Crew members of November's trip of the space shuttle Atlantis discuss their mission with Glenn Research Center employees Jan. 27. (West life photo by Larry Bennet)

North Ridgeville astronaut not ready
to end space travels as program changes
By Kevin Kelley
Westshore
Published Feb. 3, 2010

Astronaut Charlie Hobaugh may have flown his last shuttle flight, but he said he wants to travel in space again.

Astronaut Charlie Hobaugh, commander of the November Atlantic shuttle mission to the international Space Station, speaks to employees of the NASA Glenn Research Center Jan. 27. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Hobaugh, a graduate of North Ridgeville High School, spoke to employees at the NASA Glenn Research Center Jan. 27 about the accomplishments of the November mission of the space shuttle Atlantis.

Although only five scheduled flights of the space shuttle remain, and Hobaugh is not assigned to any of them, the veteran astronaut said he expects to one day return to space.

“Hopefully my management does also,” he joked in comments made before the Obama administration’s announcement it is canceling the Constellation program. That program has been developing a rocket system to send astronauts to the International Space Station and later the moon.

“Even without another manned spaceflight vehicle coming in the near future, or still up in the air, we’ll still have long-duration flights,” Hobaugh said. “We’ll still be flying on Russian Soyuz. We’ll still be sending people up to the station for six months at a time. So U.S. manned spaceflight is not over by any stretch of the imagination. We’re just taking on a different chapter right now.

“Maybe we just don’t have a U.S. vehicle for a period of time, which is unfortunate,” Hobaugh said. “But we are where we are and we’ll just make the best of it.”

The Obama administration is proposing outsourcing the construction of rockets to private companies.

Hobaugh told reporters he believes the U.S. will not be without a means to travel to space for long.

“I don’t think we’re the type of culture that would allow that to happen for any period of time,” he said. “Once the public and the community really figures out where we’re at, I think there will be an outcry to get to the next level, to go on.”

The space shuttle Atlantis, photographed by a crew member on the International Space Station, is seen over the Mediterranean Sea, near the Algerian coast, shortly after the spacecraft undocked on Nov. 25. (Photo credit: NASA)

He noted that the shuttle is being retired largely for safety reasons, and that future U.S. manned rockets systems are expected to have a greatly improved safety margin.

Hobaugh, who lived in North Ridgeville for three years and Avon for two, said the education he received at North Ridgeville High prepared him well for his later endeavors.

“Our teachers in North Ridgeville were great,” he said, specifically mentioning math teacher Adam Bailey.

Hobaugh, who earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, said his combination of science, math and shop classes greatly helped him in his future study of engineering.

“I took metal work. I took woodworking. I took every kind of shop class I could get in on,” he said. “When you combine that with science, it puts a tangible feel on physical science.”

Hobaugh took flying lessons at Lorain County Airport and Cleveland Hopkins Airport. “I soloed in an airplane before I drove a car,” he said.

He also attended the Cleveland National Air races and Air Show, which inspired his naval flight career.

Astronaut Charles O. Hobaugh is pictured on the flight deck of Space Shuttle Atlantis during the second day of the November mission. (Photo credit: NASA)

In thanking Glenn employees for their contributions to the space program, Hobaugh noted he essentially got his start in life in Northeast Ohio.

“I used to sit out on this road right outside Cleveland Hopkins at weird hours of the night and just watch airplanes land and takeoff for hours,” he said. “I just loved aviation.”

He recalled shoveling horse manure for the owner of Eddie’s Chalet West, where he worked while in high school.

“It doesn’t matter what you do,” he told reporters. “It’s how you do it that matters.”

Hobaugh, who was joined by five other members of his crew at Glenn, said the relationships with his crew and others involved with the mission leave lasting memories.

“The teamwork and the amount of hours you spend together is the most memorable part about it, even though the spaceflight is the most spectacular part of it,” he said. “The memories you have are the team you work with, the group you’re with. It’s just like any job. It’s not the job that makes or breaks it. It’s the people that you associate with that makes it truly great.”

The STS-129 shuttle mission included three spacewalks and the installation of two platforms to the International Space Station’s truss, or backbone. The platforms hold large spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired. The shuttle crew delivered about 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station, keep it from overheating and maintain a proper orientation in space.

Hobaugh, who commanded the Atlantis mission, flew as the pilot on shuttle missions in 2001 and 2007. Born in Bar Harbor, Maine, he was selected as an astronaut in 1996.

On the Web:

• NASA biography of Charlie Hobaugh
• NASA page on Atlantis STS-129 mission