There are two things one can’t help but notice when one gets to know the astronaut Steven Roy Swanson, who has been in outer space 3 times: his modesty and his love of Steamboat Springs, Colorado where he lives with his family. When he talked recently to an audience at the Steamboat Springs’ Bud Werner Library, he showed selfies floating in the ship in outer space while playing with a foam ball, talked about fixing a poorly functioning toilet on the space ship, and patiently favored the questions of the children in the audience.
This past spring, when he gave the commencement speech to the graduating class of Steamboat’s Colorado Mountain College, he conveyed humor and gave upbeat advice. Never once did he reveal that on his most recent mission, which lasted five and a half months he was the expedition‘s space station commander. The commander handles all emergencies, any conflicts aboard, discusses individual issues, and is the conduit to Mission Control in Houston, Texas. Sometimes Mission Control, not being in outer space, has a different view of a problem than the astronauts.
At the moment Swanson is at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas using his experience in space to suggest improvements to the various on-the-ground methods of training astronauts for space, one of which is the all important space walk training. Steven says, “I am also suggesting improvements to life in outer space. Thanks to email and other technology we have good access to our families while in outer space. What we lack is good food. What we get now is not only bland but the same menu over and over again. Eating is a break from work and a social time. Food should taste good. This will be especially important when we send people into space for a three year period.”
Swanson observes that one requires a certain type of personality to be a well functioning astronaut. Obviously one needs to be able to tolerate a confined space. Training might include spending two weeks in
From Denver:
Astronaut Steven Roy Swanson
by Edith Lynn Beer