NASA astronaut Dr. Michael Barratt will return to Portland's Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on Saturday, Oct. 3, and Sunday, Oct. 4, for a free public presentation. Barratt built his first telescope at OMSI as a kid. He has since logged more than 446 days in space across three missions.

The event, titled "From OMSI to Orbit," runs from 2 to 3 p.m. both days in OMSI's auditorium, the Portland Tribune reported. Doors open at 1:45 p.m. Advance RSVPs are required; check OMSI's event page for availability.

Born in Vancouver, Washington, and raised in Camas, Barratt grew up on about 80 acres where his family raised sheep and cattle. His mother volunteered at OMSI, and he took classes there as a boy. The museum's planetarium director helped him build that first telescope.

In the Portland Tribune article, Jim Todd, OMSI's director of Space Science Education, called the visit "a great homecoming for Dr. Barratt." Todd said Barratt "has some incredible stories to share." The quote cited nearly 212 days in space, but that figure predates Barratt's most recent flight. His SpaceX Crew-8 mission alone, which launched in March 2024 and splashed down Oct. 25, 2024, lasted 235 days.

Barratt joined NASA in 1991 as a flight surgeon, working on medical operations for the developing International Space Station (ISS) program. He collaborated with researchers at Russia's Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center before NASA selected him for the astronaut corps in 2000.

His first spaceflight came in 2009, when he helped the ISS expand from a three-person to a six-person crew and completed two spacewalks. In 2011, he flew aboard the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery. On Crew-8, he served as pilot.

In a NASA video recorded before the Crew-8 launch in March 2024, Barratt described his drive to understand human physiology in orbit. "I think my passion is the human in space, how we adapt, how we prepare for space, how we rehab when we come back, and how our physiology changes," he said.

While aboard the ISS, Barratt wore an "I am OMSI" T-shirt and displayed an OMSI poster. Both items now sit in Todd's office at the museum.

OMSI is at 1945 SE Water Ave. Visitors can reach the museum by MAX, bus or Portland Streetcar at the OMSI/SE Water Ave station. The ongoing I-5 southbound closure between I-405 and I-84, which began Sept. 11 and runs for up to five weeks, may affect driving routes. OMSI notes that the I-84 west and I-5 north exits remain open.