Chasing the Astronaut Dream with The Inspired 24 | Andrew Parris

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I will never not try because if at the end of the day, at the end of my life, if I'm sitting on the ground and I haven't made the space, well at least I tried.

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You can never give up.

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It doesn't matter what happens, you can never give up.

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Welcome to A Heart for Space.

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I am your host, Dr. Imoan Jahangir.

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Join me as we uncover what it takes to reach beyond the limits of what we think is possible and turn the biggest dreams into tangible reality.

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Well, Andrew, I am very excited to have you here today on a Heart for Space podcast.

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As you know, but may be a lot of people don't know, Andrew and I have known each other for some time now and are both space enthusiasts, though there's a lot more to Andrew than that.

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And so we'll dive into that a little bit today, particularly trying to understand how you got here and what you're doing with the Inspire24.

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Yeah.

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So I guess let's start, Andrew.

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For those of us who don't know you, right, how would you introduce yourself, let's say, I'd say at a dinner party, but maybe at a space event?

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Yeah, most likely at a space event.

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Yes, exactly.

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Yeah, well, my name is Andrew Paris.

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I'm a call scientist Titan, and I've been a lover of the space program since I was seven years old and have been wanting to be an astronaut that whole time and have done everything I can to help further that dream.

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That's a good answer.

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What if we're not space enthusiasts?

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Then what would you tell people?

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Oh, I would tell people I'm a three-time Emmy Award winning broadcast television engineer who just happened to work at NASA for 13 years and got to do some incredible stuff like Fly Zero G, scuba dive, all kinds of stuff.

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And I definitely want to dive into that.

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When we talk about your career, because obviously you wanted to be in space, you love that part, but what drove you into kind of television technology and the actual professional career that you followed?

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Well, it was actually a family business.

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My father was a pioneer of local TV stations and specifically more more specifically remote television in the late 50s, early 60s in the Midwest, Omaha specifically.

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And he had four sons and we all ended up in television, two engineers, a sports producer, director and a news anchor.

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So it was, like I said, the family business.

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We grew up in it.

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Are you guys all working in that field now?

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I guess not with each other, though, all over the country.

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Well, technically, I work for the same company my older brother, Chris, does.

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But we work on different projects and different trucks.

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It's all about remote television.

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When you watch a live sporting event,

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There's always an engineer in charge, and that's what I do, and that's what my brother Chris does.

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And then my brother Tim, who lives here in Houston, who produced and directed the rockets and the Astros and does all kinds of stuff for that.

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And then Patrick is a news anchor for KGUN in Tucson, but he's worked his way through different markets, up from the small markets up to the big markets.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, and I had the pleasure to meet him, I think, at the Biosphere.

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Yes, you did, yes.

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A few years back, which was cool.

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Now, for those of us, because I had no clue what an engineer like you does, you know, physically does, until you took me to a truck, which is very cool.

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So if anyone has an opportunity to ever go see one of these trucks, I think it's worthwhile because it was amazing how many things you guys could cramp both humans and technology into a small space.

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But what does it look like on a day-to-day, let's say –

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Maybe not so much right now because I feel like you're supervising more on some of these trucks.

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But if I was going to go entry level and do this, what would that look like?

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Well, basically, when you watch a live sporting event, like I said, there's a staff of engineers on site.

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And these on sites, it's like you take everything from a TV studio, but you put it in a 53-foot long tractor trailer.

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And a lot of them have multiple tractor trailers.

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And you've got to park them before the crew gets there, before the event starts.

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Obviously, you've got to park them.

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And you've got to hook them all up.

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And you've got to make sure everything works.

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And then the client shows up with their operators.

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They'll run the camera, run their replays.

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They're...

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push all the buttons, essentially.

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And I'm the guy, the engineer basically makes sure everything works.

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They're not the operators, but the guy's got to know how everything works to make sure it's working together and plug the signals, route them where they want them and basically get everybody what they need so they can do the thing.

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And I've been and literally every sporting event you ever watch is 99 percent of its remote television people, everything from local basketball, local baseball up to the Olympics and the Super Bowl.

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So people that actually come in from out of town and this is just what they do.

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So it's typically not locals.

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That's pretty cool.

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Depending on like the local television, like for your local market, baseball, basketball, hockey, there you have local crews.

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But for the larger shows, the network level shows, they fly people in from all over the country and over the world, too.

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And then you've won Emmys for this, three times Emmys.

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Was that in sports or was that in something else?

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There are all three.

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All three of them are team technical awards, which are awarded for large productions.

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Like two of them are for back in the early teens.

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ESPN put together a 3D network.

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It was kind of an experiment.

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And we did a lot of work on that.

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And that we basically the academy sees the work you put into it and they nominate you for a team technical award.

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And everybody when they win, everybody who was working on that team gets an Emmy.

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And then the third one was for the Olympics in Rio.

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Oh, very cool.

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Is there an actual like trophy somewhere back there?

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Yeah, it's right.

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It's right there.

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That's it right there in the corner.

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That's awesome.

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Yeah, I generally I leave it in the background.

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I don't unless somebody's paying money, I'll bring up and put it up here.

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But yeah, it's always in my background.

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No, that's super cool.

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And then, so Rio sounds like that would have been a fun experience too.

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But out of all of those things that you've produced and engineered over the last 40 plus years, like which one or what project were you most proud of?

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Now, leaving space aside, because I know you worked at NASA for 13 years and I want to delve into that, but let's say outside of the NASA sphere.

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Well, I have to give a modern mention to after I left NASA, I ended up going,

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We're going to the Kennedy Space Center for the return to flight for STS-104.

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Oh, wow.

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And I was working for HDNet, which was the nation's first all-high-definition television network.

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We did that with Mark Cuban.

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And at the time, NASA didn't have the budget for high-definition television gear.

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So we worked out a deal where we would provide the equipment for the launch and landing.

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And as soon as I heard about the project, I didn't so much volunteer as push my way to the front.

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Yeah.

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Because I still had friends and connections, so it was like getting back into it.

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And as it turns out, it was...

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It turns out I'm there like two days before the launch, and I've had all the equipment's hooked up.

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We've interfaced with NASA.

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Everything's working 100%.

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So I call my boss and say, hey, who are you sending down to direct us?

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And he says, well, I can't think of anybody better than you.

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You know how to do all this.

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Oh, that's awesome.

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So I ended up directing.

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So I had to add that to my resume, too.

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Yeah, so that was the STS return to flight.

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Correct.

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And that was after you left NASA.

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So it was like—

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I mean, that's perfect.

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It's like, that's serendipity, right?

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It's where luck, right?

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Opportunity meets preparedness.

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Exactly, exactly.

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It was great.

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It was great for my withdrawal from NASA.

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That first year or so, it was kind of tough on me because I was used to all the acronyms and dealing with launch schedules and stuff like that.

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And it was great.

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Actually, it was really great to get back.

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I ran into a bunch of people I hadn't seen in years.

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And just to be, you know,

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I have a pride in this space program.

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I even talked about this years ago.

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I was sitting talking to, I forget which astronaut.

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It may have been Wendy Lawrence, but I don't remember.

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They're in our TV studio at the Johnson Space Center, and we've talked about careers and where you want to end your career.

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And I said out loud, I would love to end my career at NASA.

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Unfortunately, it didn't work.

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So getting to go back and...

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Take all that I've learned and all I've done and my enthusiasm and putting it in that project, which was great because we did some engineering that I had never done up to that point and haven't done since.

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But I learned a lot working with the NASA folks.

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And I was already familiar with how they did things.

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So that was like it was a great, great place to come into.

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You knew how to operate.

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Oh, yeah.

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I knew that within the NASA, how NASA does television, the contractors.

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But we had some technical challenges that nobody had ever dealt with in high definition.

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And so I got to, you know, you got to engineer it.

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Yep, exactly.

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Well, I mean, I think that this is a poignant time.

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So we're actually recording this.

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the day after Artemis II went around the moon, right?

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Yeah, you don't even say there's the Artemis.

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I can do that.

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You have the live feed going?

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Oh, yeah, there's the patch.

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I have the Artemis, too, yeah.

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So, pretty epic day.

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Probably this isn't going to be aired for a little bit while longer.

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But when I talk to people, particularly younger people, college, high school, or even younger, I discuss with them how—

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You really can do anything you want in the space field.

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So first, I don't want you to discount yourself.

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You still might retire from NASA because you're not retired yet.

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So you don't know what the next five to ten years hold.

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Yeah, that's true.

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You never know.

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Maybe Jared Isaacman is going to call you up and say, Andrew, we need you.

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The country needs you.

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Get over here.

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Yeah, there's only one phone call away.

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That's right.

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And so I tell people...

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the space industry is going to need all kind of professions, careers.

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Now, obviously, you entered it at a unique time during the shuttle era.

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How did you end up, as a TV engineer, working for NASA?

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Like, walk us through what that process was like.

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Okay.

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All right, well, I...

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I somehow I knew I'd end up in Houston when I was younger.

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I ended up my first actual paid TV job was at a small station in Harlingen, Texas.

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And so I was in Texas and I knew about Houston.

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And then an opportunity for me to work at a TV station in Houston came up.

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So I took that job.

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And my first weekend I was off.

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Ran down to Johnson Space Center, did the tour.

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And this was back before Space Center Houston.

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And did the tours, bought all the patches I could.

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And I remember walking through the museum, which is in the back of Building 2 South.

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And Building 2 South is where the auditorium is.

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If anybody was watching the press conferences during Artemis II, they had a large auditorium.

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That's the auditorium.

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And just behind it is where the museum was.

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Anyway, so I started making friends within the NASA TV world, and when the Challenger accident happened, several of those people ended up coming to work at Channel 20, where I worked.

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Oh, nice.

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They basically did me the solid when they staffed back up for the return to flight.

