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Susannah McAnnally and her 8-year-old son, David, are closely monitoring the space shuttle Atlantis' 11-day mission to the International Space Station. A cousin, Mike Foreman, is a mission specialist on the crew.
This NASA photograph shows astronaut Mike Foreman working in the International Space Station Nov. 20.
Astronaut Mike Foreman takes part in the first space walk during the space shuttle Atlantis' latest mission. This Nov. 19 NASA photo shows him performing construction and maintenance on the International Space Station. |
By PAMELA GOULD
Rob and Susannah McAnnally and their 8-year-old son, David, spent Thanksgiving glued to the TV in the family room of their Stafford County home.
They weren't interested in parades or football, the national dog show or even holiday specials.
Their gazes were fixed on the NASA channel.
Susannah McAnnally's cousin, Mike Foreman, is an astronaut aboard the Shuttle Atlantis, and she pledged to keep a close watch until he's back on Earth. The shuttle is scheduled to land at 9:44 this morning in Florida.
The family, including 3-year-old Nina, drove to Florida to witness the Nov. 16 launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Since then, they've kept vigil on the crew's activities, including Foreman's two space walks.
McAnnally says she's become an "astronaut geek."
She's fluent in shuttle jargon and has a large telescope in her kitchen that she sets to the latitude and longitude of the International Space Station when it's positioned over the Fredericksburg area.
But it is son David, a third-grader at Holy Cross Academy, who's truly been bitten by the space bug.
From the time he was a toddler--and before he ever knew about his relative's cool career--David has wanted to work for NASA.
"At 18 months old, he slept with his book 'I Want to Be an Astronaut,'" his mother said.
For Christmas 2007, he got a space suit from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum that he still wears proudly.
And now, one of his prized possessions is his "Flat Stanley" who was photographed with the Atlantis crew before liftoff.
In the photo, Commander Charles Hobaugh holds the paper doll inspired by a children's book, as space walker Randolph Breznik points to it and the rest of the crew--pilot Barry Wilmore, mission specialist Leland Melvin and space walkers Robert Satcher and Foreman--smile.
Susannah McAnnally's Thanksgiving will be complete when the man she calls one of her heroes gets safely back to the planet.
Next year, she might resume spending Thanksgiving with extended family and friends. But this year, she wanted to keep things simple.
"If I didn't have a turkey to cook, it probably would have been takeout Chinese," she said.
One of the many things she's thankful for this year is the 52-inch flat screen TV her husband bought for their Leeland-area home.
She first thought it was an awfully big expense. But using it to see inside the space station and the shuttle as her cousin was at work was priceless.
"Now, I think it's terrific," she said.
Pamela Gould: 540/735-1972
Email: pgould@freelancestar.com
