SJU astronaut alumnus returns to campus, talks space station experiences

From April 2021 to March 2022, Mark Vande Hei spent 355 days on the International Space Station, making him the American to have spent the longest continuous time in space. The 1989 SJU graduate returned to campus this week and presented on his experience in Pellegrene Auditorium on Nov. 29. Students, faculty, alumni and community members attended the event.

During the first portion of the presentation, he explained the process of preparing for expedition, traveling to the space station, living and working there and returning to Earth. Vande Hei has been to space twice and shared about both of these expeditions while projecting images and video footage from them.

“I really liked the video showing the whole process from the launch all the way to coming back home. I thought the visual element was really cool,” CSB sophomore Carina Bustos said.

Part of this presentation included images of Earth taken from orbit around the planet. He said sharing these views is one of the most important parts of his job.

“I think one of the big benefits of the space program is how it helps us change our perspective of the earth. That certainly goes a long way towards us feeling like we’re one cohesive group,” Vande Hei said.

During the second portion of the event, which occurred over more than half of the total time, Vande Hei answered audience questions. He was asked about the social and logistical parts of living on the station, health concerns associated with extended stays in space and the science experiments he conducted.

“I thought his willingness to talk about lots of different questions, especially on interdisciplinary work, was really cool. And it was pretty awesome to get an insider glimpse at what their lifestyle was actually like and everything they were able to accomplish up there,” CSB first-year Elaina Jones said.

One audience member asked what advice Vande Hei would give to current college students interested in space travel. His first piece of advice was to work in a field which you are passionate about. He encouraged students interested in becoming an astronaut to pursue it, but clarified that since it is such a selective process, it is important to find other things which you find interesting and meaningful. He shared that being flexible and not measuring your success on one goal alone is the key to feeling fulfilled. Second, he encouraged students to be adventurous and do things outside of their comfort zones.

“Do things that… are exciting to you but you’re not sure you’re going to succeed at. I think we’re a little at risk of being in a society where people don’t want to do things that they might fail at,” he said. “It’s really important that we risk that failure. If it’s important to succeed and we fail, then figure out what to change so you can try again.”

Finally, he emphasized the importance of getting along with your peers and valuing team success over personal success.

“You’ve got to be much more invested in the success of the whole team and the success of the individuals in that team, than you are invested in being better than everybody else,” Vande Hei said.

Vande Hei travelled and worked with several Russian astronauts on his most recent expedition. Before their return last spring, there were rumors circulating that the Russian team was planning to abandon him at the space station. Vande Hei emphasized the falsity of these claims while discussing the importance of collaboration.

“The idea of me being left behind on the space station, I never believed that for a moment,” he said. “I could not imagine my two Russian crewmates, who were not just coworkers but they were friends of mine, forcing me to stay behind… There’s just no way that would happen.”

According to Vande Hei, good scientists determine truth by trying to disprove their theories. He encouraged the audience to apply this lesson by challenging biases and always seeking to learn new things.