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They introduced me to the contractor, and that's how I got hired working for a company called Taft Communications.

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And they had the TV contract out at Dryden, Edwards Air Force Base, where the shuttle would land.

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So that's how I ended up working for NASA was going over there through connections with that.

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And then you ended up working with them for 13 years.

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You've worked with astronauts, shuttle landings.

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What was your—if you were going to pick one moment that really was memorable or gave you chills during those 13 years?

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I mean, because I think watching any shuttle—I never got to see a shuttle launch, but obviously watching the shuttle launch gives you chills.

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But when you know the people flying, it's even—

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more significant, particularly coming out of one tragedy, right?

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This is kind of, you came after the initial, um, challenger mishap and tragedy.

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So what was one memory that still, when you think about, you're like, whoa.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It's unfortunately there are, there are not a lot.

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There are a few that I, that I really think of, uh, that I do think about, I remember.

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Um, and, um,

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There's a high point and a low point I'll share with you.

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High point was, after years of working at NASA, I think it was like late 90s, Mike Baker, who's an astronaut, his wife Deidre worked for my company.

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I met him recently, actually.

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Oh, you did?

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Yeah.

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Mike's a great guy.

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And Deidre was one of our producers.

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And of course, when they have shuttle missions, they get to invite friends and family.

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And she got me an invite.

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So I got to go watch the shuttle launch from the family viewing area, which is if you go there now, it's where the Saturn V rocket is.

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And I remember...

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I remember, well, I convinced myself, I promised myself that I wouldn't look through a camera because I spent years and years looking through cameras and viewfinders and monitors and stuff.

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So I wanted to view that launch with my naked eye.

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Well, everybody else has got their little cameras up taking pictures of a little dot, you know.

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I knew there was plenty of documentation.

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I mean, I did that kind of stuff.

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So I don't have to worry about that.

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So I watched that launch.

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And I remember the morning, that was in the morning, morning launch.

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00:13:08.906 --> 00:13:12.067
So the sun was just right coming up, breaking over the horizon.

225
00:13:12.087 --> 00:13:13.468
It hadn't even actually broken the horizon.

226
00:13:13.828 --> 00:13:14.848
So it wasn't in our eyes.

227
00:13:15.228 --> 00:13:18.109
And there was a very thin cloud layer.

228
00:13:19.490 --> 00:13:20.430
I don't remember how high.

229
00:13:21.171 --> 00:13:26.653
And when the shuttle launched, as it launched through, it pierced the cloud layer and threw a shadow.

230
00:13:26.673 --> 00:13:28.373
Oh, wow.

231
00:13:28.393 --> 00:13:29.053
To infinity.

232
00:13:29.714 --> 00:13:30.034
Yeah.

233
00:13:30.134 --> 00:13:32.275
And that is burned in my mind.

234
00:13:32.395 --> 00:13:33.195
Burned in my mind.

235
00:13:34.170 --> 00:13:40.616
And then the not-so-fun memory was the Columbia accident.

236
00:13:40.896 --> 00:13:44.359
I had a friend who flew on that, Casey Kulpachawa.

237
00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:45.540
Yeah.

238
00:13:46.061 --> 00:13:47.522
And I'd worked with her multiple times.

239
00:13:47.542 --> 00:13:52.647
She was just a, you know, astronauts are generally great people, but she was just one of a kind.

240
00:13:52.707 --> 00:13:55.089
She was just so giving and so caring.

241
00:13:56.690 --> 00:14:00.554
And I was actually in Dallas the morning of the Columbia accident.

242
00:14:01.935 --> 00:14:06.699
And I remember looking up and seeing something in the sky that didn't look right.

243
00:14:06.719 --> 00:14:09.442
Well, it looked like an airplane trail, but it broke up and it was funny.

244
00:14:09.862 --> 00:14:15.326
So as soon as I got into Hobby Airport, it was on all the TVs that the Columbia had broken up.

245
00:14:15.467 --> 00:14:17.829
And it was a very hard memory.

246
00:14:17.929 --> 00:14:20.170
I broke down in the airport there.

247
00:14:20.451 --> 00:14:20.651
And...

248
00:14:22.552 --> 00:14:27.015
But I picked myself back up, and as soon as I could, I called back to the Johnson Space Center.

249
00:14:27.035 --> 00:14:29.016
Even though I didn't work anymore, I still had quite a few friends.

250
00:14:29.436 --> 00:14:31.057
And I said, hey, whatever you need.

251
00:14:31.177 --> 00:14:32.878
I'm going to be back in Houston an hour and a half.

252
00:14:33.238 --> 00:14:33.698
You need me?

253
00:14:33.778 --> 00:14:34.179
I'm there.

254
00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:36.920
So I was basically on standby to help out for a couple days.

255
00:14:38.901 --> 00:14:43.564
And like I said, those are the two most vivid memories I like to keep alive in my mind.

256
00:14:44.504 --> 00:14:48.186
Because it's important to remember people, the people who sacrificed for their lives.

257
00:14:48.546 --> 00:14:51.468
The crew of Apollo 1, the crew of Challenger, and the crew of Columbia.

258
00:14:52.328 --> 00:15:00.633
And it's important we don't forget their not only their losses or their or their, you know, their sacrifices, but to learn from the lessons.

259
00:15:00.953 --> 00:15:07.877
I've actually talked up, spoke about that many times about go fever and what when things get out of hand and things go wrong.

260
00:15:08.357 --> 00:15:10.098
And it's important we all remember those things.

261
00:15:10.942 --> 00:15:20.149
No, I mean, and I know other people that know her and spoke highly of her, and I think, yeah, these moments always live in our memories, right?

262
00:15:20.169 --> 00:15:24.372
They're big national moments, particularly when they're tragic like that.

263
00:15:24.752 --> 00:15:25.673
And I know we're all...

264
00:15:26.808 --> 00:15:29.550
anxiously waiting for Artemis 2 to come back safely.

265
00:15:29.570 --> 00:15:38.476
As Jared Isaacman said a few days ago, he said, the best moment for him was going to be when those parachutes have deployed and they're landing safely in the ocean.

266
00:15:38.636 --> 00:15:40.797
Yeah, but what I want to hear is three good chutes.

267
00:15:41.358 --> 00:15:42.398
That's right, that's right.

268
00:15:42.518 --> 00:15:43.479
Similar to what I flew.

269
00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:51.484
We were both worried about it because a few flights before, only two chutes had deployed off of that New Shepard rocket.

270
00:15:52.285 --> 00:15:55.327
So as part of your time at NASA, and I know—

271
00:15:56.525 --> 00:16:23.108
since then because you've been involved with the zero g flights but you flew on the weightless wonder the the vomit comet whatever you want to call it but simulated zero gravity yeah there's this yeah what is it feel like and and i've obviously floated in space though you've had more cumulative float time than i have i just had more consistent yeah what what would you describe it like because i know what i tell people when they ask

272
00:16:24.038 --> 00:16:36.681
Yeah, well, I've had a lot of discussions with people about it, and what I've come down to, it's the most warm and welcoming feeling you can ever experience.

273
00:16:37.222 --> 00:16:44.603
All the pressures, all the gravity comes off, you see this physical float, and your back stops hurting, and other things don't hurt.

274
00:16:44.824 --> 00:16:49.565
You're not fighting gravity, and you feel relieved, you feel free.

275
00:16:49.585 --> 00:16:49.685
Yeah.

276
00:16:50.665 --> 00:17:02.575
And if you've ever watched any video of astronauts in orbit or, you know, doing the sub-automal flights or even on the Zergi planes, you can do anything you want.

277
00:17:02.595 --> 00:17:03.496
You can float around.

278
00:17:03.756 --> 00:17:04.377
And it's great.

279
00:17:04.457 --> 00:17:08.860
I mean, my time at NASA flying, I worked the whole time.

280
00:17:09.021 --> 00:17:10.402
In fact, I was looking through a viewfinder.

281
00:17:10.742 --> 00:17:15.106
And one thing about looking through a viewfinder is it messes with your contributor and you will throw up.

282
00:17:15.186 --> 00:17:17.267
And so I spent two years throwing up.

283
00:17:17.448 --> 00:17:18.308
But it was part of the job.

284
00:17:18.368 --> 00:17:18.709
I did it.

285
00:17:19.229 --> 00:17:24.772
So when I got a chance to fly zero G a couple of years ago for fun, I like grabbed that, ran with it.

286
00:17:24.912 --> 00:17:26.513
And I had so much fun.

287
00:17:27.253 --> 00:17:27.973
It's addictive.

288
00:17:28.233 --> 00:17:29.394
And I assure you can agree.

289
00:17:29.714 --> 00:17:31.055
Zero G is very addictive.

290
00:17:31.355 --> 00:17:37.798
And I can understand why people like Suni and Peggy and Mike L.A. want to keep going back.

291
00:17:38.238 --> 00:17:39.118
Yeah, I do it, too.

292
00:17:39.659 --> 00:17:40.659
Well, it's interesting, too.

293
00:17:40.679 --> 00:17:45.862
When I interviewed Eitan Stibb for my book coming out, Heart for Space,

294
00:17:46.702 --> 00:17:54.530
He said that the Dragon capsule is fine, but the space station, that's when you could feel like Superman.

295
00:17:54.550 --> 00:17:55.191
Oh, yeah.

296
00:17:55.211 --> 00:17:56.993
Because you could just push off and...

297
00:17:57.995 --> 00:17:59.175
Yeah, you can do your Superman.

298
00:17:59.195 --> 00:18:00.036
You can do anything going.

299
00:18:00.636 --> 00:18:02.096
And I don't know if you've ever seen this.

300
00:18:02.116 --> 00:18:10.159
There's some during the early portions of the construction phase of the National Space Station, when they were delivering the large modules, they delivered them empty to save weight.

