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Astronaut alum talks about life on Space Station Mir
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Dr. Linenger shares his experiences in a new book.
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Space is often imagined as a serene place, but Jerry Linenger’s last mission put him face to face with electrical outages on the space station, failed oxygen generators, insufferable heat, a near collision with a cargo ship, loss of communication, and the most severe fire ever experienced on an orbiting spacecraft. Although
Linenger tends to dodge the spotlight, Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell convinced
him to write a book and share his unique stories. Now, Jerry Linenger, MD, PhD,
a WSU alum (’81), retired Navy doctor, United States astronaut and Mir
cosmonaut, has released his book, Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous
Months Aboard the Space Station Mir. It was first released in February, this
year, and is currently in its sixth printing. Dr. Linenger was the fourth of seven Americans to live on Mir, and the only one to write a book about the experience. He included everything he encountered, no matter how controversial, and chose to write the book himself so he would not be misquoted or misinterpreted. “I
wrote as honestly as I could,” he said. “I wanted it to be very personal:
what it feels like to be out there in space, what it feels like to be cut off,
live in isolation, all the human frailties that I had to deal with within
myself.” He
has since left the NASA space program and relocated to Suttons Bay in northern
Michigan, where he is enjoying some “peace and quiet.” That is surely
well-deserved after his 45 years of accomplishments. His degrees alone include:
a bachelor of science in bioscience from the U.S. Naval Academy; a medical
degree from Wayne State University; a master of science in systems management
from the University of Southern California; a master of public health in health
policy and doctor of philosophy in epidemiology, both from the University of
North Carolina. In
1994, Dr. Linenger made his first trip into space on the shuttle Discovery. Upon
his return, he spent time training in Star City, Russia, in preparation for his
mission on the Space Station Mir. While there, he served as chief scientist,
conducting the entire U.S. science program. He launched aboard the Space Shuttle
Atlantis, remained on Mir for 132 days, and returned to Earth on May 24, 1997.
With that mission, he became the first American to conduct a space walk from a
foreign space station in a non-American spacesuit. Dr. Linenger completed all
phases of his mission successfully, despite the overwhelming difficulties and
challenges. In an Associated Press story, Dr. Linenger said Mir’s equipment malfunctions and outdated technology reminded him of just how critically ill the space station was – “not unlike the triple-gunshot patients that I used to treat in the ER at Detroit General Hospital.” Dr. Linenger is still unsure about his next career move. “I had a really good first half,” he said. “Now I’m at half-time. I haven’t quite formulated my strategy for the second half.”
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To order your copy Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard
the Space Station Mir Signed copies available through Known Books (Suttons Bay,
MI) $24.95 plus $3.00 shipping
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