NASA: Birth of Astronaut's Daughter Delayed

Astronaut Stuck in Space for Daughter's Birth
Astronaut Randy Bresnik, STS-129 mission specialist, is pictured near a floating beverage container on space shuttle Atlantis on Nov. 17, 2009. (Image credit: NASA.)

NASA hasjoined astronaut Randy Bresnik, who is in orbit now, in the waiting game forthe birth his daughter, just one day before the spaceflyer is poised to makehis first spacewalk.

?There?s noword yet,? space station flight director Brian Smith told reporters lateFriday.

Bresnik isflying on NASA?s spaceshuttle Atlantis, which is docked at the International Space Station todeliver tons of spare parts and other supplies. His wife Rebecca, meanwhile, ishere on Earth preparingto give birth to their second child - a baby girl.

NASAofficials said the baby?s birth was slated for as early as today, while Bresnik and his crewmates delivered a wealth of supplies and performed vital station maintenance. But it couldnow be tonight or sometime Saturday, when Bresnik and another crewmate are dueto step out on their mission?s second spacewalk.

Smith said all of NASA is pulling for the Bresnik family, but joked that thebaby?s delayed arrival has thrown a wrench into NASA?s well-oiled shuttle mission plan. He said as much to the flight surgeons at MissionControl in Houston.

?I toldthem, ?Don?t the doctors and Rebecca realize this is NASA and I?ve got a reallywell thought out, well-planned, meticulous plan, and they are not abiding byit,?? Smith said with a smile. ?But I am not going to be able to control thatsituation. Rebecca?s on her own.?

Bresnik andhis wife initially believed they could not have a biological child and adopteda son, now 3 1/2, from Ukraine last year. They found out Rebecca was pregnant justa few months later.

In a NASAinterview recorded before Atlantis launchedMonday, Bresnik and his wife said they planned to induce the baby?s birth twoweeks early because of medical concerns and hoped that would allow them someleeway in coordinating her arrival to a less-busy time in Bresnik?s mission. ?Bresnikwill perform two spacewalks - on Saturday and Monday, respectively - before themission ends with a post-Thanksgiving landing on Nov. 27.

That may notbe the case now. But Smith said that is completely okay.

?We will accommodatewhatever Rebecca and her new baby want to do,? he said.

Bresnik hassaid his situation is no different from those experienced by military personnelwho are deployed overseas, away from their families.

He is by nomeans the first parentto fly in space, but he is only the second American to be in orbit whileexpecting his wife to give birth. NASA astronaut Michael Fincke coached hiswife through the birth of their daughter from the space station during his ownlong-duration flight in June 2004. Fincke met his daughter Tarali Paulina forthe first time when she was four months old.

If Bresnik?sdaughter is born during Saturday?s spacewalk, Smith will speak with flightsurgeons and draw up a plan for notifying the astronaut. Bresnik will be 100percent focused on his mission, regardless, Smith said.

?I?m just asinterested as everybody else, and I?m hoping that everything just works outperfect for them,? Smith said.

SPACE.comis providing complete coverage of Atlantis' STS-129 mission to theInternational Space Station with Staff Writer Clara Moskowitz and ManagingEditor Tariq Malik based in New York. Click here for shuttle missionupdates and a link to NASA TV.

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.