301
00:18:10.179 --> 00:18:10.859
So they had nothing.

302
00:18:11.239 --> 00:18:14.540
And if you weren't careful, you get out in the middle where you can't grab anything.

303
00:18:14.580 --> 00:18:18.141
And you'd almost and you'd have you know all your rates and you'd be staying there.

304
00:18:18.521 --> 00:18:19.441
And there's nothing you could do.

305
00:18:19.461 --> 00:18:20.562
You could swim around all day.

306
00:18:20.782 --> 00:18:21.762
You'll never get anywhere.

307
00:18:22.042 --> 00:18:23.302
And I'm like, I would love that.

308
00:18:23.322 --> 00:18:25.503
I would love just to just lay there and just enjoy that.

309
00:18:25.643 --> 00:18:26.683
As long as you have a crewmate.

310
00:18:26.703 --> 00:18:32.124
There's a good YouTube video from the ISS, and I don't recall which astronaut it is, but demonstrating that.

311
00:18:32.164 --> 00:18:36.425
So his crewmate puts him in, and then they let go, and he's just stuck.

312
00:18:36.565 --> 00:18:38.946
You're clawing, kicking, can't move.

313
00:18:40.166 --> 00:18:42.287
But an incredible sensation.

314
00:18:42.367 --> 00:18:42.587
Yeah.

315
00:18:42.947 --> 00:18:47.768
Now, as part of your work at NASA, did you actually travel to Russia also, to Baikonur, which—

316
00:18:48.268 --> 00:18:50.129
Now it's not Russia, but still is Russia.

317
00:18:50.549 --> 00:18:51.830
What was that experience like?

318
00:18:51.890 --> 00:18:59.192
Because obviously the U.S. Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency are slightly different, right, and operating differently.

319
00:18:59.373 --> 00:19:04.935
What would you say was what you found maybe most interesting in that experience?

320
00:19:05.535 --> 00:19:07.136
Well, yeah, I made it.

321
00:19:07.356 --> 00:19:15.303
I managed to go to Moscow three times and one time to Baikonur when they launched down to Kazakhstan for the launch of the first Expedition 1 crew.

322
00:19:15.743 --> 00:19:17.684
Anyway, the thing difference.

323
00:19:17.945 --> 00:19:22.108
It was really a rather telling reflection of the Cold War.

324
00:19:22.488 --> 00:19:24.750
I grew up during the Cold War, so that was something I knew about.

325
00:19:25.050 --> 00:19:31.095
And so when the curtain started to fall, the Iron Curtain fell, and we hear all these stories, because you heard stories all the time.

326
00:19:31.115 --> 00:19:31.395
There was...

327
00:19:32.936 --> 00:19:38.779
Ken Oberg was a mission control controller, and he had made friends with some Russians.

328
00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:40.020
So we always had these stories coming out.

329
00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:44.382
Once the curtain fell, a lot of these stories were like, oh, wow, this has really happened.

330
00:19:44.402 --> 00:19:45.682
So we're getting to go there and talk to him.

331
00:19:46.143 --> 00:19:48.624
And it was back then it was very, very secretive.

332
00:19:48.764 --> 00:19:50.085
Nobody was allowed to talk about anything.

333
00:19:50.345 --> 00:19:52.146
But once the curtain fell, you can sit there and talk to him.

334
00:19:52.266 --> 00:20:01.150
And I got to speak to a lot of people, support people like myself who worked for the space program but were, you know, history adjacent and being.

335
00:20:01.750 --> 00:20:05.472
The Russians, the Soviets, I should differentiate between the Russians and the Soviets.

336
00:20:05.753 --> 00:20:13.297
The Soviets did things, I guess we would classify them as with less testing and a little more dangerous.

337
00:20:13.497 --> 00:20:13.657
Okay.

338
00:20:13.997 --> 00:20:16.919
Fly by the seat of your pants, maybe.

339
00:20:16.939 --> 00:20:18.880
Yeah, essentially, yeah, that's what they did.

340
00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:26.044
And I remember when I was growing up, they always referred to the NASA as like the Cadillac and the Russian space for almost like the Chevy.

341
00:20:26.064 --> 00:20:26.164
Yeah.

342
00:20:26.684 --> 00:20:32.748
You know, they had the Soyuz and they just kept building the Soyuz and they kept flying it where we'd have Apollo and then we built the space shuttle.

343
00:20:32.808 --> 00:20:36.690
And then, you know, we always, you know, tricked it out and so forth.

344
00:20:37.070 --> 00:20:38.751
So, yeah, it was just a difference in the secrecy.

345
00:20:38.771 --> 00:20:46.916
And some of the course that was could carry over because you can't change people when they when they change from the communists to the republic they had and so forth.

346
00:20:47.297 --> 00:20:49.138
But it was they loved this.

347
00:20:49.218 --> 00:20:50.578
They loved interacting with us.

348
00:20:50.599 --> 00:20:51.599
They love connecting with us.

349
00:20:51.919 --> 00:20:54.201
And actually, as it turns out, as the as the.

350
00:20:55.601 --> 00:20:59.143
You know, we had the Shuttle Mirror Program, which is a building of cooperation.

351
00:20:59.163 --> 00:21:05.807
And then once ISS started coming online, they started – Russians started taking jobs with U.S. contractors.

352
00:21:06.508 --> 00:21:07.068
Oh, very cool.

353
00:21:07.288 --> 00:21:08.509
As part of the system.

354
00:21:08.749 --> 00:21:15.633
And it was part of this – it was a part of this program that NASA was doing to help keep people, engineers and scientists from –

355
00:21:16.573 --> 00:21:19.155
not having jobs that end up in like doing military work.

356
00:21:19.556 --> 00:21:21.277
So they kept them in the civilian side of it.

357
00:21:21.597 --> 00:21:25.641
And so they moved their whole families over to the United States into Clear Lake where we live.

358
00:21:26.001 --> 00:21:34.968
And we saw groups of people, families walking around in their really nice track suits when they first moved there because they didn't have driver's license in their cars.

359
00:21:35.008 --> 00:21:36.069
And we realized what was going on.

360
00:21:36.329 --> 00:21:41.914
So we started setting up volunteers to drive people around, getting their driver's license the whole nine yards.

361
00:21:41.954 --> 00:21:42.795
It was really great.

362
00:21:43.115 --> 00:21:44.076
That's pretty cool.

363
00:21:44.116 --> 00:21:45.497
And connecting with those people.

364
00:21:46.705 --> 00:21:47.626
It is interesting.

365
00:21:47.646 --> 00:21:54.810
And I mean, I'd say one of the, and anyone you talk to, one of the benefits of space is connecting all of these different people together.

366
00:21:54.830 --> 00:21:55.951
And we're still doing it, right?

367
00:21:56.011 --> 00:21:59.013
And the Russians work with us on the ISS.

368
00:21:59.053 --> 00:22:04.156
They actually have two restrooms, whereas the United States and international partners only have one restroom.

369
00:22:04.196 --> 00:22:07.078
So I think the Russians are always popular for that.

370
00:22:08.619 --> 00:22:10.199
But they're still working together.

371
00:22:10.219 --> 00:22:15.423
And even here as we're going to the moon, right, we have the Canadian Space Agency has an astronaut

372
00:22:16.043 --> 00:22:16.484
flying.

373
00:22:16.544 --> 00:22:21.571
So these things are vastly important for kind of moving us along.

374
00:22:21.992 --> 00:22:22.372
Yeah.

375
00:22:22.693 --> 00:22:27.560
And something that something's important to remember is the people who know what they're doing

376
00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:54.129
protecting things like the even though we have bad relations with this russian government and so forth both sides recognize that the space program is way more important than anything any politics today and that's why they've maintained that um it it it kind of bends the logic stick a little one direction but trust me in the long run it will pay off uh because there's a you know

377
00:22:55.677 --> 00:22:56.960
Everything is cyclical in history.

378
00:22:57.521 --> 00:22:58.784
We'll go one way and then we'll go the other.

379
00:22:58.804 --> 00:23:01.309
And then there'll be a day when this will be history.

380
00:23:01.851 --> 00:23:05.980
And keeping that relationship, in fact, keeping that relation going is what's going to get us there.

381
00:23:08.673 --> 00:23:10.274
Yeah, I mean, I totally agree.

382
00:23:10.354 --> 00:23:17.516
And I've had the privilege to interact with some cosmonauts, and it's not much different than interacting with the astronauts.

383
00:23:17.536 --> 00:23:21.057
You know, they're still high quality, great people who love space.

384
00:23:22.177 --> 00:23:30.440
When you had your 13 years, you know, being that close to space exploration, how did it change your view of what humans are capable of?

385
00:23:32.067 --> 00:23:35.770
Well, as a kid, I always thought being an astronaut was the coolest thing.

386
00:23:36.791 --> 00:23:41.955
And it represented the great unknown.

387
00:23:42.015 --> 00:23:45.418
I saw the space movies in the late 60s, early 70s.

388
00:23:45.518 --> 00:23:47.159
So my mind was out there already.

389
00:23:47.840 --> 00:23:51.383
And being an astronaut was like being on the leading edge.

390
00:23:51.563 --> 00:23:56.707
And that's what I wanted to do until the day I realized you couldn't wear glasses if you're an astronaut.

391
00:23:56.747 --> 00:23:58.048
So that was kind of a bummer.

392
00:23:58.448 --> 00:23:58.749
But...

393
00:23:59.869 --> 00:24:01.209
I don't think it changed my mind.

394
00:24:01.229 --> 00:24:05.590
I think it just reaffirmed it, that the nuts and bolts.

395
00:24:05.610 --> 00:24:06.191
I'm an engineer.

396
00:24:06.231 --> 00:24:07.971
I'm about nuts and bolts, about getting things done.

