New dad-in-space: Focusing on shuttle job easy while awaiting daughter’s birth and now landing

New dad-in-space: Focusing on shuttle job easy

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s new dad in space, shuttle astronaut Randolph Bresnik, said Tuesday he had no problems focusing on his job while awaiting his daughter’s birth.

Abigail Mae Bresnik was born late Saturday, just hours after his first spacewalk.

“Fortunately, I’ve got a little over 20 years of good Marine Corps training on compartmentalizing,” Bresnik said during a crew news conference Tuesday.

“We’ve been training long and hard for this mission. We know that the baby’s been coming, so it was easy to go ahead and do our tasks,” he said. It’s a lot simpler to put thoughts aside when they’re about a good thing, he added.

Bresnik said he wants to see his family as soon as possible after space shuttle Atlantis lands Friday. Wife Rebecca was figuring on waiting for him back home in Houston, with the baby. The couple also have a 3½-year-old son.

The two crews were going to seal the hatches between their spacecraft Tuesday afternoon. Atlantis will undock from the International Space Station early Wednesday.

Astronaut Nicole Stott also is eagerly awaiting the ride back. She’s been in orbit for three months.

She said she misses her husband and 7-year-old son, as well as being out in the sunshine.

“Pizza has been sounding really good,” she told reporters. She’s also craving a cola with crushed ice.

The shuttle crew’s Thanksgiving meal will be nothing special, as per commander Charles Hobaugh’s wishes. Whatever is on the prepacked menu that day will be fine, he said.

“Thanksgiving isn’t all about what you eat. It’s the people you spend it with. This has become my second family,” he said.

Besides, Hobaugh is expecting a tasty fried turkey when he gets home.

On the Net:

NASA: www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/news/index.html