Astronaut visits hometown students

How do astronauts go to the bathroom?

Very carefully — and with the help of a vacuum system. That was the first of a handful of questions two-time space traveler Rex Walheim answered from hundreds of Tierra Linda Middle School students yesterday.

Astronaut Walheim traveled among the Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the International Space Station in February. It was the second attempt by NASA to install the $2 billion Columbus space laboratory on the International Space Station. Walheim shared images of the successful mission to a gym full of students. He visited Heather Elementary School earlier in the day. Both schools are in San Carlos.

Kids were most impressed with images of earth from space. The quiet bunch began to chatter when Walheim showed images of the Bay Area from space. He also showed them Cuba.

Walheim answered the children’s curious questions following the presentation.

"It takes 8.5 minutes to get to space,” Walheim said.

The booster jets drop into the ocean where boats retrieve them, food is specially made for astronauts and it’s best to stay away from the spicy meals your first few days in space, Walheim said.

In February, Walheim traveled to space with a Tierra Linda T-shirt which he returned to the school yesterday.

"It traveled 203 orbits around the earth and traveled 5.3 million miles,” Walheim said.

The 45-year-old was born the second youngest of five children in Redwood City at Sequoia Hospital. The family lived briefly in Belmont before moving to Detroit. The Walheims returned to California settling in San Carlos in 1970 — where Walheim considers home.

Walheim graduated from San Carlos High School in 1980 before earning his bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley in 1984. He joined the ROTC while there.

Walheim was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force in May 1984, according to the NASA Web site. In April 1985, he was assigned to Cavalier Air Force Station in Cavalier, N.D. and later became an instructor at USAF Test Pilot School, where he served until he commenced astronaut training in 1996.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.