麻豆传媒

was a mission specialist on the of the space shuttle Endeavour, during which he helped complete the assembly of the International Space Station. On 27 May, he and fellow astronaut Mike Fincke performed the final spacewalk of the space shuttle programme.

With the retirement of the shuttle and problems with Russia鈥檚 Soyuz rockets, which should now be ferrying American astronauts to the space station, it鈥檚 a 鈥渃hallenging time鈥� for NASA, he said in a talk at the in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 7 October. But his time in space has given a sunny tint to his outlook on the space station and the future of human spaceflight.

鈥淵ou feel like you can reach out and touch the future there,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the importance of having the space station. It really feels like the platform that will allow us to take the next step forward.鈥�

麻豆传媒 caught up with Chamitoff at Draper Labs to chat about life in space and the end of an era.

What does working in microgravity actually feel like?
The whole thing is amazing. It feels like a foreign environment, but the change is gradual 鈥� like someone has a sliding switch on the wall and slowly turns gravity off. It feels like gravity is an option, not a requirement.

Does microgravity feel anything like swimming?
No, it doesn鈥檛 feel like swimming at all. The thing that is really different is the fact that any orientation feels the same. You actually don鈥檛 get dizzy so easily. You can re-decide which way is up. If you鈥檙e working on something above your head, you can just decide that the ceiling is the floor. That鈥檚 a lot easier.

What happens if you鈥檙e on a spacewalk and you get an itch?
There鈥檚 a moment when you put the helmet on and you think, 鈥淭his is my last chance!鈥� You can鈥檛 scratch your leg, obviously, but you can move around a little bit. Sometimes, though, you can get the helmet defogger stuff in your eyes, and it burns. There鈥檚 nothing you can do. People have had to finish spacewalks with one eye closed.

What鈥檚 the environment like on the space station? Do you ever get cold?
With a six-person crew, I think there will be arguments over the thermostat. It鈥檚 tough, because you don鈥檛 want to perspire. You鈥檙e conservative with your clothes, because you can鈥檛 wash them. You鈥檒l wear one T-shirt for a week, then it鈥檒l become your workout shirt, and then you kind of throw it away.

We wear these nice polo shirts with the mission patch on them for PR events, and for the six-month stint [on the station in 2008], I only had six of them. You had to really plan out when to wear them 鈥� you didn鈥檛 want to put one on before you had showered. The ground didn鈥檛 always understand that.

Yours was the last spacewalk by shuttle astronauts. Were you reluctant to come back in?
Not really. I stayed a little longer to take photos鈥� and there was just silence. Everything had gone so well up until then, it felt like everyone was like, 鈥淟et鈥檚 just get everyone inside before something bad happens.鈥�

What did you take with you on the mission?
I brought some stuffed animals from my kids [Natasha and Dimitri, both 7]. My daughter wanted to give me something really precious. My son gave me something really precious to him too, but then he thought better of it and took it back.

When I went up for my six-month stint, I brought this puppet called Sammy the Skunk. Before I left I had the kids totally convinced it was a live animal 鈥� I would have it crawl over them and everything. They were 3-and-a-half when I left, and by the time I came back they were 4, and they could tell the difference. They were like 鈥淲ait, that鈥檚 not a live animal!鈥�

How is riding on the shuttle different from riding on the Soyuz, the Russian spacecraft which parachutes to land?
I never rode on Soyuz, but from what I hear it鈥檚 a wild ride. It鈥檚 like a car accident every time. The shuttle landing is smoother than any airplane I鈥檝e ever been on. It is definitely the luxury vehicle.

How does it feel to be back, with NASA鈥檚 plans for human space flight in disarray?
I think the disarray is misinterpreted. It鈥檚 a hard time, not having our own access to space, but there is a plan. Private companies are making really good progress. It is going to be a long time before we see a vehicle as capable as the space shuttle, especially its return-mass capability. There鈥檚 nothing on the table that can do that. But [for just carrying people rather than heavy equipment] these new commercial vehicles 鈥� they鈥檙e saying they鈥檒l have something ready in three years.

Would you fly on them?
Oh yeah, I鈥檒l fly. I鈥檓 ready to go.