Returning Astronaut Surprises Even Himself

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Surprising even himself, NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger bounded off the space shuttle Atlantis on Saturday after four difficult and sometimes dangerous months aboard Russia’s aging Mir station.

“I felt strong, and I still feel physically strong,” the doctor and avid runner said six hours after returning to Earth. “It’s amazing to me. I really thought it would be a lot tougher.”

Linenger stood next to his pregnant wife, Kathryn, who sat in a stuffed armchair and held their 18-month-old son, John. The astronaut even picked up the boy for a family photo.

In a videotaped interview by NASA, Linenger said his ability to walk so well after such a long flight proves orbital exercise pays off.

Linenger felt good throughout the ride back from orbit. He whooped with glee as Atlantis landed at 9:28 a.m. EDT, swerved on the gusty runway and then rolled to a safe stop. Landing was delayed 1 1/2 hours by low clouds.

NASA chief Daniel S. Goldin greeted Linenger upon touchdown with a dozen yellow and purple tulips, which the astronaut promptly gave to his wife. Linenger had requested the flowers as a present for his wife, whom he hadn’t seen since January. Goldin also gave Linenger a gift for the astronaut’s son, a teddy bear dressed in a NASA T-shirt, and a rattle for the baby the couple is expecting in late June.

Linenger’s Mir mission was, by far, the toughest space station stint ever for an American. The 42-year-old astronaut almost had to evacuate the 11-year-old outpost in February because of a fire. He was forced to rely on an unreliable backup system to produce oxygen after both main generators broke in March. And he had to endure temperatures in the 90s, high humidity and antifreeze fumes in April because of cooling-system leaks.

Goldin praised Linenger for the “integrity and extreme courage” he exhibited aboard Mir. Even the head of the Russian Space Agency, Yuri Koptev, was impressed, complimenting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for choosing “people with the right stuff.”

After 132 days in space, the second-longest mission by an American, Linenger returned with weaker muscles and bones than when he took off for Mir on Jan. 12. He exercised like mad in orbit--on Earth, he’s a triathlete--to lessen the crushing effects of gravity and to help him stand upon landing. His rehabilitation will continue for the next month.

Researchers prefer that returning long-term space travelers remain on their backs to preserve the body’s state of weightlessness as long as possible, but they acknowledge that it’s hard to control gung-ho astronauts.

Frank Culbertson, director of NASA’s shuttle-Mir program, said he considers Atlantis’ nine-day ferry flight and Linenger’s Mir mission complete successes regardless of how Linenger exited.

When it picked up Linenger on Mir, the seven-member shuttle crew dropped off a new oxygen generator and crucial repair equipment as well as another astronaut, Michael Foale. Atlantis will return for Foale in late September and drop off another astronaut.