397
00:24:08.291 --> 00:24:22.174
So when I got to work behind the scenes, working with the astronauts, working with the flight controllers, doing different projects, you know, like I said, I've been fortunate enough to be space history adjacent to a lot of events and people.

398
00:24:23.415 --> 00:24:29.016
And I think I like to call myself a junior historian, but I have seen a lot and I've been

399
00:24:30.042 --> 00:24:42.508
And it's important that we share that because that's what the future is about is sharing information and giving people the encouragement to do what they want.

400
00:24:42.568 --> 00:24:44.008
I mean, it's all about fulfilling dreams.

401
00:24:44.068 --> 00:24:49.250
If you dream of being an astronaut or being anything else, you don't have to be an astronaut to work at NASA.

402
00:24:49.270 --> 00:24:52.212
There's quite a few people I talk to about being, you know, support.

403
00:24:53.157 --> 00:25:05.725
Well, I'd say when I did the analog mission at Biosphere 2 at SAM, Cassandra Anderson was one of my, she was my light commander, and she's a photographer by profession.

404
00:25:06.166 --> 00:25:10.729
She's actually at NASA right now, you know, filming the whole mission, right?

405
00:25:10.749 --> 00:25:11.729
So she was at launch.

406
00:25:12.169 --> 00:25:14.711
She's been in there at mission control in the science room.

407
00:25:14.731 --> 00:25:17.253
So it's been fun watching her Instagram feed.

408
00:25:17.293 --> 00:25:18.854
But this is exactly what you're saying.

409
00:25:18.874 --> 00:25:21.516
There are many ways you can get involved in a space program.

410
00:25:21.536 --> 00:25:21.716
Oh, yeah.

411
00:25:22.336 --> 00:25:27.940
And to be honest, if you want to be an astronaut there, you don't have to go the traditional route of entering as an astronaut.

412
00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:33.684
Many, many astronauts have gotten to other jobs at NASA and through mission control and crew operations.

413
00:25:34.005 --> 00:25:41.370
And they've ended up getting that knowledge and experience and that familiarity and then then being picked as an astronaut too.

414
00:25:41.750 --> 00:25:43.731
I will say you need certain degrees.

415
00:25:43.791 --> 00:25:46.993
So if you want to be an astronaut, anyone here, just make sure you hit the requirements.

416
00:25:47.373 --> 00:26:01.861
But I do think it 100% helps if you work there, because why wouldn't you choose working with someone if you're going to pick two people at NASA, you know, as a NASA astronaut, why wouldn't you pick the one that you know, that you like that you don't mind being stuck in a tin can for six months with?

417
00:26:02.121 --> 00:26:04.003
Already, yeah, a lot of people.

418
00:26:04.023 --> 00:26:05.004
And already accultured.

419
00:26:05.345 --> 00:26:06.266
Yeah, also accultured.

420
00:26:06.586 --> 00:26:08.168
And it's like the whole analog astronaut.

421
00:26:08.188 --> 00:26:11.692
I don't understand why there aren't more astronauts being picked out of the analog astronaut world.

422
00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:12.661
Next time.

423
00:26:12.921 --> 00:26:13.201
Soon.

424
00:26:13.221 --> 00:26:13.581
Next time, yeah.

425
00:26:13.601 --> 00:26:14.562
The next decade, hopefully.

426
00:26:14.582 --> 00:26:15.023
Commercial.

427
00:26:15.183 --> 00:26:15.844
Commercial astronauts.

428
00:26:15.864 --> 00:26:16.784
Commercial astronauts.

429
00:26:17.385 --> 00:26:28.256
So, you know, this podcast is somewhat about chasing dreams, about doing the thing that moves you and kind of like, how do you get to the next spot?

430
00:26:28.396 --> 00:26:30.798
So I want to kind of pivot and talk about the Inspired 24.

431
00:26:30.958 --> 00:26:31.118
Okay.

432
00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:36.163
We didn't meet because of the Inspired 24, but we met before you kind of...

433
00:26:37.768 --> 00:26:39.691
worked on forming this with some other people.

434
00:26:39.751 --> 00:26:44.640
So tell me about what the Inspired 24 is and where it came from.

435
00:26:45.700 --> 00:26:47.681
And yeah, how it all came together.

436
00:26:48.181 --> 00:26:49.221
Well, it all came about.

437
00:26:49.642 --> 00:26:58.525
It was the magic day of the Super Bowl 2021 when Jarek Isomson's ad ran about sending four people to space.

438
00:26:58.985 --> 00:27:01.566
And the space world blew up.

439
00:27:01.606 --> 00:27:02.287
It was amazing.

440
00:27:02.307 --> 00:27:04.427
It was something people had predicted for a long time.

441
00:27:04.447 --> 00:27:05.388
But there you go.

442
00:27:05.448 --> 00:27:06.308
Somebody made it happen.

443
00:27:06.708 --> 00:27:07.569
I entered the contest.

444
00:27:07.649 --> 00:27:08.869
A lot of you entered the contest.

445
00:27:08.929 --> 00:27:10.090
Everybody entered the contest.

446
00:27:10.110 --> 00:27:10.570
Yeah.

447
00:27:11.110 --> 00:27:12.812
And unfortunately, they only picked three people.

448
00:27:12.912 --> 00:27:16.474
But if you had entered the contest, you got an invite to go to the launcher launch.

449
00:27:16.815 --> 00:27:20.377
Well, I started connecting with people on the social media and they had other connections.

450
00:27:20.657 --> 00:27:27.402
So we ended up meeting the night before the launch at a seafood restaurant there at the Cape at the Port Canaveral.

451
00:27:27.422 --> 00:27:27.743
Excuse me.

452
00:27:28.383 --> 00:27:30.485
And it was an amazing group of people.

453
00:27:30.745 --> 00:27:35.368
It was we were all different, but we all shared the same dream, all different talents and so forth.

454
00:27:35.668 --> 00:27:37.009
And there was a point during the dinner.

455
00:27:38.412 --> 00:27:43.858
when the loud music they play at restaurants were outside, and the music dropped out all of a sudden.

456
00:27:43.979 --> 00:27:49.866
And I was saying, I was trying to talk to somebody next to me and say, you know, somebody at this table is going to fly in space one of these days.

457
00:27:50.507 --> 00:27:54.311
Except the music dropped, and it ended up being, somebody at this table is going to fly in space someday.

458
00:27:55.032 --> 00:27:57.374
And everybody heard it and laughed and go, yeah, we agree with you.

459
00:27:57.794 --> 00:27:59.055
And that's really where it started.

460
00:27:59.175 --> 00:28:01.658
We decided, you know what, we wanted to try something courageous.

461
00:28:02.078 --> 00:28:05.521
So somebody said, I saw a company that rents out boats.

462
00:28:05.541 --> 00:28:11.325
You can go out and ride the boat and go sit off the coast and be like, you know, half a mile from the launch pad.

463
00:28:11.706 --> 00:28:12.586
And so that's what we did.

464
00:28:12.647 --> 00:28:16.450
We took a bunch of people out early in the morning before dawn, got out there, sat off the boat.

465
00:28:16.990 --> 00:28:43.097
pad 39a for a couple hours and then went back and that was just amazing for every all of us and so that energy just continued the launch was amazing um getting to sit there as a group and talk and share stories and that just carried through we ended up deciding we wanted to have a call once in a while to talk to each other and that call just all of a sudden it's like you know we need to form a group here and we i don't know what we do but let's form a group so we're coming

466
00:28:45.057 --> 00:28:46.198
You know, Inspiration 4.

467
00:28:46.398 --> 00:28:48.299
Hey, by the way, how many people were at that dinner?

468
00:28:48.399 --> 00:28:50.981
Somebody said, let me count the picture because we took a group shot.

469
00:28:51.141 --> 00:28:52.042
Oh, there's 24.

470
00:28:52.062 --> 00:28:53.342
And I said, the Inspired 24.

471
00:28:55.195 --> 00:28:55.575
Right there.

472
00:28:55.956 --> 00:28:56.356
Karma.

473
00:28:56.376 --> 00:28:56.756
Right there.

474
00:28:57.557 --> 00:28:59.318
And that's how it started.

475
00:28:59.579 --> 00:29:04.142
And it's really, we're about, when you break it down to it, it's really about.

476
00:29:04.162 --> 00:29:05.083
Yeah, what's its core mission?

477
00:29:05.103 --> 00:29:05.223
Yeah.

478
00:29:05.283 --> 00:29:08.586
Core mission is to help people fulfill their dreams.

479
00:29:09.067 --> 00:29:10.047
I mean, it's networking.

480
00:29:10.448 --> 00:29:12.209
It's putting on spaceflight training.

481
00:29:12.229 --> 00:29:14.811
You know, we've done four spaceflight trainings with Chase.

482
00:29:14.831 --> 00:29:18.695
We're now going to bring that in-house and bring it to Houston and all kinds of things.

483
00:29:18.935 --> 00:29:19.595
And that's the thing.

484
00:29:19.956 --> 00:29:21.157
We didn't know we want to do.

485
00:29:21.177 --> 00:29:22.237
We just started doing it.

486
00:29:23.178 --> 00:29:24.539
And that's what we've got.

487
00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:25.419
We've got an innovation.

488
00:29:25.439 --> 00:29:26.299
We have an innovation lab.

489
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:27.640
We have spaceflight training.

490
00:29:27.660 --> 00:29:28.480
We do networking.

491
00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:30.361
We have a newsletter and so forth.

492
00:29:30.381 --> 00:29:36.103
And we're now, as of what is today, the 7th of April, we're well over 300 members internationally.

493
00:29:36.523 --> 00:29:37.863
And that's the most amazing part.

494
00:29:38.143 --> 00:29:42.565
We have a large contingent in South Asia and a large contingent in Brazil.

495
00:29:42.885 --> 00:29:44.145
And those are the two areas.

