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>> Kelly Humphries: Hi, guys.

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Welcome to Mission
Control Houston.

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I'm Kelly Humphries, and this is
veteran astronaut Mario Runco.

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We are ready for your questions.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: [Inaudible]
one of the students.

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Hi. This is Ms. Sukumar
from Deptford High School.

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Do you want me to ask the
questions one at a time

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or do you want the students
to be asking the questions?

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>> Kelly Humphries: We'd love to
hear directly from the students,

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but they do need to speak up
so we can hear their voices.

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And I want to make
sure they know

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that Mario knows New Jersey.

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He went to Rutgers University
and is originally from New York.

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So he knows your area.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: Very nice.

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So let's start with
Grant Wilson.

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He's a grade 11 student.

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He's a junior at our school.

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So Grant's question.

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Here he goes.

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Grant.

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>> Grant Wilson: How long have
you, in total, been in space?

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>> Mario Runco: How long
have I been in space?

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>> Grant Wilson: Yeah.

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>> Mario Runco: I had
done three missions.

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The first one was
in 1991 on STS 44.

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That was with the space shuttle.

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And then I did two more
space shuttle missions.

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In '93 and in '96.

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And the total time
among all missions is --

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was about 21 days total,
which now days compared

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to what the guys spend

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on the space station
is a very small number.

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>> Kelly Humphries: Okay,
that's a great question.

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And just a reminder, please
get to the microphone and speak

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up so we can hear you.

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It's a little hard.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: Sure.

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The next question is from Brian
McCachlan [assumed spelling].

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He's a grade nine student.

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He's a freshman.

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Brian, where are you?

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>> [Inaudible].

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>> Ms. Sukumar: All right.

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Brian's not here, but I'm
going to ask the question

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that Brian had asked
on his behalf.

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And the question is how
is space always expanding,

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and where does it expand into?

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>> Mario Runco: How and
why is space expanding

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and what is it expanding into?

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That is a great question,

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and I don't think we know
the answer to at this point.

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Space is, as far
as we have sensed

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with our Hubble space telescope
and other orbiting observatories

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like the Gamma Ray Observatory,
we know that there are objects

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that we can see and sense

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out 13,000,000,000
light years from Earth.

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And that's really the extent
of the known Universe.

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The objects within that
space, the known Universe,

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are expanding away from each
other into distances farther

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than the 13,000,000,000
light years.

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Now, remember, a light year is
about 6,000,000,000,000 miles.

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So I said 13,000,000,000
times 6,000,000,000,000.

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So that's the distance to
the farthest known extent

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of the Universe, at least today.

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And that's a darn good question.

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And maybe Brian will be
able to become the scientist

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that figures that out.

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>> Kelly Humphries: You
know, the other part

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of that is what exactly
is in all of that space?

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And one of the experiments on
the International Space Station,

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the alpha-magnetic
spectrometer, is doing --

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sifting through the various
cosmic rays and particles

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that come to Earth to try to
identify a little bit more

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about things like
matter, antimatter,

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and this theoretical dark
matter that we believe exists

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because we can indirectly
sense that.

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But we don't have any
direct measurements of that.

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And so that's a really
interesting experiment.

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And having the space station
orbiting the Earth provides us

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the power to operate that
outside the Earth's atmosphere.

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And look more at what
is in between the matter

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that we can see and sense.

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And we're ready for
your next question.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: [Inaudible].

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>> Kelly Humphries: I'm sorry.

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We're not able to
hear that at all.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: [Inaudible].

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>> Kelly Humphries:
Something must have happened

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to the microphone.

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I'm sorry.

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You may want to check
your microphone.

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And verify that it's in a
good location and plugged in.

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>> Mario Runco: And while
you're doing that -- oop.

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And while you're doing
that, let me comment

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about what Kelly had just said.

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And that is with
the dark matter.

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Scientists believe that
there is a construct,

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a thing called dark matter.

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And that's because, for
example, the Milky Way Galaxy,

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our own galaxy, has matter
in it, and it is spinning

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around in a disk-like fashion.

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But the rate of spin is

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such that the centrifugal
acceleration outward

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that would throw the objects
within the galaxy like the ball

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at the end of a string when
you let go of the string,

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they would flight outward and
not stay as part of the galaxy.

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But there's enough
gravity within that galaxy

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to hold everything together.

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But the matter and the mass
that we know of in the objects

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that we can see is
not enough to do that.

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So they've invented
dark matter to try

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and solve the equation
so it makes sense.

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So there's something there.

