Interview with Candi Mastracchio

19 February 2014

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Being the wife of an astronaut is incredibly tough – as Candi Mastracchio knows only too well.

And as each time her husband of 32 years, Rick, flies up into space, it does, she admits, get harder and harder.

Rick first went up in a space shuttle 12 years ago and he is now currently in space working as a flight engineer abroad the International Space Station for Expedition 38. It’s his fourth trip. He left Earth onboard the Russian rocket on November 6th 2013 and he isn’t due to return home until May. It’s the longest time he has ever been away from the family home in Houston and Candi confides she has missed him enormously. The fact she can never hug him or even feel his presence in a room, she explains, is extremely tough.

“Ignorance is bliss,” she explains. “The first time he went on a mission, I was more excited as I knew it was what he wanted to do. But as each mission has taken place, so has my anxiety grown. I know a little bit more, I understand a bit more and it’s become a reality. You don’t realise the stress or think about it until it is all over and then you breathe a sigh of relief.
“It has changed over the years and this one has been different because the others have only lasted for two weeks. When he returns home in May, he will have been gone for six months.

“The hardest thing about Rick being away is I miss his presence and the physicality of it all. If you want a hug or you want to sit with him, you can’t do that.

“We try to make the most of the communication. He calls most days and we get to have a video chat once a week. I now have to make a note of things I want to tell him because otherwise you can forget – but I can’t call him back!”
Candi and Rick’s three children – Michael, 29, David, 28 and Lisa, 24 – are all grown-up but they still miss him a lot. Says Candi: “My daughter really misses him. I do think it is easier for me than some of the other wives as they are really enjoying life right now and they are doing what they want to do.”

Aside from missing Rick tremendously, Candi admits his long absences away from the family home can put a strain on the marriage at times, but she is incredibly proud they are still very much in love and together.

“We first met when we were 15 and we did go through lots of little break-ups that people go through and managed to survive all that,” she says. “We have had hard times, I can’t deny it. Marriage is a very difficult thing. With every different decade we encounter, there are things along the way. Right now, it’s pretty good. We are really enjoying life right now.”

Laughing, she says she will be interested to see how quickly Rick adjusts to life when he returns to Earth in May as she recalls how on one occasion in the past when he returned from space, he jokingly told her that some ‘Earthly habits’ were strange.

She explains: “As this is the longest he has been away, I am not sure how he will be. I do know they do a lot of exercise and they have developed routines to keep them as fit as possible for when they adjust back to gravity. But I am sure we will have our things when he comes home.

“I remember when he came back from one mission and I asked him to put out the trash, he said ‘your Earthly ways are strange to me’. I told him to get back into the swing of things!”

She thinks part of the secret to being a good wife to an astronaut is learning to compromise and building up your own independent life. Candi works as a nursing director in a newborn and neonatal intensive care unit in Houston.

She explains: “You do have to be supportive and understand a lot of the different challenges that come with it. But it’s also important for me to have a fulfilling time too. Part of the reason Rick and I are successful with marriage is we compliment each other. My job keeps me happy and busy.

“He definitely appreciates what I do. He has always been very good about that. He knows he couldn’t do his job if I wasn’t picking up the flack at home. He knows I will sort everything out at home. It allows him to do what he needs to do.”

Laughing, she says she has used the fact he is flying up into space to her advantage, explaining that once she discovered he would be realising his lifelong dream, she told him: “If you are going into space, then I am having a pool!”

“He was feeling a bit guilty and so I took advantage of that,” she adds, giggling. “But I would never tell him to stop or retire as he loves it so much.

“I wouldn’t want to go up into space though. I don’t even like to fly!”

And as she eagerly awaits Rick’s safe return, she admits his extraordinary job has meant the couple have experienced some amazing opportunities  -on Earth.

Adds Candi: “We haven’t been part of a jet set crowd or anything like that but we have been to the White House and met some of the Presidents, which was really special. But aside from that, we are just regular folks and a normal couple…I am incredibly proud of Rick and everything he has achieved…”

ENDS

CREDIT: “Live from Space season airs on Channel 4 in March 2014”