496
00:29:44.545 --> 00:29:45.286
Mark my words.

497
00:29:45.306 --> 00:29:47.106
Those are the two areas to watch carefully.

498
00:29:47.426 --> 00:29:48.627
India's space program is amazing.

499
00:29:49.067 --> 00:29:50.108
coming up from behind.

500
00:29:50.568 --> 00:29:55.072
I'm pretty sure at this point you could say, as soon as they put somebody in orbit, they'll pass the Russians.

501
00:29:55.793 --> 00:29:58.435
And the Brazilians are not from behind.

502
00:29:58.696 --> 00:30:01.218
And actually, I think I want to speak more to South America.

503
00:30:01.238 --> 00:30:05.942
I think as a group, they could do well working together in a cooperative.

504
00:30:06.202 --> 00:30:08.464
But these are all groups that are, of course, part of the Artemis Accords.

505
00:30:09.005 --> 00:30:12.488
And so they're learning and the stuff that Axiom and Vassar is doing.

506
00:30:13.008 --> 00:30:15.450
And, you know, and like I said, you don't have to be an astronaut.

507
00:30:15.470 --> 00:30:15.691
Wait.

508
00:30:16.111 --> 00:30:27.419
We supported you in your mission to get your flight and through all that, and we're very grateful that we have a few more members who had seats on New Shepard, but that's on pause, and a couple on the Virgin Galactic side, too.

509
00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:33.684
But one of the things that we've discovered is there are people who have incremental dreams, obviously.

510
00:30:34.184 --> 00:30:39.989
And so, like, we've got one member who decided she was a technical writer, and she decided she wanted to be a space reporter.

511
00:30:40.029 --> 00:30:42.450
So she's now a beat reporter for Florida Today.

512
00:30:42.871 --> 00:30:43.591
Another member of our group.

513
00:30:43.611 --> 00:30:45.613
She interviewed me for my fight, which is awesome.

514
00:30:45.633 --> 00:30:45.893
Yeah.

515
00:30:45.973 --> 00:30:47.594
Yeah.

516
00:30:48.034 --> 00:30:52.675
And then we have a member who was, I think he was an inventory specialist.

517
00:30:52.795 --> 00:30:56.397
And he decided, he saw an opening for an inventory specialist at SpaceX in Florida.

518
00:30:56.417 --> 00:30:57.257
He lived somewhere in the Midwest.

519
00:30:57.277 --> 00:30:57.577
That's awesome.

520
00:30:57.777 --> 00:30:58.337
Moved down there.

521
00:30:58.657 --> 00:31:01.778
And I can't tell you his name and hope I don't get in trouble for doing this.

522
00:31:02.119 --> 00:31:03.739
But he just got promoted.

523
00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:04.599
That's fantastic.

524
00:31:04.619 --> 00:31:07.240
And he's going to be a spacecraft technician.

525
00:31:07.260 --> 00:31:09.581
He's going to actually work on the Dragon Capsules.

526
00:31:09.741 --> 00:31:10.141
That's awesome.

527
00:31:10.161 --> 00:31:11.162
Which is like... Can you imagine?

528
00:31:11.522 --> 00:31:11.802
Yeah.

529
00:31:12.342 --> 00:31:14.163
Have your hands on the... No, it's...

530
00:31:15.323 --> 00:31:21.089
It's like when I was at Blue Origin just to be able to touch the capsules and the rockets and be there.

531
00:31:21.789 --> 00:31:32.659
Why do you think it's so important for regular people, non-astronauts, to get this feeling, to kind of pursue these things?

532
00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:35.122
Like what's the benefit for having...

533
00:31:36.399 --> 00:31:37.460
Well, I'm doing this.

534
00:31:38.381 --> 00:31:39.522
For everything from...

535
00:31:39.802 --> 00:31:44.506
I'll speak to it as an individual and then as a people, as a human race.

536
00:31:44.887 --> 00:31:48.110
From the personal side, it's all about the pursuit of happiness.

537
00:31:48.370 --> 00:31:50.552
The ultimate pursuit of happiness is fulfilling your dream.

538
00:31:50.592 --> 00:31:53.594
If you want to be an astronaut, then you do everything you can to be an astronaut.

539
00:31:53.614 --> 00:31:56.277
If you wanted to be a dentist, if you want to be a cardiologist...

540
00:31:56.577 --> 00:31:59.781
You pursue your dream and then you're happy and you're way happier.

541
00:31:59.821 --> 00:32:00.782
You're better at your job.

542
00:32:00.802 --> 00:32:04.887
You inspire others to do good also as you're doing good for yourself.

543
00:32:05.128 --> 00:32:06.970
As far as the human race goes.

544
00:32:07.593 --> 00:32:09.553
our planet is going out in space.

545
00:32:09.614 --> 00:32:17.935
Nobody's doubted that now where it's maybe 50, you still get doubters and stuff like, yeah, the internet, it's a fad, that kind of thing.

546
00:32:18.576 --> 00:32:24.857
And that's where our future is, both in low earth orbit commercially, but also going to the moon, going back to the moon, going to Mars.

547
00:32:25.417 --> 00:32:31.559
We, as a species, are travelers and investigators and we explore.

548
00:32:31.859 --> 00:32:32.519
And that's what we do.

549
00:32:32.799 --> 00:32:36.320
And to deny that is denying our humanity.

550
00:32:37.262 --> 00:32:43.708
Um, and yeah, they'll, it may not be in 10 years, may not be in 20 years, but there'll be hotels and, and facilities on the space.

551
00:32:44.088 --> 00:32:47.512
And this is the one thing I like to tell kids, especially 10 year olds or so.

552
00:32:48.112 --> 00:32:51.555
You're going to grow up into a world where you're going to apply for a job.

553
00:32:52.136 --> 00:32:59.783
And instead of moving from Houston to Kansas city, you're going to go get trained and you're going to go spend six months on a space station on the moon.

554
00:33:00.303 --> 00:33:02.204
Yeah, that's where the jobs are going to be.

555
00:33:02.284 --> 00:33:03.445
That's the reality of it.

556
00:33:03.685 --> 00:33:10.750
And the sooner everybody gets in, you know, gets in step and realizes where it is, that's the better we do.

557
00:33:10.810 --> 00:33:14.233
And of course, this is going to require the whole world to make work.

558
00:33:14.693 --> 00:33:15.954
And that can only do good things.

559
00:33:17.137 --> 00:33:20.539
What in this community, I know we have like a broad range of people.

560
00:33:21.239 --> 00:33:29.404
What is the, I guess, most surprising person or people who have shown up that you didn't expect?

561
00:33:29.444 --> 00:33:30.985
You know, you started the Inspire24.

562
00:33:31.005 --> 00:33:31.185
You...

563
00:33:33.298 --> 00:33:35.538
You are welcoming group.

564
00:33:36.239 --> 00:33:41.179
Who was it or what type of person showed up and you're like, wow, like I didn't think that was going to happen.

565
00:33:41.199 --> 00:33:41.659
But this is.

566
00:33:41.699 --> 00:33:42.140
Yeah.

567
00:33:42.220 --> 00:33:43.880
Well, you know, it's interesting because.

568
00:33:43.900 --> 00:33:45.880
Yeah.

569
00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:53.241
I mean, basically, our only requirement to join Inspire 24 is to have an interest in space and it can be large and it can be small.

570
00:33:53.281 --> 00:33:57.682
You can your your your activity and your function within the group is up to you.

571
00:33:57.742 --> 00:33:58.522
It's whatever you want to do.

572
00:33:58.542 --> 00:34:00.523
And and we're all volunteer organization.

573
00:34:00.543 --> 00:34:02.103
We all have regular jobs and stuff like that.

574
00:34:02.703 --> 00:34:03.904
And I'll be honest with you.

575
00:34:04.124 --> 00:34:05.465
You met Grit recently, right?

576
00:34:06.465 --> 00:34:06.765
Holly?

577
00:34:07.046 --> 00:34:07.686
Holly Bollinger?

578
00:34:08.766 --> 00:34:09.487
She surprised me.

579
00:34:10.067 --> 00:34:10.307
Yeah.

580
00:34:10.367 --> 00:34:11.348
She is totally surprised.

581
00:34:11.368 --> 00:34:12.168
She's fantastic, yeah.

582
00:34:12.248 --> 00:34:16.511
She has blossomed like no human being I've ever met in my life.

583
00:34:16.651 --> 00:34:17.912
She had a really rough life.

584
00:34:17.932 --> 00:34:21.794
She's living up in Oklahoma, dealing with tornadoes and stuff, and she was just...

585
00:34:22.354 --> 00:34:28.636
you know, if you'd met her before I-24, you may have written her off as somebody whose life was just done for.

586
00:34:29.057 --> 00:34:30.497
And there's no judgment on her.

587
00:34:30.897 --> 00:34:32.358
We all deal with our lives.

588
00:34:32.878 --> 00:34:36.760
But since she's joined the I-Inspired 24, she's become a photographer.

589
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:40.221
She's basically moving back and forth between South Texas and the SpaceX.

590
00:34:40.381 --> 00:34:40.781
Very cool.

591
00:34:40.801 --> 00:34:41.382
Starship program.

592
00:34:41.722 --> 00:34:42.922
She's made a life.

593
00:34:43.403 --> 00:34:45.264
She took the opportunity and made a life.

594
00:34:45.524 --> 00:34:46.945
And it's really about opportunities.

595
00:34:47.325 --> 00:34:49.626
And there are other people in our group that have done some similars.

596
00:34:49.646 --> 00:34:52.848
But hers has been the most dramatic in my mind.

597
00:34:52.928 --> 00:34:56.210
And most, I want to say, I want to celebrate her.

598
00:34:56.790 --> 00:34:58.171
People like her, I want to celebrate.

