NASA countdown to birth of Randy Bresnik’s girl on earth

November 21, 2009 by Baby Chums
Filed under: News

Orbiting astronaut Randy Bresnik has been joined by NASA in the countdown to the birth of his daughter.

His wife Rebecca, meanwhile, is here on Earth preparing to give birth to their baby girl, the second child for the couple.

On Friday space station flight director Brian Smith said: “There’s no word yet,”

Astronaut Randy Bresnik is flying on, ‘Atlantis’ one of three of NASA’s operational space shuttles.

NASA had planned to withdraw Atlantis from service in 2008. However, because of the final retirement of the shuttle fleet in 2010, this was deemed uneconomic. It was planned that Atlantis would be kept in near flight condition to be used as a parts hulk for ‘Discovery’ and ‘Endeavour’, it’s currently docked at the International Space Station to deliver tons of supplies and spare parts.

Officials at NASA said the baby’s birth was scheduled anytime now, perhaps even tonight as Bresnik and another crewmate are due to step out on their mission’s second spacewalk.

Bresnik has said his situation is no different from those experienced by military personnel who are deployed overseas.

Not the first parent to fly in space, Bresnick however only the second American to be in orbit while expecting his wife to give birth. NASA astronaut Michael Fincke coached his wife through the birth of their daughter from the space station during his own long-duration flight in June 2004.

If Bresnik’s daughter is born during Saturday’s spacewalk, Smith will speak with flight surgeons and draw up a plan for notifying the astronaut.

Bresnik and his wife adopted a son, from Ukraine last year, thinking they couldn’t conceive. They found out Rebecca was pregnant just a few months later.