{"id":365,"date":"2014-08-22T15:21:01","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T15:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/?p=365"},"modified":"2018-02-08T13:37:08","modified_gmt":"2018-02-08T13:37:08","slug":"eagle-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/eagle-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Eagle in space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barry Wilmore selected to lead International Space Station and assist with groundbreaking scientific research.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mechanic. Test subject. Scientist. Engineer. Russian speaker. Astronaut. Barry Wilmore, \u201985, \u201994 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\u2019s commander. He is one of about 200 people to travel in space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to describe being in space is that it\u2019s amazing,\u201d Wilmore said. \u201cYour body is going through sensations it\u2019s never felt before; your mind is doing things it\u2019s never done before.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s docking units to accommodate updates to space exploration vehicles.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Barry<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very humbled, I think that\u2019s the right word,\u201d Wilmore said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people a whole lot smarter than me, so for me to be sitting here experiencing these things, it\u2019s very humbling. I\u2019m very grateful for the opportunity. It\u2019s a \u2018Wow, I have the opportunity to do this. Thank God.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As a student at Tech in the \u201980s, 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

While in the Navy, Wilmore returned, at his mother\u2019s urging, to Tech for his master\u2019s 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, \u201958 industrial management; wife Deanna, \u201984 elementary education; brother Jack, \u201984 industrial technology; Jack\u2019s wife Selena Counce \u201985 clothing merchandising; and their two children, Lucas and Beth Ann, \u201910 biology and \u201912 nursing, respectively.<\/p>\n

Wilmore credits Tech, especially during his undergraduate studies, with giving him a solid foundation on which to build his career.<\/p>\n

\"wilmore\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI was playing football and majoring in electrical engineering. Those are two full-time jobs,\u201d Wilmore said. \u201cI had to study. I\u2019m not one of these people who can hear it once and move on. I didn\u2019t sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s administration hopes to repeat the experience, which was in the planning stages at press time.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s May 2012 commencement and earned one of the university\u2019s first honorary doctorates. He was also inducted to the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.<\/p>\n

Even so, his favorite Tech memory is a moment frozen in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on the main quad next to Derryberry, it\u2019s spring, and people are just starting to wear shorts. The sun is coming through the trees, and there\u2019s a blue sky,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a combination of God\u2019s glory and the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fond memories are not the ones where you\u2019re sitting in an exam thinking, \u2018I don\u2019t know any of this,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the atmosphere; it\u2019s the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barry Wilmore selected to lead International Space Station and assist with groundbreaking scientific research. Mechanic. Test subject. Scientist. Engineer. Russian speaker. Astronaut. Barry Wilmore, \u201985, \u201994 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-365","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fall14"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1199,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365\/revisions\/1199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/visions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}