Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk thinks roughing it aboard the International Space Station for six months with five other international astronauts will be a lot like a family get-together over the holidays.
"There are lineups at the bathroom, meals have to be properly co-ordinated and there's even lineups for the use of the phone and everyone loses their personal space a little bit," Thirsk said.
But the veteran spaceman said a combination of patience and humour will be required after his scheduled blast-off from Kazakhstan aboard a Russian Soyuz space capsule in May.
Thirsk, a medical doctor, will be a flight engineer during two separate expeditions within the six months.
Space will be at a premium and the station crew will sleep in sleeping bags, eat freeze-dried food and have to forgo showers and bathtubs.
"It's not like staying at a five-star hotel, it'll be more rustic than that, more akin to camping out," Thirsk said in an interview Wednesday.
The six-person team will include astronauts from Russia, Belgium and the United States, but Thirsk and other crew members agreed they would all likely get along just fine.
"It's something we will be willing to go through," Thirsk said. "It's going to be like that on the space station as well and we'll have to co-ordinate amongst ourselves.
"We all have that type of training, so we're well prepared for that."
Thirsk told a news conference from the Johnson Space Center in Houston he is looking forward to working with the international crew in what promises to be cramped quarters.
Thirsk, one of Canada's longest-serving astronauts after having been selected in 1984, has been training extensively for years for the long-term stay.
That's included advanced training on space shuttle and space station systems, spacewalk training, robotics operations and Russian-language training.
Thirsk, who will celebrate his 56th birthday aboard the station in August, will also be the first Canadian to fly aboard the Russian space vehicle.
Each astronaut is bringing some grub from home and Thirsk hinted that some of the Canadian food items - smoked salmon, caribou jerky, Chinese and Indian foods, fruit bars and candy bars - might be opened up on his birthday.
His six months will involve research as well as work on the station itself. In one of his more complicated tasks, he will operate the Canadarm 2 to help connect a Japanese vehicle to the station.
"One of the best things about the International Space Station program is that it's international ... its international outreach," Thirsk said.
There will be a number of shuttle missions during his stay at the station with a revolving door of visitors.
One trip will include fellow Canadian astronaut Julie Payette, who heads to the station aboard Endeavour, currently scheduled for June.
That will mark the first time two Canadians have been in space simultaneously and Thirsk joked with both of them involved in independent training, it'll probably be a chance for the two to catch up.
It is Thirsk's second space trip. He acted as a payload specialist aboard a space shuttle mission in July 1996.
Thirsk said he's up to the challenge of being the first Canadian to spend such an extended length of time in space.
"I'm honoured to be the first Canadian," he said.
"Really I hope I can bring back the kind of experience that will enable future Canadian astronauts to voyage for even longer periods of time and to other destinations."
Thirsk said eight Canadian astronauts have flown on 13 flights over the last 25 years. And, with each one, the space travellers have tried to do something extra.
"When NASA and the other international partners decide to go to the moon, we want Canada to be a credible partner in that venture."
The father of three said the six-month duration means he will miss out on numerous family events, but that's part of the sacrifice.
"I think I have what it takes to do well, but we'll see," Thirsk said.
NASA announced this week that Thirsk will also fly home aboard the Soyuz instead of hitching a ride with a U.S. shuttle after concerns there would be delays with the latter.
