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  • PHOTO PROVIDED Astronaut Doug Wheelock, left, Expedition 24 flight engineer and Expedition 25 commander, participates in a training session in an International Space Station mock-up/trainer in the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at NASA's Johnson Space Center. Crew trainer Curtis Kershner assisted Wheelock.

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  • PHOTO PROVIDED Backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, the International Space Station appears in this photo taken from the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

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Discussion

March 26, 2010

NASA astronaut lands in metro

Mark Schlachtenhaufen The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — For land-locked Edmond residents, the International Space Station seems far, far away. For Col. Douglas Wheelock, it’s part of his resumé and his future.

The NASA astronaut visited the metro, and was the featured speaker Thursday night during Oklahoma Christian University’s annual Associates Dinner. Wheelock, who will serve as commander of Expedition 25, spent some time with The Sun before the event at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

During the 1960s, the U.S. raced Russia to the moon, an epic era in space history which ended when astronaut Neil Armstrong made his famous footprint on the lunar surface in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969.

Today, NASA’s space shuttle program is about to end, but states including Oklahoma are pursuing spaceports and the International Space Station orbits the earth at an altitude of more than 200 miles, traveling at a speed of more than 5 miles per second, according to NASA. On a clear night, it is visible to the naked eye.

Almost as soon as the station was habitable, it was used to study the impact of microgravity and other space effects in relation to our daily lives. Fields of research have included human life sciences, biological science, human physiology, physical and materials science and Earth and space science.

Wheelock said his Oklahoma City audience would be full of successful people from all walks of life, and he would be speaking about the importance of encouraging youth to achieve their dreams.

“The truth of the matter is that we’re all just ordinary people,” Wheelock said, including astronauts like Armstrong. “You talk to any one one of those moonwalkers and they’d tell you the same thing. They just felt like an ordinary person.”

Many youth feel average, and for them to believe in themselves it sometimes takes someone else believing in them, Wheelock said. When he talks to youth, if he’s wearing his uniform, they know he accomplished something.

“What they want to know is, ‘Can I do something like this?’” Wheelock said.

He said he tries to encourage youth by telling them he is no different than they are. Wheelock attributed his successes in life to people who have believed in him, including the youth network at the independent Baptist church he attended, and his mother.

“She believed in me way before I believed in myself,” he said.

As for Wheelock, becoming an astronaut was a gradual process that included West Point, serving as an advanced weapons research and development engineer and test pilot.

“I just wanted to fly,” he said.

And he did. Wheelock is a dual-rated master Army aviator, and has logged more than 3,000 flight hours in 45 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft and spacecraft. He is also an FAA-rated commercial pilot in single and multi-engine land craft, rotorcraft and gliders.

Wheelock’s first encounter with space was aboard a space shuttle. His first task was to get out of his seat and photograph the external tank. He said he got out of his seat and took off his helmet and his gloves, which were floating in front of him.

“It was a feeling of euphoria,” he said. “It was just like nothing I have ever experienced before.”

In June, Wheelock is scheduled to launch on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and serve for six months in space as the commander of the International Space Station, and its six-person international crew, during Expedition 25.

In addition to hearing from  Wheelock, OC honored Lee Allan Smith for his outstanding community service. OC also unveiled the “Lee Allan Smith Spirit of Oklahoma Award,” to be given annually to individuals who have devoted themselves to the betterment of Oklahoma. Smith was the first recipient.

OC President Mike O’Neal said Smith has been an outspoken supporter of Oklahoma City and worked to improve the quality of life for all Oklahomans. Smith’s servant heart represents much of OC’s spirit, O’Neal said.



marks@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 108

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