Astronaut Mike Foale: A Real Space Case

Mike Foale

Profession: Astronaut

Claim to fame: Holds the U.S. record for time spent in space

Over six missions, Mike Foale has logged 374 days, 11 hours, and 19 minutes in space, including four and a half months on the Russian space station Mir and six and a half months on the International Space Station (ISS). As a mission specialist, flight engineer, and expedition commander, Foale has worked under extreme and dangerous conditions and was on board Mir when a fire broke out and also when it was struck by a resupply ship, which depressurized the station and put it into a spin. He now works closer to home, in the control room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

DS: Did you experience culture shock?

MF: The space station is not what you expect it to be. On Mir, it was dark but cheerful, with loud music and the smells of food. It was very much like coming into a bizarre restaurant. Mir felt lived-in and welcoming. The ISS was much brighter and less cluttered.

Did you follow world events?

You learn a lot about the countries you're flying over. I'd use an encyclopedia and an atlas all the time. It bothered me to see the Iraq war unfolding beneath me. I didn't like seeing Iraq covered by a black cloud from oil fires.

What's the end of a mission like?

On Mir, when a crew arrives to take you home, it's all new faces. You've been in a remote place and this band of travelers comes by and it's very jolly. Coming back from the ISS, a crew arrives, but it's the crew that takes over your job when you leave. You're always thinking, "What do I need to tell them?"

And returning home?

After landing, guys outside with rough voices shout at each other to open up the hatch. Next thing, they look down at you and smile and say, "Okay, get yourself out." You've gone from isolation to hundreds of people around you. Then you see your family. On the Mir, my son started to talk while I was gone. You have to get used to your wife again—she's slightly different. No one knows quite what to say. After a night's sleep, you kind of feel like you're back to normal. You go down the hall and say, "Hey, let's go to breakfast."

Do you get homesick for space?

No. I took great care to photograph things and videotape things that I would always want to remember. Those remind me of it very much—but it doesn't make me want to be there.

Will you ever return?

Maybe in 2011 or 2012. I still follow space station space walks—I work with the flight control team that helps lead the crew through their activities. I enjoy that a lot. We're a big team and it's fun to be part of that team on the ground.

Did you prefer Mir or the ISS?

I had more fun on Mir, because there were three of us, even though we had a collision, a fire, a depressurization. We could laugh about some of the bad things that happened. I'm against two-person crews in general. It's a tough deal. The ups and downs in a space flight are pretty exaggerated because of the importance of what you're doing, and you can't get away from each other. And you can't be flippant. I need to be flippant sometimes.