The Astronaut in the sauna

One of the features of a Viking cruise are the cultural enrichment talks. Subject matter experts conduct a series of presentations in the ship theatre. The talks generally relate to the area of the world in which we are sailing. For this cruise topics have included: Pacific exploration, plate tectonics, history of navigation, and volcanoes.

But there are also speakers on more general interest subjects. I had the good fortune to meet one of those speakers by chance in the sauna. First let me say I had never ventured into a sauna on any prior Viking cruises. I think what held me back was this idea of a bunch of naked seniors crowded into a small wooden box sweating like crazy. In my case this was only partly true. No one naked and only one person in the sauna when I entered.

There was no talking at first but then the other guy broke the ice (pun intended). We introduced ourselves and engaged in some small talk about families and where we lived. He said he lived near Houston and I asked him what he did there. Said he was the mayor of a small town, but then he dropped the bombshell that he was a retired astronaut and the featured speaker on becoming an astronaut. He went on to describe his business relationship with Viking and that he and his wife would be exiting the cruise ship when we made port in Auckland,NZ. I jokingly told him that while wearing my NASA t-shirt a few passengers asked if I was the astronaut lecturer. So that’s how I met Captain Mike Foreman, naval aviator and 2X shuttle astronaut.

Later when I told Mandy and Sean about this chance encounter, Sean (who goes by Space Cadet) when managing summer camps at the University of Oregon said I had to show him his shuttle and spacesuit tattoos. After his next talk on his life’s journey to becoming an astronaut, I lined up to greet Capt. Foreman and reminded him about the sauna. After the obligatory selfie, I showed him Sean’s tattoos. His only remark: ” Your son certainly earned the call sign, Space Cadet”