Retired astronaut recounts rigors of enduring life on International Space Station

Ken Dalecki

December 15, 2021

Carl Walz, a four-time NASA Space Shuttle traveler to the International Space Station (ISS), discussed his adventures during a virtual meeting of National Press Club American Legion Post 20 on Dec. 7. Walz, who was aboard the first night-time landing of the shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 22, 1993, at one time held the U.S. space endurance record at 196 days.

Speaking to Legionnaires and Club member guests, the retired Air Force colonel said he lost 20 pounds of muscle mass and three percent of his bone density during his longest stay in space despite doing daily exercises. While some astronauts have experienced eye problems after extended flights, Walz said his health has been fine. He quickly recovered lost muscle, but it took three years to recover lost bone mass. Thanks to improved exercise equipment, he said astronauts now return to earth stronger than when they left.

The former test pilot flew on four different shuttles. His first launch on Discovery in 1993 was scrubbed three times before getting off the ground. The third scrub came just three seconds before scheduled blastoff.

Walz made four space walks for which he said he was well prepared after training in NASA's gigantic buoyancy pool at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Walz, who is director of business development for Oceaneering Space Systems in Houston, said NASA has granted contracts to study options for replacing the 23-year-old ISS, parts of which are beyond their anticipated life span. Options will include a multi-use station for tourists, experiments and exploration to be built with a mix of public and private funding. NASA announced Nov. 9 that U.S. astronauts will not return to the moon until 2025 at the earliest, a year later than the goal set by President Donald Trump. Walz said it is more likely to happen in late 2026.

Retired NASA astronaut Carl Walz

Asked about guarding against an Earth collision with asteroids, Walz said the biggest challenge will be to quickly detect and respond to unexpected threats.

He said he was puzzled by Russia's destruction of one of its old satellites in a military test because the resulting space junk threatens Russian astronauts on the ISS as well as others. He said it may have resulted from a failure of communication between Russian civilian and military officials. Walz noted that cooperation between the U.S. and Russia in human space efforts has been "challenging" but "worked well" in spite of tensions between the two nations on other fronts.

After his final shuttle flight in 2002, Walz served in the Advanced Capabilities Division in the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters in D.C. He retired from NASA in 2008.

American Legion Post 20, which has some 60 members, invites all Club members to join the speaker portions of its meetings. At the Dec. 7 session, Commander Jim Noone introduced the Post's newest member, retired Lt. Gen. David Huntoon, a former superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The National Press Club American Legion Post 20 was founded at the Club in 1919 at the suggestion of famed World War I General John "Black Jack" Pershing. At the time, Pershing was serving in Washington and was an associate member of the Club.