo-G?  Still too much mass to boost up?  Probably more mass.  They probably partly want to leave well enough alone for the zero-G research, too.

[Unorthodox]

I'll say it again.  We need more astronauts like this guy. 

This isn't news.  This is just the standard.  But, his charisma is getting people talking again. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Definitely nothing new beyond Hadfield, yes.

[Buster's Uncle]

What's Next for Astronaut Chris Hadfield?
By Elizabeth Howell | SPACE.com – 7 hrs ago..

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, Expedition 34 flight engineer, floats freely in the Unity node of the International Space Station. Photo taken Dec. 31, 2012.

 
With star astronaut Chris Hadfield recently back on planet Earth after five months in orbit, many are wondering what he will do next.

Will Hadfield stay with the Canadian Space Agency? Bring his outreach skills to politics or business? Or do something different altogether?

"Chris will have people knocking on his door from every single possible area of work imaginable, and I'm sure that there are already probably 1,000 requests to come and speak," said three-time space shuttle flyer Marc Garneau, who became Canada's first astronaut in space in 1984.

"It'll be fun, but also tough for him to make a decision," Garneau said. "I have no idea what his plans are. We are very good friends, but I've never asked. It'll be interesting to see."

Hadfield's wife Helene Hadfield, speaking from Houston on May 14 just hours after her husband's landing, told SPACE.com that the subject of a post-flight career didn't come up in their hours of ground-to-space phone conversations.

"We're always thinking about the next step, but really, at this point, all I know is anything Chris does is always an adventure," she said. "No matter what he does, he really likes what he's doing. It'll grow organically, but right now all he's thinking about is this mission."


'It's like asking an infant if they're ready for their Ph.D.'

Hadfield's stay on the International Space Station ­— which included commanding the Expedition 35 mission — made headlines worldwide. The astronaut, in between running a productive science mission, found time to play mini-concerts, chat with celebrities from orbit, and post hundreds of pictures on Twitter.

Hadfield has shied away from talk about his future in the weeks since landing.

In a press conference three days after he returned to Earth, Hadfield told reporters he was too busy focusing on recovering from microgravity's effects to think about what to do after the mission.

"I'm trying to stand up straight, and I have to sit down in the shower so I don't faint and fall down," Hadfield said May 16. "It's like asking an infant if they're ready for their Ph.D. yet. I'll get there, but it's too early to say."

So far, Hadfield has debriefings and a few public appearances on his schedule, as well as extensive medical checkups. He's scheduled to play in a concert on July 1 — Canada's national holiday — on Parliament Hill in Canada's capital of Ottawa.

It's questionable that Hadfield would go to space again as a government astronaut, experts say. There are two rookie Canadian astronauts — Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques — who are in training and awaiting flights themselves.


Commercial direction unlikely at this time

Canada is only entitled to a small number of flights compared to the larger contributors to the space station: NASA, Roscosmos (Russia's space agency), the European Space Agency and JAXA (Japan's space agency).

Canada's "credits" for spaceflight come through its science and its robotics contributions to the station, CSA interim president Gilles Leclerc told SPACE.com in May. Canada's 2.3 percent utilization right of the orbiting laboratory entitles the country to a send another astronaut to space around 2018, but Leclerc said he is negotiating for an earlier date — perhaps 2016.

Commercial spaceflights might be possible for Hadfield, who is a former NORAD fighter pilot. In May, Virgin Galactic hired four-time space shuttle astronaut C.J. Sturckow to conduct flight training and testing with SpaceShipTwo, a suborbital spaceship under development.

Still, Helene Hadfield said it was premature to talk about her husband piloting a commercial ship.

"It's not the time to go into a commercial company," she said, citing the months of debriefing, rehabilitation, touring and other post-flight activities Hadfield faces. "Maybe in the future, but he's so happy [with the CSA]. He has nothing against that, but the timing is not really right for right now."


Contrast between space and politics

After his third spaceflight, Garneau, Canada's first astronaut, chose to leave space traveling for the management echelons of the Canadian Space Agency, where he later served as president for four years.

His reasoning for leaving was it would be a long wait for a fourth flight, Garneau told SPACE.com. Additionally, Garneau wanted to bring his young children, who had been living in Houston, back to Canada.

If Hadfield did turn to politics, Garneau — now a Montreal-area member of Parliament for Canada's Liberal party — pointed to a change between an astronaut's public persona and that of a politician.

As an astronaut, he said, "you're a fairly popular figure in the sense that people like to hear from astronauts and to hear about space."

Garneau, in fact, partially made a living as a speaker in between an unsuccessful attempt at winning a seat for the Liberals in 2006, and his successful election in 2008.

"But when you enter politics," Garneau added, "you identify yourself with a particular party, particular values, particular policies. At that point, you're open to being criticized by people."

