By Sherline Hawkins
A Baltimore County native who worked at the International Space Station for six months received a hero pin for bravery and sacrifice from County Executive Kevin Kamenetz Tuesday.
Reid Wiseman of Cockeysville was celebrated during a ceremony before county officials, friends and family at the historic courthouse in Towson.
“What’s unusual to us is your everyday life and we’d like to recognize you as well as one of our Baltimore County heroes,” Kamenetz said shortly before giving Wiseman his hero pin.
Wiseman, who gained popularity by tweeting photos and video from space, returned in November after journeying on the International Space Station for six months to study human physiology.
“I’m used to being a part of the Earth,” Wiseman said. “I looked at myself as a living being on this rock and when I went to space… you start to realize that the Earth is far more alive than any of us.”
After graduating from Dulaney High in 1993, Wiseman was commissioned through Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute to join the Navy as a qualified pilot. While piloting missions in 2009, he was selected as one of nine candidates from 3,500 to begin NASA astronaut training.
Wiseman used his time in Baltimore by speaking at the Maryland Science Center, where he gave two presentations to school children and county residents.