Everything about Michael Foale totally explained
Colin Michael Foale,
CBE,
PhD, (born
6 January 1957) is an
Anglo-
American astrophysicist and a
NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six
space shuttle missions and extended stays on both
Mir and the
International Space Station. He was the first Briton to perform a space walk, and held the record until
17 April 2008 (when
Expedition 16 commander
Peggy Whitson exceeded Foale's record), for most time spent in space by a UK and US citizen: 374 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes.
Biography
Born in
Louth to English father Colin and an American mother, he was raised in
Cambridge and educated at
The King's School, Canterbury. A member of the
Air Training Corps, he studied at
Queens' College,
Cambridge, receiving a
doctorate in laboratory astrophysics in 1982. When he left university he:
"owned two pairs of jeans, a donkey jacket, a bicycle and a pilot’s licence; which shows I'd my priorities absolutely right.”
Foale joined the mission operations division of
NASA in 1983 aged 24, working on the shuttles navigation system. Having gained
dual-UK/US citizenship, he applied and was turned down twice as an astronaut candidate. After the
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986, Foale changed his application
essay from writing about his dreams to focusing on the realities of leadership faced by NASA, and was selected in
1987. an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the
University of Kent in September 2000; and a
CBE in the diplomatic list of the
New Year Honours in December
2004.
Personal life
Married with two children, the family live in
Houston, Texas. Foale was the driver of a car in 1980 in
Yugoslavia, when a truck accidentally veered across the road and smashed into his car, killing his then girlfriend and his brother.
Foale's father, Colin Foale, wrote a book in 1999 titled
Waystation to the Stars' about Foale's experiences on Mir. He has never owned a brand new car, and his hobbies include
surfing and
cross-country skiing. Foale is qualified to fly both fixed wing aeroplanes up to fast jets, as well as helicopters.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Michael Foale'.
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