NASA astronauts assess USAF Water Survival Course

Published April 21, 2016
By Airman 1st Class Taylor Bourgeous
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Five team members from NASA visited Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, April 18-20 to assess the USAF Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Water Survival Course.

"Right now we are here to evaluate the possibility of sending more astronauts to Fairchild in the future," said Michael Fincke, NASA astronaut.

NASA's developing a new rocket that will have a capsule called the "Orion", whose reentry into the Earth's atmosphere will likely involve landing in the ocean. The last time a crew returning from space has done a water landing was in 1975.

"Since Orion's main way of landing is to land in the ocean, we need to have our crews trained to have a water landing and how to prepare and interact with the people who are going to be rescuing them," Fincke said. "Sometimes it will be expected and sometimes it won't, the [S.E.R.E. Water Survival Course] is a great way for us to train for these situations."

In addition to the water survival training, the astronauts also visited Michael Anderson Elementary School on base to speak with students. The school is named after Michael P. Anderson, an astronaut from Spokane, Wash. who perished on the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.

Visiting the school named after his friend was an opportunity Fincke said was one he couldn't pass up.

"I knew Anderson from when he was in the class right before me," Fincke said. "We talked about a lot of things, like how to do space walks. He was a really good friend of mine."

There are many iconic names you hear when growing up, Michael Anderson was one of them to Maj. Anne McClain, NASA astronaut and Spokane native. I am really honored to be a part of NASA and visit the school named after him, she said.

"There is a reason why we got on a plane and flew here: it is because of the facilities and the people who conduct this training are the best in the world," concluded McClain. "We are very grateful to have received the training from the experts and we look forward to hopefully continuing this relationship."

The astronauts who visited Fairchild are:

Michael Fincke, Col. USAF Ret. - Fincke served as the NASA space station science officer and flight engineer on Expedition 9 from April 18 to October 23, 2004. He spent six months aboard the station, continuing science operations, maintaining station systems and performing four spacewalks.

He also served as the Commander of Expedition 18 from October 12, 2008 to April 8, 2009. His three-person crew helped prepare the station for future six-person crews and hosted the space shuttle crews of STS-126 and STS-119.

Fincke then served as mission specialist 1 on the flight deck on the STS-134 from May 16 to June 1, 2011. He was one of the spacewalkers and a robotic arm operator. The crew delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector, to the International Space Station.

Dr. Michael Barratt, NASA Astronaut - Dr. Barratt launched as a flight engineer on Soyuz TMA-14 from March 26, 2009 to October 11, 2009, and served as a member of Expeditions 19 and 20. He performed two EVAs in the Russian Orlan suit and participated in further station construction and onboard experiments.

Barratt also served as Mission Specialist on STS-133 from February 24 to March 9, 2011. This was the 39th and final mission for Space Shuttle Discovery, for which he was lead for Rendezvous and Station Robotics.

Anne McClain, Major, U.S. Army - McClain was selected in June 2013 as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. Her Astronaut Candidate Training included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in International Space Station systems, Extravehicular Activity, robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. She completed astronaut candidate training in July 2015, and is now qualified for future assignment.

Also in attendance from NASA were:
Lt. Col. Chas Tacheny, NASA Human Space Flight Support-Houston, Chief
Cody Kelly, NASA Engineer

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