599
00:34:58.191 --> 00:35:03.173
So we do a spotlight member of the group in our monthly newsletter.

600
00:35:03.193 --> 00:35:04.034
And we do it in social media.

601
00:35:04.054 --> 00:35:06.415
And she was like, I was so happy we could put her out there.

602
00:35:07.556 --> 00:35:09.077
And it's just like when you see that.

603
00:35:09.949 --> 00:35:13.691
You know, I'm at the age now where mentoring is something that I do without even thinking.

604
00:35:13.891 --> 00:35:16.432
And then somebody said, yeah, that's exactly what you were doing.

605
00:35:16.452 --> 00:35:17.012
You were mentoring.

606
00:35:17.052 --> 00:35:18.472
I said, well, then I want to do more of that.

607
00:35:19.173 --> 00:35:21.574
Yeah, it is a good feeling, I think, to mentor people.

608
00:35:21.614 --> 00:35:23.114
And she is fantastic.

609
00:35:23.154 --> 00:35:29.337
I met her just two weeks ago maybe and really had been following her story, but it was nice to meet her in person.

610
00:35:30.566 --> 00:35:32.747
Well, I know that you have an astronaut dream.

611
00:35:34.648 --> 00:35:36.508
Are there moments when you're on this journey?

612
00:35:36.528 --> 00:35:39.409
Because I know you're still working towards getting to space.

613
00:35:39.790 --> 00:35:40.330
It'll happen.

614
00:35:40.350 --> 00:35:42.471
I'll be there for your launch when it happens.

615
00:35:42.811 --> 00:35:46.232
But are there moments where you doubt yourself and you think, man, is this crazy?

616
00:35:46.272 --> 00:35:48.573
Like, what keeps you going forward?

617
00:35:48.964 --> 00:35:49.725
down this journey.

618
00:35:50.305 --> 00:35:52.447
I'll be honest with you, I've had some dark days.

619
00:35:53.107 --> 00:36:01.754
Most recently is what I call Black Friday when Blue Origin announced they were pausing New Shepard because I had, it was a triple dark day.

620
00:36:01.774 --> 00:36:06.038
It was a triple dark day for first because just people in commercial space wanting to get space

621
00:36:07.337 --> 00:36:09.719
That's like, well, that was the easiest.

622
00:36:09.739 --> 00:36:11.020
That was the most popular thing.

623
00:36:11.080 --> 00:36:13.321
Virgin Galactic was on pause or so forth.

624
00:36:13.381 --> 00:36:13.661
Yeah.

625
00:36:13.902 --> 00:36:17.224
And the second was I'm involved with several different competitions.

626
00:36:17.264 --> 00:36:19.866
I've lost track of how many competitions.

627
00:36:21.367 --> 00:36:23.088
And I was doing very well in the competition.

628
00:36:23.108 --> 00:36:24.029
The whole thing raises.

629
00:36:24.489 --> 00:36:25.470
And so that's another one.

630
00:36:25.890 --> 00:36:29.673
And the third was, and if my employer hears this, I'm probably going to get in trouble.

631
00:36:30.153 --> 00:36:32.795
I had been working to get a job at Blue recently.

632
00:36:34.196 --> 00:36:37.560
being a television engineer out at Van Hort covering the New Shepard launches.

633
00:36:38.040 --> 00:36:44.087
And I had been massaging that job opportunity for a better part of three years.

634
00:36:45.089 --> 00:36:46.190
And I'd finally got...

635
00:36:48.670 --> 00:36:50.971
a real live interview, not just a phone call or an email.

636
00:36:51.071 --> 00:36:51.351
Yeah.

637
00:36:51.491 --> 00:36:53.271
And it was scheduled for that day.

638
00:36:53.291 --> 00:36:53.351
Ah.

639
00:36:54.171 --> 00:36:55.211
And I mean.

640
00:36:55.231 --> 00:36:56.231
I don't think I knew that.

641
00:36:56.392 --> 00:36:57.272
That's, yeah.

642
00:36:58.052 --> 00:36:59.112
Yeah, it was pretty bad.

643
00:36:59.412 --> 00:37:03.233
And I remember I was, I was out working, I was doing a show somewhere, but I wasn't driving.

644
00:37:03.253 --> 00:37:05.713
I was letting somebody else drive because we all carpool.

645
00:37:06.033 --> 00:37:08.874
And I'm on my phone and I see this and I'm like, oh my God.

646
00:37:08.894 --> 00:37:16.375
And like, not only did I get the email that said, notice that, you know, New Shepard been paused, but then I get the email from the HR saying, the position's gone.

647
00:37:16.395 --> 00:37:16.675
I'm like,

648
00:37:16.855 --> 00:37:17.875
Yeah.

649
00:37:17.975 --> 00:37:20.416
And 500 other positions.

650
00:37:20.576 --> 00:37:21.377
Yeah, exactly.

651
00:37:21.917 --> 00:37:27.219
And I remember kind of just slumping over in the chair.

652
00:37:27.819 --> 00:37:29.140
Seatbelt caught me on the chest.

653
00:37:29.700 --> 00:37:29.980
Yeah.

654
00:37:30.700 --> 00:37:32.541
And I thought, why am I still doing this?

655
00:37:32.701 --> 00:37:33.501
And then I remembered.

656
00:37:34.261 --> 00:37:37.423
I remembered the Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast from around the moon as a little kid.

657
00:37:37.683 --> 00:37:37.923
Yeah.

658
00:37:38.768 --> 00:37:41.809
I remember, in fact, I got to tell, I got to share this with you.

659
00:37:42.189 --> 00:37:46.030
So Artemis does, they do crew wake up music.

660
00:37:46.850 --> 00:37:55.472
And yesterday before the crew went around the backside of the moon and did their observations during the eclipse and all that stuff, which is very dramatic.

661
00:37:56.132 --> 00:37:59.272
They played a message from Jim Lovell.

662
00:37:59.312 --> 00:38:01.233
Before he passed away, he recorded a message for them.

663
00:38:01.893 --> 00:38:05.034
And he ended up with the line, all of you on the good earth.

664
00:38:05.695 --> 00:38:08.316
And that's how he closed his Christmas Eve broadcast.

665
00:38:08.336 --> 00:38:10.136
And it brought me to tears.

666
00:38:11.277 --> 00:38:12.497
That's the kind of thing I remember.

667
00:38:12.517 --> 00:38:17.719
Because that's the moment I remember as a seven-year-old, that was what I decided I wanted to be involved in space.

668
00:38:17.739 --> 00:38:19.160
And hearing him say it was a spark.

669
00:38:19.180 --> 00:38:19.340
Yeah.

670
00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:23.462
That was a spark and hearing it again reminded me why I'm doing this.

671
00:38:23.482 --> 00:38:26.824
And so, yeah, I gave myself about 20 minutes to feel sorry for myself.

672
00:38:27.064 --> 00:38:31.007
And then I was back up coordinating stuff, trying to get things going for I-24.

673
00:38:31.267 --> 00:38:34.009
You know, we got a monthly all hands meeting I got to get ready for.

674
00:38:34.089 --> 00:38:37.951
It's just a matter of, you know, I will never not try.

675
00:38:38.691 --> 00:38:44.255
Because if at the end of the day, at the end of my life, if I'm sitting on the ground and I haven't made the space, well, at least I tried.

676
00:38:45.035 --> 00:38:46.316
And I'm use you.

677
00:38:46.356 --> 00:38:47.617
People can use me as example.

678
00:38:47.637 --> 00:38:49.879
Somebody doesn't give up because that's what's really about.

679
00:38:50.279 --> 00:38:51.060
You can never give up.

680
00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:52.461
It doesn't matter what happens.

681
00:38:52.481 --> 00:38:53.261
You can never give up.

682
00:38:53.742 --> 00:38:55.323
Fool's errand or whatever you want to call it.

683
00:38:55.984 --> 00:38:56.824
And in fact, it's funny.

684
00:38:57.405 --> 00:39:05.611
I've surrounded myself with so many space positive people for so long that I run into somebody who thinks I'm an absolute fool.

685
00:39:06.672 --> 00:39:07.813
And I'm thinking to myself.

686
00:39:08.713 --> 00:39:09.613
Well, that's your perspective.

687
00:39:09.653 --> 00:39:10.793
Where did this person show up from?

688
00:39:10.833 --> 00:39:11.894
Yeah, that's right.

689
00:39:12.174 --> 00:39:15.135
Well, I have to, everybody has their right to their opinion.

690
00:39:15.435 --> 00:39:24.697
But when I get to talking to them, their whole perception of being an astronaut and the whole space program as a whole is completely out of tilt, out of kilter with the real world.

691
00:39:24.997 --> 00:39:27.817
I've talked to people go, we don't have NASA closed down years ago.

692
00:39:28.098 --> 00:39:29.878
We haven't flown a shuttle since 2011.

693
00:39:29.938 --> 00:39:31.818
It says, no, no, we had the International Space Station.

694
00:39:32.078 --> 00:39:32.459
We're doing this.

695
00:39:32.479 --> 00:39:33.399
We're going back to the moon.

696
00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:38.680
And once you get them to realize, once they open their eyes and they realize, oh, hey, wait, we're not going to.

697
00:39:38.700 --> 00:39:38.924
personal.

698
00:39:40.074 --> 00:39:46.075
If I don't get somebody who tries to be a moon landing denier or flat earther, which I just wave bye bye to those people.

699
00:39:46.115 --> 00:39:47.976
I just don't even give them the time of day.

700
00:39:48.576 --> 00:39:51.217
Finally came on TikTok and I posted something yesterday.

701
00:39:51.237 --> 00:39:53.417
And I never, you know, this is new to me.

702
00:39:53.857 --> 00:39:57.718
And man, 30 comments, like 25 of them are like, this is fake.

703
00:39:57.778 --> 00:39:59.759
This is broadcast television.

