Michael Foale
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| Astronaut | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British / American |
| Born | 6 January 1957 Louth, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom |
| Occupation1 | Astrophysicist |
| Space time | 373d 18h 18m |
| Selection | 1987 NASA Group |
| Mission(s) | STS-45, STS-56, STS-63, STS-84, Mir, STS-86, STS-103, Soyuz TMA-3, Expedition 8 |
| Mission insignia |         |
| 1 previous or current | |
Colin Michael Foale, CBE, PhD, (born 6 January 1957) is an Anglo-American 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 holds the record for most time spent in space by a UK and US citizen: 374 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes.
Born in Louth and raised in Cambridge, Foale was educated at The King's School, Canterbury and Queens' College, Cambridge University, receiving a doctorate in laboratory astrophysics in 1982.
In his youth, Michael was a member of the Air Training Corps (UK Air Cadets)
Foale joined the mission operations division of NASA in 1983 and was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1987. He flew on space shuttle missions STS-45 (1992), STS-56 (1993) and STS-63 (1995). In the latter mission he undertook a four-hour EVA. He was then selected for an extended mission aboard the Russian Mir space station. Launched by STS-84 and returned by STS-86, Foale spent four months on Mir in 1997. During his stay, the station was struck by a Progress resupply vessel and Foale conducted a six-hour EVA to inspect exterior damage. Foale's father, Colin Foale, wrote a book titled 'Waystation to the Stars' (originally published in 1999) about Michael's experiences on Mir.
In 1999, Foale was a member of space shuttle mission STS-103, during which he conducted an 8-hour spacewalk to replace components of the Hubble Space Telescope.
In 2003, Foale was named commander of International Space Station Expedition 8 with cosmonaut Alexandr Kaleri. His six-month tour of duty on the station ended on April 29, 2004.
He was awarded a CBE in the diplomatic list of the New Year Honours in December 2004.
He is currently Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration Operations at NASA HQ, Washington D.C.
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The above was written by Thomas Mason Lee BBC Australia
Categories: Astronaut stubs | 1957 births | Living people | Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge | American astronauts | Naturalized citizens of the United States | British astronauts | Crew members of the International Space Station | Winners of the Sir Arthur Clarke Award | People from Lincolnshire