Hadfield's next journey will be to Russia in early June, as the astronaut begins debriefings at various space agencies that contributed science to the mission.

http://news.yahoo.com/whats-next-astronaut-chris-hadfield-140041918.html

[Buster's Uncle]

Canadian Superstar Astronaut Hadfield Announces Retirement
By Elizabeth Howell | SPACE.com – 6 mins ago..

On June 10, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield announced his retirement from the Canadian Space Agency and government service. His resignation takes effect July 3.

 
Rock star astronaut Chris Hadfield, just returned from a five-month stint in orbit, will be hanging up his spacesuit for a new adventure, the Canadian spaceflyer announced today (June 10).

Hadfield, who picked up more than a million Twitter followers while commanding the International Space Station's Expedition 35 mission, announced June 10 that he will retire from the Canadian Space Agency.

"I've decided to retire from government service after 35 years of serving our country," said Hadfield, who began his career as an air cadet, progressed to military flying for entities such as NORAD, and then became an astronaut in 1992. He and two crewmates landed aboard a Russian spacecraft May 13 in Kazakhstan on their return trip from the space station.

The 53-year-old added that he did not want to be an obstacle for the two younger Canadian astronauts waiting for flights, David Saint-Jacques and Jeremy Hansen. Canada isn't expected to have a chance to send another crewmember to the station until at least 2016.

"I didn't say I don't want to do this anymore, but every one of us is going to retire. This is just a natural part of the process," Hadfield said during a Canadian Space Agency press conference today.

Hadfield will leave the agency July 3, two days after he performs a concert on Ottawa's Parliament Hill during Canada's national holiday (the astronaut moonlights as a musician, and even played weightless guitar on orbit). Afterward, Hadfield plans to move back to Canada (he currently lives in Houston, near NASA's astronaut office at the Johnson Space Center) and to take his time deciding what to do next.

In a radio interview this weekend, however, Hadfield hinted spaceflight may still be in the cards.


'I'm not sure the fat lady has sung'

Hadfield emphasized during the press conference that he has not formulated his plans yet. On a Canadian national radio program two days ago, however, he expressed interest in private commercial ventures.

In Hadfield's last decade as an astronaut, private firms such as Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, XCOR Aerospace and others began seriously developing and testing spacecraft of their own. Virgin's SpaceShipTwo could fly people to the edge of space this year or in 2014, as long as test flights continue to stay on pace.

"I'm not sure the fat lady has sung," Hadfield said of his spaceflying career on CBC Radio's Quirks & Quarks program June 8. But he said he would be "very surprised" if he could fly with the CSA again, given there are two younger astronauts waiting for spots. Commercial spaceflight, however, was a possibility, he added.

"With all the commercial spaceflight that's going on, who knows? John Glenn flew on a second flight when he was well into an advanced stage of his life," Hadfield said, referring to a space shuttle flight the Mercury program astronauttook at age 77. "We'll see what opportunities will come."

During today's press conference, Hadfield said his first priority will be physical and psychological recovery. It typically takes nine months for an astronaut returning from a five- to six-month station stay to feel normal again. Hadfield also said he doesn't want to make the mistake of trying to decide his next step too quickly.

For the near future, he anticipates some public appearances and continuing to work with students, as he did during several science chats and concerts from orbit.

"I've tried to live a life that makes sense, and has logical steps that will be interesting and productive, and so I don't try to make snap decisions," Hadfield said.


Social media success

Hadfield's primary considerations as Expedition 35 commander were the health and safety of his crew, as well as to ensure science was performed on the station, he has said. In all three counts, he succeeded.

Despite a tricky last-minute spacewalk to repair an ammonia leak, Hadfield's crewmates all returned to Earth eager to go back up again, he said. Their productivity in science experiments also set a record.

The three-time spaceflyer said this flight was different, however, as social media allowed him to easily reach audiences on Earth.

Hadfield took full advantage of the opportunity. He played several concerts from orbit, recorded more than 140 educational videos, took 45,000 pictures and conducted several press conferences and school chats. He launched Dec. 19 with 21,000 Twitter followers, and reached a million followers a few days ago.

Hadfield's work also received accolades from celebrities ranging from Star Trek's William Shatner to David Bowie, who endorsed a version of "Space Oddity" that Hadfield performed on the station.

"[My mission] included millions of people around the world," Hadfield said. "We as a combined force reached a level of public involvement and public interest which was unprecedented."

Hadfield said he is happy to leave the CSA under the helm of acting president Gilles Leclerc, and will move back to Canada to follow a promise made to his wife that they would return to their home country.

"My feet are getting used to the ground again, and we'll see," he said. "I'm interested to see, with my feet firmly planted back in Canada, what the future will bring."

http://news.yahoo.com/canadian-superstar-astronaut-hadfield-announces-retirement-201056059.html

[JarlWolf]

Hadfield makes me proud to be a mustached man.