Astronaut Anne McClain brought her 4-year-old son to a NASA photo shoot before flying to space, and the pictures will melt your heart

astronaut anne mcclain portrait nasa
NASA astronaut Anne McClain. NASA
  • NASA astronaut Anne McClain launched to the International Space Station on December 3, 2018.
  • Before rocketing into orbit, McClain brought her son along to a NASA portrait session. He hammed it up for the camera, leading to some adorable photos.
  • The astronaut tweeted the pictures in March 2018 in support of moms who struggle to find a work-life balance.
  • McClain is now poised to perform the first all-female spacewalk with fellow astronaut Christina Hammock Koch on March 29.
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Editor's note (August 29, 2019): This story has been updated to remove images of a minor and add new information. It was originally published on March 13, 2018.

Before NASA's talented astronauts launch into space, they pose for an official photo shoot.

Most future space flyers play it safe: They crawl inside a custom-fit spacesuit, smile for the camera, then get back to their rigorous training. A few, however, bring family, friends, and even pets along for the fun.

During a portrait session by NASA in August 2017, Anne C. McClain — a member of the 21st astronaut class, a decorated US army major, an attack helicopter pilot, an aerospace engineer, and a mother — brought her preschool-age son, she said in March 2018.

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"The hardest part about training for space is the 4 yr old I have to leave behind every time I walk out the door," McClain tweeted at the time.

McClain launched to and arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on December 3, 2018. She was poised to lead the first all-female spacewalk on March 29 with fellow astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, who rocketed into space on March 14. However, the historic spacewalk did not happen due to spacesuit sizing issues. McClain is due to return to Earth this June.

At the time of her tweet in March 2018, McClain was responding to Abby Wambach, a professional soccer player and fellow mom who was seeking support in maintaining a work-life balance.

"I try to remember he will grow up and know what it looks like, behind the scenes, to pursue a dream. He is my 'why,'" McClain told Wambach.

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In her Twitter thread last year, McClain posted photos of herself in a spacesuit next to the boy. The pictures were taken by photographer Bill Stafford, according to a representative at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

Here are the heartwarming images McClain shared, and what she said the kid thought of knowing an astronaut.

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"Sometimes, I bring him to work with me. Not sure who enjoys it more!" McClain said in March.

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Bill Stafford/NASA; Business Insider

Source: Twitter

When a Twitter user asked McClain what's more difficult — staying or going — she responded: "No easy answer there."

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Bill Stafford/NASA; Business Insider

Source: Twitter

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"One provides immediate comfort, the other achieves not only lifelong goals but also teaches lifelong lessons. Gotta play the long game here," she said. "But it doesn’t make missing out on waffles with the kiddo in the morning any easier. Most parents can relate."

female astronaut anne mcclain son spacesuit nasa 02 edited
Bill Stafford/NASA; Business Insider

Source: Twitter

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McClain told a BART-train-driving Twitter user that "[m]y son would trade me for a train driver without a second thought."

female astronaut anne mcclain son spacesuit nasa 03 edited
Bill Stafford/NASA; Business Insider

Source: Twitter

 

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"He thinks it's pretty normal" to be an astronaut, she said. "His teacher asked their class what their parents did, and he told her I am an engineer. I asked if he told her anything else. He responded, 'Mama, NONE of my friends have ever met an engineer....'"

female astronaut anne mcclain son spacesuit nasa 04 edited
Bill Stafford/NASA; Business Insider

Source: Twitter

McClain isn't the only astronaut to get adventurous with her NASA photo shoots. Former astronaut Leland Melvin, who used to fly aboard the space shuttle, brought his rescue dogs Jake and Scout.

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NASA astronaut Leland Melvin wears a spacesuit and is kissed by his dogs during an official photo shoot. NASA

Source: Gizmodo

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NASA's portraits didn't show the real Sokol flight suit that McClain wore when she launched to the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

female astronaut anne mcclain iss spacesuit empty nasa
Anne McClain/NASA

McClain tweeted this photo of the suit in March, saying: "[O]ne day you come to work and see this, and you realize it is not a costume. It is real. Not for training. An actual space suit — and it's going to actual space. And it has your name on it. 😳"

"[Y]ou have to try out said suit for nearly two hours while pressurized to make sure nothing hurts," McClain said on Twitter. "Well, that nothing hurts too badly. Mission accomplished. My first act in my new real spacesuit was to sit and watch a movie! Oh and play with my gloves."

female astronaut anne mcclain iss spacesuit nasa
Anne McClain NASA

Source: Twitter

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McClain rocketed to the space station in December with her Expedition 58 crewmates: cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

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The Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz MS-11 space ship carrying a new crew to the International Space Station blasts off at the Russian leased Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on Monday, December 3, 2018. Dmitri Lovetsky/AP

They flew to the ISS on a Russian spacecraft called Soyuz. The successful mission vital in restoring access to the space station, since NASA has no spaceships of its own and the previous Soyuz mission in October failed in mid-flight. (An automatic emergency escape system carried the crew to safety.)

After about six hours of flight, the crew safely docked with the space station. McClain is due back on Earth in June.

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The Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft carrying the Expedition 58 crew just before it docked with the International Space Station on December 3, 2018. NASA TV
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Before she returned, McClain and Christina Hammock Koch were scheduled to perform the first all-female spacewalk outside the International Space Station. But lack of an appropriately sized spacesuit torso for McClain led NASA to swap in fellow crew member Nick Hague, scuttling the chance to make spaceflight history.

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Anne McClain (left) and Christina Koch (right). NASA; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

Update (March 25, 2019): Summer Worden, who was married to McClain at the time of NASA's photo shoot, contacted Business Insider by email following the publication of this story. Worden said she is the biological mother and sole legal parent/guardian of the minor. When we asked NASA for a statement from the agency as well as one from McClain (who's currently in space), NASA said it "has no statement on this and does not provide information on employees' personal matters."

Update (August 29, 2019): McClain tweeted on August 24 that she's "been going through a painful, personal separation that's now unfortunately in the media," referring to news reports of the couple's separation and a related legal claim.

 

 

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