Colin Michael Foale Anglo-American astronaut Date of Birth: 06.01.1957 Country: Great Britain

Biography of Michael Colin Foale

Michael Colin Foale, an Anglo-American astronaut-explorer for NASA, completed 6 spaceflights totaling 373 days, 18 hours, 22 minutes, and 51 seconds. He was born in 1957 in Louth, Lincolnshire, England. Foale grew up in Cambridge, where his family had moved when he was very young. After completing his education at The King's School, Canterbury, he attended Queens' College, Cambridge, and joined the Air Training Corps. In 1978, he earned his bachelor's degree, and in 1982, he received his Ph.D. in astrophysics.

In 1983, at the age of 26, Foale moved to Houston and began working at McDonnell Douglas, an aerospace company. Within a year, he joined NASA at the Johnson Space Center, where he worked on shuttle navigation systems. Despite being rejected twice due to his dual Anglo-American citizenship, Foale revised his essay after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986. In 1987, he was accepted into NASA's Astronaut Group 12.

After completing his rigorous astronaut training, Foale qualified as a flight specialist in August 1988 and was assigned to NASA's Astronaut Office. His first spaceflight took place on March 24, 1992, aboard the Atlantis STS-45 shuttle. He spent 8 days, 22 hours, 10 minutes, and 24 seconds in space, conducting software tests and experiments. His second flight, aboard the Discovery STS-56 shuttle, lasted 9 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes, and 22 seconds and launched on April 8, 1993.

On February 3, 1995, Foale performed a spacewalk lasting 4 hours and 39 minutes as a flight specialist on the Discovery STS-63 shuttle mission. The total mission duration was 8 days, 6 hours, 29 minutes, and 36 seconds. In 1997, as a flight engineer for the Atlantis STS-84 to Atlantis STS-86 missions, he spent 144 days, 13 hours, 48 minutes, and 43 seconds in space, including a 6-hour spacewalk. During this mission, he conducted a spacewalk in the depressurized module "Spektr." Foale was awarded the Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal for this mission.

Foale considers his experience on the Mir space station to be extremely valuable. In December 1999, he embarked on his fifth spaceflight and conducted another extravehicular activity during the Discovery STS-103 mission, which lasted 7 days, 23 hours, 11 minutes, and 34 seconds.

On October 18, 2003, Foale served as the commander of the 8th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station and a flight engineer on the Soyuz TMA-3 spacecraft. He spent 194 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes, and 12 seconds in space, including a 3-hour, 55-minute spacewalk. Until November 2004, Foale worked as the Deputy Director of Technical Matters at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. On November 13, 2004, he became the Deputy Director for Research Programs and received the designation of NASA Astronaut-Manager.

In April 2006, Foale stepped down from his administrative position and resumed his active astronaut status. Among his numerous awards, Foale has received honorary degrees from the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside and the University of Kent. He has also been appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Michael is married to Rhonda R. Butler, and they have two children. The Foale family resides in Houston, Texas. Interestingly, Michael is fluent in Russian. His father, Colin Foale, wrote a book titled "Waystation to the Stars" about his son's experiences on the Mir space station.

It is worth noting that Foale holds pilot licenses for airplanes and helicopters. Among his other hobbies are windsurfing and cross-country skiing.