It's Just My Job Five Days a Week…

After nearly 30-years of furthering humanity’s off-planet endeavors, NASA Astronaut Michael Gernhardt is hanging up his helmet. His last day as an American Astronaut is 25 July 2022.

In the years since his 1992 ascension to NASA’s astronaut ranks, Mister Gernhardt has logged over 43-days in space, including four spacewalks totaling 23 hours and 16 minutes. He was a mission specialist on four space shuttle missions: STS-69 in 1995, STS-83 and STS-94 in 1997, and STS-104 in 2001. In addition, Gernhardt was a crewmember on the first NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission—a $500-million undertaking that that sends astronauts to live underwater for up to three-weeks at a time in preparation for future spaceflights.

Prior to becoming an astronaut, Gernhardt was—fittingly—a professional deep-sea diver and founder of Oceaneering Space Systems, a think-tank specializing in the development of spacewalking tools, life-support systems, and decompression procedures.

Mister Gernhardt took his first spaceflight during the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s 1995’s STS-69 mission. As Endeavour circled the Earth at the better part of 18,000-miles-per-hour, Gernhardt performed a spacewalk to evaluate the tools, hardware, and techniques that would be used to assemble and maintain the International Space Station. Among the contraptions Gernhardt assessed over the course of STS-69 were two implements of his own invention: a body-restraint tether—a mechanical arm attached to the spacesuit—and a micro-conical interface that allows astronauts or robots to remove and replace station components.

As lead spacewalker for STS-104, Gernhardt spearheaded the installation and outfitting of the International Space Station’s airlock. He also led a multi-nation team in developing a new pre-breathing protocol that speeds the elimination of nitrogen from the blood, thereby reducing the risk of decompression sickness during spacewalks. Gernhardt also helped developed pre-breathing protocols and respiratory gas mixtures that will facilitate future spacewalks on the Moon and Mars.

On 20 July 2001, during the STS-104 mission, Gernhardt and his crewmate, NASA astronaut James Reilly, were the first to use the nitrogen-eliminating protocol—which has since become standard procedure among the spacewalking set.

In addition to his extra-vehicular achievements, Gernhardt, while heading-up a lunar development study, conceived of a small, crewed rover capable of supporting rapid spacewalks on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars. To date, Gernhardt has officiated the development and testing of four generations of his rover concept.

Gernhardt was born in Mansfield, Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Vanderbilt University, and master’s and doctoral degrees in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

FMI: www.nasa.gov