Living My Dream: An Astronaut's Tale

With OLLI at TTU, Fredericksburg

By Daniel Johnson, Section Manager

On Oct. 14, OLLI at TTU, Fredericksburg held a course that was out of this world. There was not an empty seat in the room as close to 100 OLLI members and non-members had the pleasure of hearing a presentation from NASA astronaut, Shane Kimbrough.

"I had never seen that many people at an OLLI presentation before!" said OLLI at TTU director Shelby Crews. "What a unique experience to be able to hear from an active U.S. Astronaut about his experiences living and working in space. This is the kind of presentation that everyone should hear, and I am so glad that our OLLI group in Fredericksburg was fortunate enough to have him present."

Kimbrough was a pilot during Operation Desert Storm, where he joined the NASA team at the Johnson Space Center in September 2000. He was later selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 2004. He was part of the first group of candidates selected for NASA training following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In 2008, he completed his first spaceflight on STS-126, Space Shuttle Endeavour, where he spent 16 days on the mission to expand the crew living quarters to accommodate a six-member crew.

In 2016, Kimbrough again launched to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Expedition 49/50 mission where he served as commander of the ISS for almost six months. During Expedition 50, Kimbrough completed four spacewalks for a total of 39 hours outside the ISS and concluded his 173-day mission when he landed in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan in April 2017. He now has a total of six spacewalks, and 189 days in space.

Kimbrough spoke for over an hour about his journey from Army officer to NASA astronaut. He conveyed his experiences living on the International Space Station and a number of spacewalks. He explained his astronaut training leading up to his mission, most of which took place in Russia, since it is the only nation with an active shuttle program after NASA retired its space shuttle program in 2011. He spoke about some of the language and cultural barriers he encountered and the experiences working with the two other Russian astronauts that made up his three-person expedition.

After a brief introduction to his background and training, Kimbrough presented a slideshow of images mostly taken by him from the space center. He revealed each image and described them one by one. He also spoke about some of the testing, research, and jobs he worked to complete each day, some of which included his extravehicular activity (EVAs) outside of the spacecraft. During one EVA, they installed three new adapter plates and hooked up electrical connectors preparing the way to replace the ISS batteries. The testing and research done onboard are experiments executed in microgravity under the rigors of the space environment. Scientists have used the space station for everything from testing technology for future space exploration to studying human health.

To complete his presentation, Kimbrough took the time to answer questions from those in attendance about his time spent in space. Some questions included what he did during his time off from work in space to what changes space would do to his mind and body. For days off he answered that the team normally had Sundays off, and he spent his time watching sports that they would stream to the ISS, or contacting friends and family back home.

"Everyone wanted an email or call to say they received it from space," said Kimbrough.

He also took up photography since the views in space were something few have ever seen. Kimbrough and the other astronauts also spent many hours exercising using the specialized workout equipment. Since the lack of gravity in space does not allow one to sit, stand or walk for a number of months, exercise was an important part of their daily routine to prevent bone and muscle loss.

After his presentation, Kimbrough made sure to speak and shake hands with almost everyone in attendance. He also posed for selfies with anyone who asked. This OLLI course truly was a blast!