Orbiting the earth at 17,500mph astronaut Joe Tanner stepped into space for the first time and took in the view.
Time was of the essence. Joe – mission specialist one – was part of the Discovery crew to service the $1.5bn Hubble Space Telescope. The satellite desperately needed repairing and upgrading.
“When you come out of the hatch for the first time and are outside the shuttle, not confined by the walls, you realise that you are your own satellite,” the 64-year-old said.
“You are heavily motivated not to let go.”
Joe performed two space walks – totalling 14 hours and one minute – out of five on the trip.
“My first day I was out for seven hours and 30 minutes. They are long efforts but it is incredibly enjoyable and you’re doing something worthwhile.
“We were working on Hubble so it was important.
“You’re highly motivated not to make mistakes. You could drive a bolt wrongly and break it or you could lose an item and have it float away.”
That never happened to Joe.
“On my last flight a bolt did get loose but it was not my fault,” he said.
“Then you have to be efficient because you have only got so much time to do the work and you have to get it all done.”
By the time the crew had finished its February 1997 mission Hubble was back to near perfect condition.
HST’s orbit was boosted by eight nautical miles before it was released to continue studying the universe.
“I was basically a flight engineer mission specialist,” dad-of-two and grandfather-of-four Joe said.
“I sat between and behind the leader and pilot and I assisted with anything needed.
“I was heavily involved with the team that would join up with the satellite.
“I was a general member of the crew doing what needed to be done.”
Joe’s first space flight was aboard Atlantis in November 1994.
“Mission to Planet Earth we called it,” said Joe, who now teaches at University of Colorado Boulder.
“Our main job was to look at the atmosphere, look at the sun, study the hole in the ozone and look at the amount of energy from the sun the earth could absorb.
“We were looking at the earth and the sun and the whole relationship.”
They made the first detailed measurements from the shuttle of the Northern Hemisphere’s middle atmosphere in late autumn.
Part of Joe’s mission on Atlantis in November 1994 was to study pregnant rats in space.
“I couldn’t touch them but I could take pictures of them,” the spaceman, whose Welsh speaking mother was from Llandewi Brefi in West Wales, said.
“The experiment was to understand how rat pups gestate in zero gravity.
“Really there was no difference.”
The birth weight of the rats on earth was slightly better. But the space rats caught up.
“So if you want to grow rats in space you probably can,” Joe said.
On Endeavour, in November to December 2000, the Nasa man performed three space walks totalling 19 hours and 20 minutes.
The mission was dedicated to building the International Space Station. The crew delivered supplies to the station’s first live in crew and installed the first solar panels.
“Space walks are so different from anything else physically,” Joe said.
“It is a lot of work and you are working with your hands in space.
“In a spacesuit that is cumbersome. The gloves are cumbersome. But you train so much that you get quite good.”
Joe’s first launch was one of the greatest of his life.
“You’re very excited about the opportunity that you’ve been given and know how fortunate you are to be in that position,” he said.
“It was a day of extreme excitement and anticipation. Things could turn out like had I hoped or not.
“But that is something you have dealt with since the day you were selected.
“By the time I got to launch day I was very excited about the possibilities. If something went wrong I would deal with it in the best way I could.”
The gravity of his duty was at the forefront of his mind.
“If you were not a bit fearful and didn’t have a full appreciation of the situation then it would not be normal,” he said.
“But if you’re really all consumed by that fear you should probably not be in the job.
“You pretty much have the attitude that things could go wrong but it is not going to happen this time.”
Being in space feels “like floating in water.”
Emotionally it is “totally different.”
“On your first mission you realise you realise you have accomplished something you have aimed for for a long time,” Illinois-born Joe said.
“Many astronauts have this dream of being in that position their whole lives, from as soon as they could think along those lines.
“And then you have finally done it,
“That feeling of accomplishment is pretty significant.
“I liken it to the Olympics. If someone has won a gold medal they must have the same kind of feeling.”
In September 2006 Joe was aboard Atlantis again to install more solar panels and other equipment.
The crew performed unprecedented robotic work using the Shuttle’s arm. Joe made two space walks totalling 13 hours and eight minutes during the 12-day trip. The journey covered 4.87 million miles.
He once took a Welsh flag into space. That was donated to the National Museum of Wales.
“And I think I might have said ‘bore da’ to my mum,” he said.
Looking at earth from space “you’re amazed by it’s beauty”.
“And you’re amazed that you’re looking down at it from that vantage point,” Joe said.
The former military pilot, whose cousin Gwyneth Lewis was the first National Poet of Wales, has logged more than 1,069 hours in space over four flights.
“In the day time you cannot see any stars but at night time stars are everywhere,” he said.
“You get to experience that thrill every hour and a half when you go around the earth.”
Space work was a “pleasure.”
“You have always got the opportunity to look out the window and be treated to unbelievable scenes of the planet and the stars.
“The crew of the station got to see a lunar eclipse a few days ago. Then there are the Southern and Northern Lights, which are gorgeous.”
He insisted space had not changed him “but it made me appreciate our planet.”
“I would go back tomorrow if they let me,” he said.
“But earth is a pretty special place. It’s a great place to live.”
