Orbiting astronaut welcomes new baby

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. | Astronaut Randolph Bresnik jubilantly welcomed his new daughter into the world Sunday as he floated 220 miles above it.

Abigail Mae Bresnik was born as her father circled Earth on his first space shuttle mission, just hours after his first spacewalk.

It was only the second time in history that a NASA astronaut was in orbit instead of the delivery room.

“At 11:04 last night, Abigail Mae Bresnik joined the NASA family,” Mr. Bresnik announced Sunday morning from the linked Space Shuttle Atlantis and International Space Station. “Mama and baby are doing very well.”

It was the second child for Randolph and Rebecca Bresnik, who adopted a boy from Ukraine a year ago. Big brother Wyatt is now 3 1/2.

Mr. Bresnik, 42, a lieutenant colonel in the Marines and former fighter pilot, thanked everyone at Mission Control and elsewhere for their support, especially during the past few days.

Mrs. Bresnik was due to give birth Friday in Houston. But Saturday morning came without any news as Mr. Bresnik ventured out on a six-hour spacewalk, installing antennas and other equipment at the space station.

He specifically asked that he receive no baby updates during the spacewalk so he could focus on the inherently risky job. When he was safely back inside, he learned that his wife had yet to give birth.

As his wife was in labor Saturday evening, Mr. Bresnik was connected by the space station’s Internet protocol phone to the NASA flight surgeon at the hospital. Bedtime came, and the spaceman signed off for the night.

Abigail Mae - 6 pounds and 13 ounces, and 20 inches long - made her appearance long after all the astronauts had gone to sleep.

Mission Control awakened the shuttle crew with the song “Butterfly Kisses,” chosen by Mrs. Bresnik for her husband. Among the lyrics: “There’s two things I know for sure/She was sent here from heaven and she’s daddy’s little girl.”

Mr. Bresnik was immediately patched through to the hospital by Mission Control, which relayed “heartfelt congratulations.”

Mrs. Bresnik, a lawyer who specializes in international law at Johnson Space Center, said before Atlantis’ 11-day flight that she was “a little disappointed” that her husband would not be present for the birth. But she said she understood.

“We don’t choose the timing,” she said in an interview that was broadcast by NASA after the birth announcement. “He’s trained one year for this mission, but really he’s been here five, almost six years. I’m just really excited for him and excited for us.”

In the same interview, Mrs. Bresnik described how the couple traveled to Ukraine last fall and brought their son home with them in December. The couple were stunned when they found out three months later that they were going to become parents again.

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