Erik Seedhouse is a professor in Spaceflight Operations and Human Factors Aviation Safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. He has extensive practical and theoretical experience in many of the subjects in this book. After completing his first degree he joined the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment. During his time in the ‘Para’s’, Erik spent six months in Belize, where he was trained in the art of jungle warfare. Later, he spent several months learning the intricacies of desert warfare in Cyprus. He made more than 30 jumps from a Hercules C130 aircraft, performed more than helicopter 200 abseils and fired more light anti-tank weapons than he cares to remember!
Upon returning to academia, the author embarked upon a Master’s degree which he supported by winning prize money in 100km running races. After placing third in the World 100km Championships in 1992, Erik turned to ultra-distance triathlon, winning the World Endurance Triathlon Championships in 1995 and 1996. For good measure he won the World Double Ironman Championships in 1995 and the infamous Decatriathlon, an event requiring competitors to swim 38km, cycle 1800km, and run 422km. Non-stop!
In 1996, Erik pursued his Ph.D. at the German Space Agency’s Institute for Space Medicine. While studying he found time to win Ultraman Hawai’i and the European Ultraman Championships as well as completing Race Across America. Due to his success as the world’s leading ultra-distance triathlete Erik was featured in dozens of magazine and television interviews. In 1997 GQ magazine named him the ‘Fittest Man in the World’.
In 1999 Erik took a research job at Simon Fraser University. In 2005 the author worked as an astronaut training consultant for Bigelow Aerospace. Between 2008 and 2013 he served as Director of Canada’s manned centrifuge and hypobaric operations. In 2009 he was one of the final 30 candidates in the Canadian Space Agency’s Astronaut Recruitment Campaign. Erik has a dream job as a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. He holds a pilot licence and in his spare time works as an astronaut instructor for Project PoSSUM, occasional film consultant to Hollywood, a professional speaker, triathlon coach and author. He also serves as a consultant to myriad television productions and in the summer he usually ventures into the mountains – he has reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, Elbrus, Rainier, Island Peak and several others. This textbook is his 30th and final publication (one of his bucket list items was to write a bookshelf of books and Erik’s bookshelves hold 30 books, so objective achieved!). When not enjoying the sun and rocket launches on Florida’s Space Coast with his wife, Alice, he divides his time between his second home in Sandefjord, Norway and Waikoloa.