HOUSTON (Reuters) - As a boy growing up in Kansas, Nick Hague looked up at the stars and wanted to explore the unknown.
In October, his dream will come true when he blasts off on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station.
An engineer and colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Hague was one of eight selected in 2013 for NASA’s astronaut candidate training program.
Then he attended test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base, and realized his dream might be within reach.
While his sons appreciate the “neat” work their father is doing, Hague said he remains “just dorky dad” at home.
He will work with Russian cosmonauts to monitor shifts in bodily fluids that occur in space.
Such issues need to be better understood before humans are sent on longer space flights into deep space. »