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Minnesota Now with Nina Moini
Cathy Wurzer and Melissa Townsend

This astronaut is from Minnesota — and set to break a record in space

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A recent New York Times article declared 2021 “The Year Space Got Sexy All Over Again.” Jeff Bezos has been flying celebrities out of the atmosphere, there are new stories of aliens and UFOs — and in November, astronauts at the International Space Station (ISS) almost had to evacuate when Russian space debris started heading their way.

Mark Vande Hei is one of those astronauts. He was raised in Minnesota and is set to break the record for the longest stay ever in the ISS. Host Cathy Wurzer connected with Vande Hei and his colleague Tom Marshburn live in space through NASA's communications team.

Watch part of the interview below:

Vande Hei said he actually enjoyed the adventure of preparing for the evacuation that never was. “We got lots of experience closing and opening hatches,” he said. He was even treated to a Russian breakfast by his Russian colleagues.

When Vande Hei was young, he thought he had about as much of a chance to become an astronaut as he did to become Spider-Man. He said he’s still “puzzled” and “pleasantly surprised” to be in space today.

How does an astronaut handle staying in the ISS as long as Vande Hei? He said he’s just trying to focus on the moment so that the length of the stay doesn’t become overwhelming.

Cathy Wurzer conducts a video interview with astronauts on a screen
Host Cathy Wurzer interviews astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Tom Marshburn on the International Space Station for Minnesota Now on Wednesday.
Lindsay Guentzel

Vande Hei and Marshburn see potential in recent civilian trips to space by the wealthy. “The more people that get up to see the Earth from space, the better off the Earth will be,” Vande Hei said, because when people see the Earth from space, he says, they are confronted by the fragility of our planet. Vande Hei hopes the powerful people on these first space tourism flights will be changed, too.

Marshburn added that space travel by the wealthy is hopefully the first step to more affordable space travel in the future.

Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Correction (Dec. 15, 2021): A previous version of this copy misspelled Tom Marshburn’s last name. The above version is corrected and updated.