Cady Coleman Adds Humor to Life Aboard International Space Station

By Bob Granath

When International Space Station astronaut Catherine Coleman spoke to employees at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 20, 2012, she told those in attendance about her extended stay aboard the orbiting laboratory. The veteran of three spaceflights described her experiences with the exuberance of a youngster relating a family vacation. At the end of her presentation, she confirmed that – like early astronauts – crews still find ways to set up a humorous gag for engineers and scientists in Mission Control.

Better known as Cady, she launched to the space station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Russian cosmonaut Dmitry Kondratyev and European Space Agency, or ESA, astronaut Páolo Néspoli of Italy. They arrived at the station aboard the Soyuz TMA-20 spacecraft on Dec. 17, 2010. Already aboard were NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksandr Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka of Russia.

She recalled that they were busy with frequent arrivals such as the Space Shuttle Discovery with its STS-133 crew, as well as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s H-II Transfer Vehicle and the ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle re-supply spacecraft.

“During our expedition, there was a lot of coming and going,” Coleman said.

The STS-133 crew arrived in February 2011, delivering the permanent multipurpose module, “Leonardo,” which was left docked to one of the station’s ports. The shuttle crew also delivered a robot called Robonaut 2, or R2. With human-like hands and arms, R2 was able to use some of the same tools station crewmembers use in a test of new technology.

The humanoid robot was made of multiple component innovations. Researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, in collaboration with General Motors and Oceaneering, designed a state-of-the-art, highly dexterous, robot. In some respects, it was like an early version of “C3PO” from the Star Wars motion pictures.

A ‘Conspiracy’

When Coleman was asked to autograph a picture of herself with Robonaut 2, she developed a sly smile and exclaimed, “Oh, I have to tell you a story about this.”

She then excitedly recalled a “conspiracy” she and her crewmembers invented.

“The plan was for us to uncrate Robonaut 2 while beaming video of the event back to Mission Control,” she said. “But we took the thing out of the box while the cameras were off. We then positioned him out of sight.”

Once the television cameras were turned on, the crate was placed in full view for those watching.

“With much ceremony we prepared to open the crate knowing Robonaut’s designers and principal investigators would be watching closely,” Coleman said. “We then lifted off the lid and faked horrified faces.”

The box was empty!

“By this time we could hear the gasps and ‘heart attacks’ in mission control,” she said. “Then one of my crewmates pushed Robonaut so he would slowly float into view of those watching.”

“I told you to stay in the box!” Coleman shouted at the “mischievous” droid. “Páolo then admonished Robonaut not to try to take over the space station. I think everyone in the Flight Control Room burst into laughter. We had fun doing it.”

The Robonaut studies provided experience in robotics self-operating on the International Space Station. Coleman pointed out that in the future, robots like R-2 may serve as assistants or stand-ins for astronauts in respective tasks or those too difficult or dangerous for humans. The Robonaut team of scientists and principal investigators developed technologies that may enable full operation of similar robots in the future as NASA plans for long-duration operations on the Moon and trips to Mars.

 In 2014, the original upper body humanoid robot was upgraded with the addition of two “climbing manipulators,” or “legs” However, the upgrades to support R2’s new appendages triggered intermittent power failures. NASA’s attempts to troubleshoot the issue caused more electrical short circuits. Robonaut was returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after seven years. In 2024, Robonaut 2 was placed on display with the Space Shuttle Discovery at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at the National Air and Space Museum in northern Virginia.

More Time in Space

A veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, Coleman spent slightly more than two weeks in orbit on STS-73 in October 1995 and less than a week in space on STS-93 in 1999.

“It (STS-73) was a 16 day flight and I remember thinking, that’s just not long enough,” she said.

During Expeditions 26 and 27, Coleman spent 159 days in orbit. Describing video highlights of the lengthy mission, Coleman referenced a scene of her entering the space station from the Soyuz spacecraft.

“This shows what it’s like up there,” she said. “It’s not about floating, it’s about flying.”

During Expedition 26, the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle delivered six tons of equipment that included food and clothes. Additionally, ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle re-supply spacecraft brought up supplies such as propellants, water and oxygen.

During breaks from work on the space station, Coleman noted that she spent time photographing Earth out the window, a view that gives a different perspective on life below.

“When you see our whole planet like this,” she said, “you realize we are altogether citizens of the world.”

Coleman explained that a highlight of Expedition 27 was the opportunity to mark a major milestone in space history, the flight of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space.

“We were up there for the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight — April 12, 2011,” Coleman said. “It was a great privilege to be a part of the observance and to see how far we’ve come and think about how far we will go.”

On May 24, 2011, Coleman, Kondratyev and Néspoli returned to Earth aboard their Soyuz spacecraft. After five months in the microgravity environment of space, Coleman said readapting to gravity was slow as there was a feeling they were still moving.

“When we landed, I was sure we were rolling over and over again,” she said. “But I looked out the window and the grass was just standing there.”

Coleman expressed pride in achievements aboard the International Space Station and that many nations are involved.

“I like that we do this together and succeed in these achievements together,” she said. “Six people working on it, doing (microgravity) experiments that cannot be done (on Earth). We are doing significant things up there.”

‘Sharing’ Her Story

Experiences such as these are included in Coleman’s 2024 book, Sharing Space. A native of Charleston, S.C., Coleman was attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when she was first inspired to consider her future career. Witnessing a presentation on campus by NASA astronaut Sally Ride made a lasting impression.

“If you can see it, you can be it,” Coleman wrote. “As I listened to Sally speak that day, an utterly unexpected idea popped into my head: Maybe I – Cady Coleman – could have that job.”

After being awarded a bachelor’s degree from MIT in chemistry in 1983, Coleman went on to earn a doctorate in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts in 1991. After being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force, she worked as a research chemist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base before being selected as an astronaut in 1992.

Coleman’s story is one of being an astronaut who also is a wife, a mother of two, an Air Force colonel, an accomplished flutist and a scientist. Additionally, her challenges involved living near the Johnson Space Center in Houston as well as in Shelburne Falls, Mass. where her husband, Josh Simpson, is a glass artist. Coleman retired from NASA in 2016 after 24 years with the agency. She now travels extensively telling stories about her experiences and promoting her book.

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