Staff photo by Fritz Busch United States Space Force colonel and former NASA astronaut Michael Scott Hopkins speaks to Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s students and staff and students from New Ulm Cathedral, Wabasso, Marshall and Minneota in the St. Mary’s auditorium Friday.

SLEEPY EYE — Col. Mike Hopkins, the first U.S. astronaut to transfer to the U.S. Space Force who took part in a transfer ceremony on the International Space Station, described his life as an astronaut in detail in the Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s Auditorium Friday.

He served more than 27 years in the United States Air Force, but said he could relate to many of the students because he grew up in rural Missouri cattle farm.

Hopkins, 56, talked about his faith to students from St. Mary’s, New Ulm Cathedral, Wabasso, Marshall and Minneota.

“I realized a strong relationships with God and Jesus Christ was what I needed at a very vulnerable time in my life before my flight into space. I received communion weekly while on the International Space Station (ISS). Practicing my faith while up in space was a huge part of my experience beside the science and technology. My faith gave me a peaceful feeling especially before going into space,” he said.

Hopkins said becoming a Catholic served him well while serving on the ISS.

He displayed a photo of himself on Christmas Eve 2013.

“That’s me, outside the International Space Station, 250 miles up, traveling at about 17,500 miles an hour, circling the earth about 16 times a day. That was my first mission to the ISS. Two weeks earlier, we had a cooling system failure, meaning we had to put together an emergency space walk to go out and fix it,” said Hopkins.

He said it took many years of work to get to the point of walking outside the ISS.

Hopkins said he began dreaming of being an astronaut after reading about astronauts in high school.

He spent 167 days in space before splashing down on SpaceX Crew-1 in the Gulf of Mexico May 2, 2021. Hopkins’ spacewalks included nearly seven hours upgrading the Columbus module. Other spacewalks included replacing and upgrading cameras and replacing batteries.

“Science is why we went up in space. We experimented with worms, who have a similar muscle/skeletal structures to humans,” said Hopkins.

One of favorite space meals was lettuce with soy sauce.

“It was a thrill compared to freeze-dried food,” he said.

Daily exercise was important.

“You don’t use many muscles in space. Your bones get weaker. I used bungee cords to help stay on a treadmill while exercising. I also did bench presses and dead lifts,” said Hopkins.

“Space is great, but earth is better. You feel like you are falling when you take off into space. It was great breathing fresh air after six months in space. When you get back on land, you have to be careful walking at first. It’s easy to fall over,” he said.

Hopkins said seeing the whole earth from space was his favorite sight in space.

His other favorites include weight lifting, running, football and hockey. He played defensive back at the University of Illinois and was awarded the Big 10 Medal of Honor that recognizes one male and one female student from the graduating class of each Big 10 school for demonstrating athletic and academic excellence throughout their college career.

Hopkins retired in May 2023 after a 30-year military career with the Air Force and Space Force. He was as an active astronaut for 14 years.