Mark Thomas Vande Hei (born November 10, 1966) is a retired
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
officer and current
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
who has served as a flight Engineer for
Expedition 53
Expedition 53 (September - December 2017) was the 53rd expedition to the International Space Station, which began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-04 on September 2, 2017 and concluded upon the departure of Soyuz MS-05 on December 14, 2017. Randolph ...
,
54,
64,
65, and
66 on the
International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
.
[NASA Television Coverage Set for Next International Space Station Crew Launch](_blank)
/ref>
Early life and education
Vande Hei was born November 10, 1966, in Falls Church, Virginia
Falls Church is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Wash ...
. He graduated from Benilde-St. Margaret's
Benilde-St. Margaret's is a Catholic, co-educational private prep school for grades 7–12 located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, that draws its over one thousand students from throughout the Twin Cities Metro Area. It is located in the Roma ...
High School in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota
St. Louis Park is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 50,010 at the 2020 census. It is a first-ring suburb immediately west of Minneapolis. Other adjacent cities include Edina, Golden Valley, Minnetonka, ...
, in 1985. Vande Hei earned a Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree with a major in Physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
from Saint John's University St John's University may refer to:
*St. John's University (New York City)
** St. John's University School of Law
**St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus
* College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and C ...
in 1989, and a Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
degree in Applied Physics
Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered to be a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering.
"Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination ...
from Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
in 1999.
Military career
Vande Hei was commissioned in the U.S. Army through the ROTC
The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces.
Overview
While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
program in 1989 and became a combat engineer, serving in Iraq in Operation Provide Comfort.[ After earning his master's degree in 1999, he became an assistant professor of physics at the ]United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
in West Point. In 2003, he became part of the Army's 1st Space Battalion at Peterson Air Force Base. Vande Hei again served in Iraq, in Operation Iraqi Freedom
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
.[ He retired in October 2016 at the rank of ]Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
.
NASA career
Vande Hei began working at Johnson Space Center in 2006 as part of the U.S. Army contingent there. He worked as a communications officer
A communications officer is a naval line officer responsible for supervising operation and maintenance of a warship's signal flags, signal lamps, and radio transmitters and receivers. The communications officer is usually responsible for encrypti ...
(which is a flight controller
responsible for communicating with astronauts in space) for the International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
. In June 2009, Vande Hei was selected as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 20
NASA Astronaut Group 20 (The Chumps) saw the training of nine mission specialists, and five international mission specialists to become NASA astronauts. These 14 astronauts began training in August 2009 and officially graduated as astronauts on ...
and he completed astronaut candidate training in June 2011.
On June 10, 2014, NASA announced that Vande Hei would serve as an aquanaut
An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...
aboard the Aquarius
Aquarius may refer to:
Astrology
* Aquarius (astrology), an astrological sign
* Age of Aquarius, a time period in the cycle of astrological ages
Astronomy
* Aquarius (constellation)
* Aquarius in Chinese astronomy
Arts and entertainment ...
underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 18 undersea exploration mission, which began on July 21, 2014, and lasted nine days.
In May 2015, it was announced that he had been assigned to ISS Expedition 51/52 scheduled to launch in March 2017 aboard Soyuz MS-04. He was reassigned in November 2016 to ISS Expedition 53/54 scheduled to launch in 2017 aboard Soyuz MS-06.
Expedition 53/54
Vande Hei launched to space as part of Expedition 53
Expedition 53 (September - December 2017) was the 53rd expedition to the International Space Station, which began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-04 on September 2, 2017 and concluded upon the departure of Soyuz MS-05 on December 14, 2017. Randolph ...
/ 54 on Soyuz MS-06 on September 12, 2017. After launch the crew performed the fast rendezvous with the ISS and docked automatically after approximately 6 hours.
On October 5, 2017, Vande Hei performed his first spacewalk, along with Commander Randy Bresnik
Randolph James "Komrade" Bresnik (born September 11, 1967) is a retired officer in the United States Marine Corps and an active NASA astronaut. A Marine Aviator by trade, Bresnik was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 19 in May 2004. ...
. The spacewalk replaced the gripping mechanism on Canadarm2
The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...
, the latching end effector A, or LEE-A. The duration was 6 hours and 55 minutes. On October 10, 2017, they completed the second EVA of the mission. They lubricated the newly installed end effector and replaced cameras, and the duration was 6 hours and 26 minutes.
The expedition ended on February 27, 2018, at 9:31 p.m. EST with Vande Hei's, Bresnik's, and third crew member Joseph M. Acaba's successful landing back on Earth.
File:ISS-53 Mark Vande Hei works inside the Destiny lab.jpg, Vande Hei in the Destiny laboratory onboard the ISS
File:ISS-53 EVA-2 (a) Mark Vande Hei.jpg, Vande Hei during an EVA in 2017
Expedition 64/65/66
In March 2021 it was confirmed that Vande Hei would be making a second space flight, as a flight engineer onboard Soyuz MS-18
Soyuz MS-18 (spacecraft named "Y. A. Gagarin") was a Soyuz spaceflight that was launched on 9 April 2021 at 07:42:41 UTC. It transported three members of the Expedition 64 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-18 was the 146t ...
