The Robinson community all turned to Channel 21 to watch a 1991 Robinson Graduate, Kjell Lindgren broadcast live from the International Space Station on Monday Oct. 5 at 10:12 a.m. Lindgren attended Robinson from 10th to 12th grade, and was the valedictorian of the Class of 1991.

During the broadcast, Lindgren answered student questions, ranging anywhere from “Do you grow in space?” to “ Have you experienced Space Adaptation Syndrome?” Several lucky students were picked to ask him a question, one of which was Iman Garzan, who felt lucky to be one of the few.

“I thought it was really eye opening and inspiring. I thought it was cool that anyone could do what he is doing. I take IB Physics, so I believe all the physics courses and some other engineering courses were asked to ask questions, and a few of them were chosen. Mine was chosen,” said Garzan.

While floating around may be fun, the absence of gravity has had some uncomfortable effects on Lindgren’s body, like blood rushing to his head and chest. While others may have trouble sleeping due to the lack of gravity, Lindgren said that he has found it comfortable to sleep in the microgravity of space. He described how he attaches his sleeping bag to the wall so it does not float away, and sleeps in an upright position.

After taking a few questions from students, Lindgren shared words of encouragement to students about chasing their dreams.

“As you’re deciding what you want to do career wise, chose something that interests you,” said Lindgren.

Lindgren was the Valedictorian of his class, and went on to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. When up in a flight mission in 1993, he coughed. This cough was assumed to be asthma. He was dropped from the astronaut program. He did not let this slow him down, and instead he pursued a medical career. After being picked up to be a doctor for NASA and being stationed in Houston, Texas and Russia, he found out he did not have asthma. After this discovery, he entered a training program to train to go into space. He was chosen to be one of eleven people out of 3,500 to a part of the International Space Station.

This opportunity fulfilled his childhood dream. After training for two and a half years, he experienced his first ever launch into space. He joined others from the United States, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Russia and Japan on the International Space Station. He will spend five months on the International Space Station, having two already served.

Before he signed off, Lindgren held up a Robinson Wrestling shirt and said, “I’m extremely proud to be a Robinson Ram!”

Read an interview with Lindgren from March of last year:

Interview with Kjell Lindgren