‘The Longest Goodbye’ looks at space’s emotional costs [Video]

LOS ANGELES – Jamey Simpson remembers getting phone calls from his mother when she was on the Space Station.

“We had a landline at the time and I would run outside with the cord still attached and I’d see her arcing across the sky,” the 23-year-old says. “It was incredible to think that little blip of light is somebody you love. But that was how I said good night to my mom.”

Mom is Dr. Cady Coleman, a chemist, engineer, former Air Force colonel and retired astronaut. She was part of two Space Shuttle missions, departing the International Space Station in May 2011. She logged 159 days in space – 159 days away from her husband, glass artist Josh Simpson, and their son, Jamey, who was 10 at the time.

The experience, both mother and son admit, was amazing. What they didn’t realize was what effect the time away might …