Astronaut Steve Swanson, a CU grad, on space station: Great views, bad food

Swanson compares space to 'being a kid and you find the best playground in the world'

Astronaut Steve Swanson, a University of Colorado graduate now living aboard the international space station, tries to spot Boulder every time the vessel flies by the U.S.

But the space station orbits Earth at roughly 5 miles per second, so even on clear days, he usually whiffs.

"I thought it would be easy," said Swanson, 53, during a video chat with students Wednesday. "You think you'll just look for the mountains, but by the time you take about 10 seconds to process it, you're past."

Donning a CU T-shirt and speaking into a floating microphone, Swanson who earned a bachelor's degree in engineering physics from CU in 1983 met for an hour with an audience of about 50 at CU's Fiske Planetarium, reminiscing about his days in Colorado and fielding questions on everything from gravitational physics to his distaste for space food.

He's been on the space station since March 25 and will assume command of the vessel in September. So far, so good, he said Wednesday.

"It's like being a kid and you find the best playground in the world, and then you get to stay there for five months," he said.

When asked his favorite part of living on the space station, Swanson didn't think twice.

"The best thing you can do is a space walk," he said. "The views are fantastic. The overall experience is just fantastic."

On one walk in particular, he told the audience, "I almost lost my mind with a sense of purpose."

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Astronaut Steve Swanson, a CU grad, on space station: Great views, bad food