704
00:40:00.319 --> 00:40:02.899
So those deniers are, they're definitely out there.

705
00:40:02.919 --> 00:40:08.021
And I think you make a good point that this is part of one of the things I talk about when I give talks.

706
00:40:08.061 --> 00:40:09.521
And in the book is you need your people.

707
00:40:10.001 --> 00:40:13.547
You need a team of people to support you because not only will they be there to like

708
00:40:15.037 --> 00:40:18.320
cheer you on when you're succeeding, but also lift you up when things get hard.

709
00:40:19.241 --> 00:40:24.125
Luckily, the day of, as you call Black Friday, I had foot surgery, so I was under some anesthesia.

710
00:40:24.605 --> 00:40:27.968
And so I couldn't really process what was happening.

711
00:40:28.208 --> 00:40:32.091
But it was pretty devastating for everyone.

712
00:40:32.111 --> 00:40:39.017
And, you know, I have a lot of friends that actually work there because I spent six months after my flight working there.

713
00:40:39.057 --> 00:40:42.139
And it's, yeah, it's still hard to process that that

714
00:40:43.080 --> 00:40:51.666
program that so many people worked on that was successful, that was flying people with regularity to space, just for now is on pause.

715
00:40:52.127 --> 00:40:53.888
So we'll see.

716
00:40:54.508 --> 00:40:55.429
But don't give up.

717
00:40:55.689 --> 00:40:56.750
There's going to be something coming.

718
00:40:56.930 --> 00:40:57.270
Trust me.

719
00:40:57.370 --> 00:40:57.811
Virgin.

720
00:40:57.871 --> 00:40:58.651
Virgin's coming.

721
00:40:58.691 --> 00:41:00.052
And then after that, the orbital.

722
00:41:00.112 --> 00:41:01.133
Then we're going to get the orbital.

723
00:41:01.173 --> 00:41:04.316
And then I was lamenting this week.

724
00:41:04.356 --> 00:41:10.420
You know, I'm very proud of the Artemis group, but I was telling my wife and then a colleague that on a different timeline, right?

725
00:41:10.720 --> 00:41:15.325
I would have been on that mission because all of the astronauts selected were either in 2009 or 2013.

726
00:41:15.365 --> 00:41:16.607
That's right.

727
00:41:16.947 --> 00:41:18.469
Which is when I made it to the finals.

728
00:41:18.509 --> 00:41:22.273
So, you know, it got down to about 50 people and they took 10 in each class.

729
00:41:22.933 --> 00:41:24.715
So some different timeline.

730
00:41:24.735 --> 00:41:26.237
Maybe I was flying around the moon right now.

731
00:41:26.317 --> 00:41:28.980
But my co-worker said, don't give up.

732
00:41:29.000 --> 00:41:29.661
They're going to sell you.

733
00:41:29.761 --> 00:41:31.643
You could buy a ticket on Southwest one day.

734
00:41:32.243 --> 00:41:32.443
Yeah.

735
00:41:33.190 --> 00:41:33.510
Oh, yeah.

736
00:41:33.530 --> 00:41:34.951
Starship is everybody's dream.

737
00:41:35.511 --> 00:41:38.813
It's just a matter of they can just get it going right as soon as possible, please.

738
00:41:39.133 --> 00:41:39.413
Yeah.

739
00:41:39.473 --> 00:41:40.234
Fingers crossed.

740
00:41:40.754 --> 00:41:43.675
And they got to get through this IPO, which is a whole nother story.

741
00:41:43.695 --> 00:41:45.836
And then maybe they'll be focused again.

742
00:41:45.856 --> 00:41:46.997
Yeah.

743
00:41:47.557 --> 00:41:55.982
Well, you know, I think it's interesting because you've your life has had an intersection of media, of space, of human potential.

744
00:41:57.551 --> 00:41:58.491
And that's pretty unique.

745
00:41:58.511 --> 00:42:01.333
You know, we all like have our own unique stories.

746
00:42:01.393 --> 00:42:06.015
For me, it was medicine, my kind of immigrant life, growing up two cultures.

747
00:42:06.035 --> 00:42:10.237
But how does that combination, why does that matter?

748
00:42:10.397 --> 00:42:15.279
And what do you think that helps in your storytelling process?

749
00:42:15.299 --> 00:42:17.940
Because you probably have more perspective of that than many of us.

750
00:42:18.631 --> 00:42:26.434
Well, it's I have to say I I realize I'm fortunate to have the life I've had and I'm having the life I'm having.

751
00:42:28.234 --> 00:42:30.375
But I'm a firm believer in being ready, being prepared.

752
00:42:30.915 --> 00:42:33.916
And so when when you know, it's just like everything else.

753
00:42:33.956 --> 00:42:37.297
If you're ready for the job and somebody says, hey, I need somebody to do this, you're ready to go.

754
00:42:37.397 --> 00:42:39.798
And I can tell you multiple stories about that.

755
00:42:40.558 --> 00:42:41.460
But it's really true.

756
00:42:41.580 --> 00:42:44.383
And that's kind of why we do what we're doing our spaceflight training.

757
00:42:44.403 --> 00:42:48.549
That's one of I-24's things is to prepare people because there may be an opportunity.

758
00:42:48.669 --> 00:42:49.250
One in a million?

759
00:42:49.490 --> 00:42:49.730
Sure.

760
00:42:50.091 --> 00:42:51.713
But that means one person is going to go.

761
00:42:53.155 --> 00:42:56.199
But just looking at the larger picture, having...

762
00:42:57.220 --> 00:43:02.942
Getting to travel, I think to travel is one of the biggest parts because you get to meet people from around the world and you get their perspective.

763
00:43:03.202 --> 00:43:11.704
And when you have a greater appreciation for the world, you can help bring out its potential and see the positive in people.

764
00:43:12.384 --> 00:43:14.485
You know, it's one of the things that happens at Space Center Houston.

765
00:43:14.505 --> 00:43:15.305
I'm a volunteer there.

766
00:43:15.325 --> 00:43:16.386
I get there when I can.

767
00:43:16.906 --> 00:43:20.087
Is that, once again, you're around a lot of space-positive people.

768
00:43:20.127 --> 00:43:21.907
People don't go there if they're not interested in space.

769
00:43:22.167 --> 00:43:24.428
But once you get a grandpa that's like...

770
00:43:24.888 --> 00:43:26.849
Yeah, this is silly and stuff like that.

771
00:43:26.929 --> 00:43:34.532
And two cases that I ran into, both of them were the grandpa that was begrudgingly taking his 9, 10, 11-year-old grandchild there.

772
00:43:35.332 --> 00:43:41.714
And I'd end up meeting him at the gate and then end up at the rocket park and got to talk to him and stuff.

773
00:43:43.075 --> 00:43:48.897
And seeing the difference when they came in and when they're there and then when they leave, how energized they are.

774
00:43:49.945 --> 00:43:52.207
how they didn't realize, they just didn't know.

775
00:43:52.668 --> 00:43:56.291
They knew the space program, they knew the shuttle, but they're too busy, they're too busy.

776
00:43:56.652 --> 00:44:05.401
But when you get them to show them what's happened, what we've done in this world, the space program as a whole, whether it's American, Soviet, Russian, Chinese, Indian, whatever,

777
00:44:06.401 --> 00:44:10.504
is an attempt to do what I've talked about, which is explore.

778
00:44:11.064 --> 00:44:21.210
They're sure there were political motivations, but ultimately they could have chosen to take those, you know, the political motivations could have taken some other way or it could have been, you know, others spend all that money.

779
00:44:21.250 --> 00:44:24.793
But the space program is the ultimate expression of humanity.

780
00:44:25.613 --> 00:44:33.295
And as much as the more people you can share that with, the better for like I said, for the individual and for and for the in the species.

781
00:44:33.875 --> 00:44:35.695
And that's just how I live my life.

782
00:44:35.715 --> 00:44:37.596
I just I look back.

783
00:44:38.096 --> 00:44:47.178
I know I was prepared for a lot of those things and I made made the right choices, had great, great support from my mother and a father who's now passed.

784
00:44:47.198 --> 00:44:55.200
And there are times I would say, gee, I wish I had talked to my dad or my mom about that, especially after Black Friday, because if something had happened when they were alive, I would have talked to them.

785
00:44:55.860 --> 00:45:00.124
you know, and they would have said, well, you know, you, you got to give this and never give up and so forth.

786
00:45:00.384 --> 00:45:07.489
And I think that's because they were, they were out of the, what they call the greatest generation survived World War II and so forth.

787
00:45:08.630 --> 00:45:11.292
And even, you know, like, they've seen some things.

788
00:45:11.312 --> 00:45:11.612
Yeah.

789
00:45:11.692 --> 00:45:16.135
And trust me, there's nothing as bad as what they've been through that we've seen here.

790
00:45:16.495 --> 00:45:20.598
And so it's just the, ultimately you got to support, you got to help people.

791
00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:22.360
You got to inspire.

792
00:45:22.380 --> 00:45:22.660
Yeah.

793
00:45:23.719 --> 00:45:35.102
And if you could send a message to a kid who's looking up at the night sky right now, thinking about those astronauts, you know, when I saw the moon today, I was like, whoa, there's some astronauts between me and the moon.

794
00:45:35.523 --> 00:45:36.183
Yep.

795
00:45:36.903 --> 00:45:38.263
What would you say to that kid?

796
00:45:38.343 --> 00:45:39.884
Like, what would be your message?

797
00:45:40.844 --> 00:45:41.104
Wow.

798
00:45:42.345 --> 00:45:44.485
Well, I'd like to keep it short and sweet.

799
00:45:44.545 --> 00:45:48.206
I like to be inspirational and short and sweet, but my wife tells me I talk too much sometimes.

800
00:45:48.246 --> 00:45:48.767
But okay.