, and be part of ISS Expedition 64/ 65. On April 9, 2021, Vande Hei alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy
Oleg Viktorovich Novitskiy (russian: Олег Викторович Новицкий; born October 12, 1971) is a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Russian Air Force who logged over 700 hours of flight time and was awarded for bravery. He is cur ...
and Pyotr Dubrov
Pyotr Valerievich Dubrov ( rus, Пётр Валерьевич Дубров; born 30 January 1978) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut selected by Roscosmos in 2012.
Early life and education
Dubrov was born on 30 January 1978 in Khabarovsk, Russ ...
successfully launched onboard Soyuz MS-18
Soyuz MS-18 (spacecraft named "Y. A. Gagarin") was a Soyuz spaceflight that was launched on 9 April 2021 at 07:42:41 UTC. It transported three members of the Expedition 64 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-18 was the 146t ...
at 3:42am EDT.
On September 14, 2021, it was announced that Vande Hei and Pyotr Dubrov
Pyotr Valerievich Dubrov ( rus, Пётр Валерьевич Дубров; born 30 January 1978) is a Russian engineer and cosmonaut selected by Roscosmos in 2012.
Early life and education
Dubrov was born on 30 January 1978 in Khabarovsk, Russ ...
had their six-month stays on the station extended by another six months. This means Vande Hei would break the record for the longest spaceflight by an American astronaut with 353 days.
Two weeks of technical and weather delays, together with Crew-2 approaching the maximum on-orbit duration of their Crew Dragon craft, forced a highly undesirable “indirect handover”. As such, Crew-2 departed the station on November 7, 2021, whilst Crew-3 launched three days later and arrived safely at the sprawling orbital outpost on November 11, 2021. In this instance, there was no absence of U.S. personnel, since NASA’s Mark Vande Hei was still on ISSS. But had he not been aboard, the indirect handover of USOS operations from Crew-2 to Crew-3 might have left an unwanted gap in U.S. station crewing.
On January 6, 2022, Hei and Dubrov completed 273 days on ISS, surpassing Andrew R. Morgan
Andrew Richard "Drew" Morgan (born February 5, 1976) is a NASA astronaut from the class of 2013.
Personal life
Andrew is married to Stacey Morgan; they have four children.
Early life and education
Morgan was born in Morgantown, West Virg ...
‘s record of 272 days on-board. Shortly before his return to Earth, he passed 340 days in space, surpassing Scott Kelly as the record holder for the longest American spaceflight.
He returned to Earth with Soyuz MS-19
Soyuz MS-19 was a Soyuz spaceflight which launched on 5 October 2021, at 08:55:02 UTC. It was the 147th flight of a crewed Soyuz spacecraft. The launching crew consisted of Russian commander Anton Shkaplerov, Russian film director Klim Shipenk ...
on March 30, 2022, having spent a total of 355 days in space on a mission to better observe the effects of long-duration spaceflight on humans.
Return
On March 10, 2022, Dmitry Rogozin posted a video on social media threatening to abandon Vande Hei on the ISS in retaliation against American sanctions on Russia's high tech imports that were placed upon Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He landed as planned on March 30.
Six months after returning from his 355 days in space, Mark returned to his high school, Benilde-St. Margaret's on September 23, 2022. During the 2015-2016 school year, two students from Benilde-St. Margaret's were chosen to give their student ID cards to Vande Hei so he could take the cards to space with him. Mark returned these IDs when at the school. A representative for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz
Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019.
Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz ...
declared September 23, 2022 to be Mark Vande Hei Day in Minnesota. Brian Bruess, the president of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are two closely related private, Catholic higher education institutions in Minnesota. The College of Saint Benedict is a women's college located in St. Joseph, while Saint John's Univ ...
, also came to congratulate Vande Hei.
Personal life
He was born in Virginia and raised in New Jersey and Minnesota. He is married to Julie Vande Hei and has two children.
Cinematography
On May 14, 2021, the Interagency Committee approved the composition of the ISS main and alternate crews for the period 2021-2023. Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (commander) and the crew of the film '' The Challenge'': actress Yulia Peresild
Yulia Sergeevna Peresild (russian: Юлия Сергеевна Пересильд; born 5 September 1984) is a Russian stage and film actress. She is the first professional actress to act in outer space after her spaceflight to the ISS in Octobe ...
and director Klim Shipenko, went to the ISS onboard Soyuz MS-19. The drama is a joint project of Roscosmos, Channel One and the Yellow, Black and White
Yellow, Black and White (YBW) Group is a Russian company, engaged in TV shows, series and movies production. The main company's partner from 2008 to 2017 (in 2021 partnership was restored) is "STS" TV channel. In the period from 2018 till 2020 YBW ...
studio.
The director and actress returned to Earth on October 17, 2021, on Soyuz MS-18, with Commander Oleg Novitskiy. Cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who arrived at the ISS on Soyuz MS-18, joined Shkaplerov on the landing of Soyuz MS-19, on March 30, 2022.
Movie shot on ISS
Klim Shipenko shot about 35–40 minutes of film on the ISS, as well as taking on the position of director, operator, art director, and makeup artist. Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov will appear in the film, with Dubrov and Mark Vande Hei assisting in the production.
References
External links
*
Spacefacts biography of Mark T. Vande Hei
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vande Hei, Mark
1966 births
Aquanauts
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni
Living people
NASA civilian astronauts
People from Falls Church, Virginia
Spacewalkers
Stanford University alumni
United States Army astronauts
United States Army colonels
United States Army personnel of the Iraq War
United States Military Academy faculty