"Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space"
"Too Far from Home" Story aired: Tuesday, April 10, 2007
NASA is expected to announce Tuesday when it will reschedule the space shuttle launch that was postponed after hail damaged the shuttle Atlantis in February. The postponement could also mean astronaut Sunita Williams, who is aboard the International Space Station, won't be coming home in July as planned. The delay could cause her to break the U.S. record for continuous time in space.
Former International Space Station astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox could give Williams some advice on extended stays in space and how dependence on the shuttle can be a risky business.
In February of 2003, Bowersox and Pettit, as well as Russian astronaut Nikolai Budarin were on the International Space Station when the space shuttle Columbia went down and the shuttle program was put on indefinite hold. The three spacemen suddenly lost their ride home.
Reporter Chris Jones wrote about the plight of Budarin, Pettit and Bowersox in the book "Too Far From Home: A Story of Life and Death in Space." He joins us from the studios of the CBC in Ottawa, Canada.
Guests:
Chris Jones
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