My Countdown

The author is the only wife of a European astronaut so far who has worked in the area of human spaceflight. This makes the perspective of her story unique. Lena understands the ins and outs of the system and lived through it as an intense personal experience.
The crew and the other two spouses of her husband's ISS mission have supported the book and have provided information about their experience which is included in this book. My Countdown is written during the flight itself. It reads like a novel but it is a vivid account of true events told while they were happening. It is emotionally consuming it contains popular information about space science and technology the reader will come out of reading this book with a good overview of the current human spaceflight program it is inspirational in a sense that all the characters are real self-made people. My Countdown will encourage the reader to pursue their own dreams.
This is the first ever book written by the wife of an ISS astronaut. It is different from many astronaut biographies because it is written by the actual participant and not by a ghost-writer; and because it tells a story of both the crew and the spouses in one combined story.

Lena Clarke De Winne. Born and educated in Moscow Lena accomplished Masters Degree in Engineering from Moscow Power Engineering University. With her interest in linguistics, art and psychology she worked in professional sports and advertising, participated in organization of the first professional tennis tournaments in Russia. In 1992 Lena moved to The Netherlands and in 1993 started working in support of the European flights to the Russian Mir station and eventually transferred to the area of human space flight promotion in the International Space Station Program. In parallel to her work she accomplished MBA in The Netherlands and PhD in psychology in America. During these years she met Frank De Winne, a former military pilot and now a European astronaut from Belgium, who became her husband. Their life on the road in preparation to his half-year-long flight to space in 2009 as the first European commander of the International Space Station, Lena's experience of a "wife of an astronaut in flight" combined with over fifteen years of work experience gave her a unique perspective for sharing this story.