AAMC Reporter, November 2000:Like Nothing on Earth: A Doctor Records His Experiences Aboard Mir

VOLUME 10, NUMBER 2

JORDAN J. COHEN, M.D., PRESIDENT

NOVEMBER 2000

Like Nothing on Earth: A Doctor Records His Experiences Aboard Mir

By Barbara Gabriel

U.S. Navy flight surgeon and NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, M.D., Ph.D.

As a U.S. Navy flight surgeon and NASA astronaut, Jerry Linenger, M.D., Ph.D., has learned to work under extreme conditions. But none of his experiences came close to that day in 1997 when the space shuttle Atlantis docked on the Russian space station Mir, and Dr. Linenger realized that for the next 132 days, he and two Russian cosmonauts would be companions aboard a spacecraft that "resembled six school buses all hooked together." A graduate of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Dr. Linenger was the fourth of seven Americans to live on Mir. In his new book, "Off the Planet," Dr. Linenger leads readers through a harrowing journey that is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the power of teamwork.

Q: Did your medical training and experience help prepare you for the five months you spent aboard Mir?

A: My medical background - especially my work in the emergency room at Detroit General Hospital - was good experience. You learn to work under pressure in life-or-death situations and to keep your wits about you. There were many instances when my medical training came in handy. For example, after the fire aboard Mir, I had to treat burns and change wound dressings. I also think my training in psychology and psychiatry helped a lot. It's tough, isolated living up there - you're totally cut off from the world and other human beings. The aspects of human understanding and empathy I gained as a physician came in handy as a member of the crew.

Q: Why did you accept the mission to Mir, knowing the potential dangers?

A: To a large extent, I signed up to be an astronaut for the adventure. That's why I think most astronauts are out there - to push the limits, push the envelope. You weigh the risk, but it's your job and that's what you train for. The Mir experience, especially for a physician, was a great opportunity. Being out there for five months allowed me to learn a lot about how the human body responds to spending a prolonged period of time in space. Throughout the mission, I did mini physical exams on myself and tried to note the changes anecdotally.

Q: What medical experiments did you do aboard Mir?

A: On my first shuttle flight, I did no medical experiments to speak of. On Mir, on the other hand, I did a lot of spatial orientation tasks to see how well the body adapts to weightlessness. For example, can you perform as well upside-down as right-side-up in space? Tests were done on me before and after my flight to Mir to examine the changes my body underwent.

Q: What were your most harrowing experiences on Mir?

A: There were actually about three times on Mir that I wasn't sure I was going to make it back home. In all of those instances, I found myself actually getting calmer; you realize it's a life-or-death situation, and you have to remain calm or you're not going to make it. The first time was when a fire broke out on board, the second was during a near collision with an approaching spacecraft coming at us at 18,000 mph, and a third was when we lost all power and tumbled out of control to the dark side of the Earth. All three of those times, my life experience - flying off aircraft carriers, treating triple gunshot wounds in the emergency room - plus my medical training, came into play, and I learned to remain calm and not to panic. That's what gets you out of those situations.

Q: Can you describe your work dynamic with the Russian cosmonauts who accompanied you aboard Mir?

A: I quickly learned that I had two people on whom my life depended, and we became a pretty solid team in spite of personal differences, different backgrounds, and language barriers. You have to put all that aside. You have a common goal to go out there and colonize space; it's bigger than the individual, and it's bigger than our countries.

Q: Are there any space flights in the future for you?

A: John Glenn went up at 77, so I have a lot of time. I've got three little boys and my wife is expecting another baby, so it's probably not the right occupation for me right now. But in the long term, I'd love to go back out.