801
00:45:49.427 --> 00:45:49.667
Um...

802
00:45:50.777 --> 00:45:54.658
I would say, follow your dream, discover your dream, figure out what your dream is.

803
00:45:54.698 --> 00:45:55.878
Same thing that you talk about.

804
00:45:56.138 --> 00:46:07.461
You've got, and then I learned from you about that because I realized in my process of getting where I'm in now that I went through some, I went through some things that I never could identify, but one of them was saying your dream out loud.

805
00:46:08.221 --> 00:46:09.222
And it doesn't have to be astronaut.

806
00:46:09.242 --> 00:46:10.362
It can be anything you want.

807
00:46:10.862 --> 00:46:14.163
If you got to say that dream out loud for two reasons, one, you've got to say that dream

808
00:46:14.223 --> 00:46:15.243
You got to find your people.

809
00:46:15.283 --> 00:46:16.564
So you got to share that dream.

810
00:46:16.924 --> 00:46:20.326
And two, it's more and more of a larger universal karma.

811
00:46:20.346 --> 00:46:21.866
You've got to put that dream out in the universe.

812
00:46:22.246 --> 00:46:23.307
Mike Mungo has taught me that.

813
00:46:23.327 --> 00:46:24.487
You've got to put your dream out there.

814
00:46:25.067 --> 00:46:28.529
And so I'm a firm believer that the universe is looking out for us every day.

815
00:46:28.929 --> 00:46:33.531
You just have to be paying attention and seeing the opportunities that it presents to us.

816
00:46:34.291 --> 00:46:37.573
And I would just tell him, kid, figure out what you want to do and go after it.

817
00:46:37.653 --> 00:46:38.513
And don't ever give up.

818
00:46:39.606 --> 00:46:40.126
That's great.

819
00:46:40.186 --> 00:46:46.551
I saw an interview with Reed Wiseman today, the commander of the Artemis II program.

820
00:46:47.591 --> 00:46:51.754
And they were asking about his daughters in the interview because, you know, he lost his wife.

821
00:46:51.794 --> 00:46:52.755
He's a single father.

822
00:46:53.735 --> 00:47:00.180
And he said, yeah, my daughters would rather me stay at home.

823
00:47:01.160 --> 00:47:02.862
He's like, they don't want me to go to space.

824
00:47:03.742 --> 00:47:04.383
Absolutely not.

825
00:47:04.403 --> 00:47:13.291
He's like, but, and as my wife told me, it's like, you have to go, you have to seize the opportunities as they come, and this is such an unusual opportunity.

826
00:47:14.072 --> 00:47:15.233
And so you're absolutely right.

827
00:47:15.253 --> 00:47:16.855
I mean, as we said earlier, I think,

828
00:47:18.212 --> 00:47:20.936
Luck is preparedness meeting opportunity.

829
00:47:21.216 --> 00:47:26.523
So you're getting prepared, and when the opportunity arises, you take it, and someone says, that guy got lucky.

830
00:47:27.264 --> 00:47:30.709
But really, you'd been working towards it for 20 years, maybe longer.

831
00:47:31.210 --> 00:47:34.814
Yeah, I've seen people who were not prepared who got the opportunity and didn't take it.

832
00:47:35.475 --> 00:47:36.716
And that's very sad to me.

833
00:47:37.176 --> 00:47:41.099
As I've grown older, I realize that, you know, everybody has a dream.

834
00:47:41.119 --> 00:47:41.859
They may not say it.

835
00:47:41.879 --> 00:47:43.120
They may not know it.

836
00:47:43.340 --> 00:47:48.223
That's one of the important things is identifying that dream, speaking it out loud, and sharing it.

837
00:47:49.064 --> 00:47:51.525
Also, I need to share this story with you about that.

838
00:47:52.026 --> 00:47:54.967
So, once again, I've had a dream of flying in space.

839
00:47:55.428 --> 00:47:58.770
But, I mean, I shared it with my family, but it was just like, eh, space enthusiasts.

840
00:47:59.130 --> 00:48:01.311
But I never, and I would say, yeah, I would love to go to space someday.

841
00:48:01.331 --> 00:48:02.072
But I never really...

842
00:48:03.702 --> 00:48:05.943
talked about it at length, about what it meant to me.

843
00:48:07.384 --> 00:48:08.584
And then Inspiration 4 happened.

844
00:48:09.224 --> 00:48:11.485
And that was a game changer, as you know, for all of us.

845
00:48:12.266 --> 00:48:14.387
And the documentary came out shortly before the launch.

846
00:48:14.407 --> 00:48:26.232
And there's a scene in that one episode where Cyan Proctor, who was a great inspiration to me personally, tells her family members on a Zoom call that she's going to space.

847
00:48:26.392 --> 00:48:28.593
And of course, they've known she's wanted to go to space.

848
00:48:29.013 --> 00:48:30.874
She was with you in an astronaut candidate class.

849
00:48:30.994 --> 00:48:31.194
Yeah.

850
00:48:32.068 --> 00:48:40.874
But at that moment, I realized I never thought anybody else's dream of space flight could be as intense as mine or be serious about it.

851
00:48:40.914 --> 00:48:44.757
And that's when I realized, oh, my God, she has the same dream I do.

852
00:48:45.037 --> 00:48:46.919
That means other people have that dream, too.

853
00:48:47.419 --> 00:48:49.000
And I'm getting chills talking about it.

854
00:48:49.020 --> 00:48:58.587
I can't watch that episode without breaking it down and bawling because it was such a monumental moment in my life when I realized, yes, she got her dream.

855
00:48:59.027 --> 00:49:01.229
I can get my dream and I can help other people get that dream, too.

856
00:49:01.933 --> 00:49:04.614
And the amazing thing is you hadn't even thought of making a group.

857
00:49:04.814 --> 00:49:10.116
That's, you know, the Inspired 24 was preparation meeting opportunity.

858
00:49:10.556 --> 00:49:14.357
You in your mind had already thought of this, but then the opportunity arose.

859
00:49:15.157 --> 00:49:16.057
Strength in numbers, yep.

860
00:49:16.317 --> 00:49:19.098
That's a great example of this idea of luck, right?

861
00:49:19.118 --> 00:49:22.459
Because now we have over 300 people that support each other.

862
00:49:23.239 --> 00:49:24.700
All right, one more question.

863
00:49:25.100 --> 00:49:25.300
Okay.

864
00:49:26.801 --> 00:49:31.462
When you finally look back at Earth, what do you think you'll be thinking about?

865
00:49:34.414 --> 00:49:53.085
Well, that's a big, bold question, and there's a lot of standard answers, and I'll try not to be too cliche about it, but obviously I'll be thinking about my family, the family I've alive and the family that I don't have anymore and how they got me.

866
00:49:53.105 --> 00:49:58.508
They were the ones really responsible for getting me where I am because my parents always told us to, you know,

867
00:49:59.448 --> 00:50:01.590
You know, find something you're good at and do it.

868
00:50:02.391 --> 00:50:06.615
But also be thinking about larger things like this humanity as a whole.

869
00:50:06.655 --> 00:50:14.101
The ovary effect is a very important part of my life and helping people experience it, whether it's in a balloon at 100,000 feet or suborbital or orbital.

870
00:50:14.862 --> 00:50:18.443
Um, but I like to think that I would be thinking about the future too.

871
00:50:18.523 --> 00:50:20.604
I'd like to think about what else can we do?

872
00:50:20.664 --> 00:50:22.404
What can we do next?

873
00:50:22.424 --> 00:50:23.024
God help us.

874
00:50:23.064 --> 00:50:32.767
If I get on the international space station somehow and it's been two weeks or a month or something up there, uh, you won't, I'll be, I'll be on, I'll never come home.

875
00:50:33.127 --> 00:50:33.307
Nope.

876
00:50:33.727 --> 00:50:34.648
I love my family.

877
00:50:34.968 --> 00:50:35.688
I'll miss my wife.

878
00:50:35.708 --> 00:50:37.648
She can come up and visit me, but nope.

879
00:50:37.668 --> 00:50:37.868
Nope.

880
00:50:42.107 --> 00:50:43.448
Well, thank you, Andrew.

881
00:50:43.468 --> 00:50:44.529
I think that's perfect.

882
00:50:45.789 --> 00:50:48.671
I appreciate you taking the time to talk today.

883
00:50:48.771 --> 00:50:51.533
And I think it's great what you've done.

884
00:50:51.573 --> 00:50:54.495
And it's been obviously inspiring to be part of your story.

885
00:50:54.555 --> 00:50:58.638
So I'm glad that we could have the time to have this conversation.

886
00:50:58.978 --> 00:51:00.039
Thank you for having me on.

887
00:51:00.059 --> 00:51:00.879
I really enjoyed it.

888
00:51:01.139 --> 00:51:05.362
And you know this, we're square now because I've interviewed a couple times.

889
00:51:05.402 --> 00:51:05.702
Yes.

890
00:51:05.742 --> 00:51:06.483
And now we're square.

891
00:51:06.863 --> 00:51:08.164
Yeah, it was about time.

892
00:51:08.184 --> 00:51:10.646
I'm glad to be here.

893
00:51:11.523 --> 00:51:13.584
Thank you for listening to A Heart for Space.

894
00:51:14.245 --> 00:51:22.050
If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to follow the show so you never miss an episode and consider leaving us a review to let us know your thoughts.

895
00:51:22.750 --> 00:51:30.155
For more on my work in the pursuit of ambitious goals, visit AHeartForSpace.com and look out for my upcoming book, A Heart for Space.

896
00:51:30.415 --> 00:51:32.857
Until next time, I'm Dr. Iman Jahangir.

897
00:51:33.357 --> 00:51:38.621
And remember, sometimes the only obstacle to achieving an impossible dream is the courage to keep going.