Barry Wilmore selected to lead International Space Station and assist with groundbreaking scientific research.
Mechanic. Test subject. Scientist. Engineer. Russian speaker. Astronaut. Barry Wilmore, ’85, ’94 electrical engineering, will fill those roles when he voyages to the International Space Station for the second time this fall, first as a member of the crew and then as the station’s commander. He is one of about 200 people to travel in space.
“The only way to describe being in space is that it’s amazing,” Wilmore said. “Your body is going through sensations it’s never felt before; your mind is doing things it’s never done before.”
During the six-month expedition, a team of astronauts will work on experiments underway in the orbiting laboratory, perform maintenance on the station and adapt wiring on the station’s docking units to accommodate updates to space exploration vehicles.
The International Space Station, which is supported by the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, is more than an engineering marvel. Since its launch in 2000, its research labs have contributed to vaccine development, disaster response and Earth observations, as well as the education of students and teachers around the world.
Some of the research uses the astronauts themselves to determine the exacerbated effects of zero gravity on bone loss, among other projects. Such studies require the astronauts to draw their own blood and administer their own IVs. For Wilmore, that’s an easier part of the job and well worth it to be part of the work going on in the lab, which is the size of a football field and weighs more than 900,000 pounds.
“I’m very humbled, I think that’s the right word,” Wilmore said. “There’s a lot of people a whole lot smarter than me, so for me to be sitting here experiencing these things, it’s very humbling. I’m very grateful for the opportunity. It’s a ‘Wow, I have the opportunity to do this. Thank God.’”
As a student at Tech in the ’80s, Wilmore says he never would have thought he would be commanding an international space effort. After graduating from Tech, where he was a walk-on member of the Golden Eagle football team, the Mount Juliet native went on to earn a master’s degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee before joining the U.S. Navy, where he flew tactical jets on aircraft carriers and earned the rank of captain before being selected by NASA in 2000.
While in the Navy, Wilmore returned, at his mother’s urging, to Tech for his master’s degree in electrical engineering. Tech has become a tradition for the Wilmore family, and six members of his family have earned degrees here: father Eugene, ’58 industrial management; wife Deanna, ’84 elementary education; brother Jack, ’84 industrial technology; Jack’s wife Selena Counce ’85 clothing merchandising; and their two children, Lucas and Beth Ann, ’10 biology and ’12 nursing, respectively.
Wilmore credits Tech, especially during his undergraduate studies, with giving him a solid foundation on which to build his career.
“I was playing football and majoring in electrical engineering. Those are two full-time jobs,” Wilmore said. “I had to study. I’m not one of these people who can hear it once and move on. I didn’t sleep.
“It was tough, and I was glad it was tough because it laid a solid foundation. If I had to do it again, I would do it the same way.”
Wilmore and two Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to leave Earth in September and return in March. When Wilmore last went to space in 2009, the university scheduled a question and answer session with him for area schoolchildren. Tech’s administration hopes to repeat the experience, which was in the planning stages at press time.
Though Wilmore worked hard during his time at Tech, he has fond memories of Cookeville and returns as his busy schedule allows. He spoke at Tech’s May 2012 commencement and earned one of the university’s first honorary doctorates. He was also inducted to the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.
Even so, his favorite Tech memory is a moment frozen in time.
“I’m on the main quad next to Derryberry, it’s spring, and people are just starting to wear shorts. The sun is coming through the trees, and there’s a blue sky,” he said. “It’s a combination of God’s glory and the university.
“The fond memories are not the ones where you’re sitting in an exam thinking, ‘I don’t know any of this,’” he said. “It’s the atmosphere; it’s the people.”