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We just can't sense it.

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And we don't know what it is.

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Now, there is some
-- there are things

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out there called robe planets
that are like the Earth

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or Jupiter that do not
revolve around the stars.

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So they would be dark
planets that we can't see.

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So maybe there's
-- that's one --

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maybe that's one possibility
that's not so exotic

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that would account
for that extra mass.

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>> Kelly Humphries: Okay.

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I'm hearing that we may
have gotten the audio

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connection fixed.

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You want to try another
question, guys?

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>> Ms. Sukumar: Yes, we do.

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>> Mario Runco: Now
that's better.

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>> Kelly Humphries:
We can hear you now.

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>> Yeah. How do you
feel in space?

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Do you feel more
inspired and at ease?

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Or do you become
cynical [phonetic]?

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>> Mario Runco: Ah,
good question.

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I actually -- it's the former.

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I feel very inspired
and uplifted.

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And the reason for that
is when you're in orbit

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around the Earth, you can
see most of the Earth.

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And, indeed, some of
the earlier astronauts

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that traveled farther away from
the Earth like those that went

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to the moon, could see the
entire Earth at one time.

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And it is so spectacularly
beautiful and majestic.

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And likewise, when you
look out into the Universe,

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you see the stars
and the celestial sky

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in a much more vivid fashion.

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And your being among them

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in that setting just is very
exhilarating and inspirational.

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And actually, we had
talked earlier, Kelly and I,

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about some of the work we
were doing here at NASA

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that is related to that in terms
of taking images of the Earth.

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>> Kelly Humphries: All right.

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Next question.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: Next question is

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from Michael Holmes
[assumed spelling].

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He's a freshman.

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And his question is --

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>> Michael Holmes: What do
you use to work out in space?

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>> Kelly Humphries:
Oh, good question.

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And you really need
to work out in space.

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I'll answer the question,
but let me just say, firstly,

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that on Earth, gravity is
working on us all the time.

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And for example, like my heart
is pumping blood right now

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up against gravity to my
head to keep me conscious

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so I don't keel over
in the chair.

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And when gravity is removed,

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the heart doesn't
have to work so hard.

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Yet, when I come return to
Earth, it has to go back

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into that environment.

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So we need to stay
conditioned because muscles

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that you don't use, as everyone
knows, tend to grow weaker.

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So we need to maintain at
least the level of strength

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that we had when
we left the Earth.

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And we use devices such as
ergometers and treadmills

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and cycling machines
and bungees in a fashion

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that are all designed
using springs and the

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like to mimic gravity.

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For example, if I'm
running on a treadmill,

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there are bungee cords
holding me to the treadmill

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such that I can actually run
on the treadmill and it works.

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And then we use bungees
and spring-like things

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to mimic weightlifting
and the like.

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So we try to do -- and
there are many devices

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that have been developed
to help and facilitate

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that exercise protocol.

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>> Kelly Humphries: And just
to add onto that, there are --

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bone density loss is
another important thing

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when you do the long
duration stays in space.

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And so doing this kind
of exercise puts force

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onto your bones in the same
way that you would put force

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on your heels when you walk.

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And that helps keep
the bones strong,

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which is a really
important thing.

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And research into that is
also helping us solve problems

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that people have on
Earth like osteoporosis.

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Some of your grandparents
may have experienced that

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and have -- it's too
easy to break a hip

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or whatnot because of that.

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And some of the research

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in space is helping us apply
what we're learning there

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to diseases we have
here on Earth.

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And so that's another
part of exercise on orbit

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because these folks all come --

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stay up there for about six
months, and then they've got

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to readapt to being on
gravity when they get home.

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>> Mario Runco: And in the case
of osteoporosis, it happens --

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if we don't exercise, we tend
to develop those symptoms

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in the very short
period of time,

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in a matter of weeks and months.

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So we can study that, whereas
normally, on a person on Earth,

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it would take a lifetime before
they had developed any symptoms.

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So we have a very
accelerated laboratory in which

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to develop drugs and protocols
to maybe address that.

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And that's what Kelly
was talking about.

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>> Kelly Humphries:
And nutrition too

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because they're learning
that nutrition and exercise

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in combination have a
really important effect

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on how well you're able to keep
fit aboard the space station.

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>> Mario Runco: I'm sure you've
heard that one before too.

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>> Kelly Humphries:
Next question.

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>> Ms. Sukumar: [Inaudible].

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>> John Gilbert [assumed
spelling]: I'm John Gilbert.

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I'm a senior.

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I want to know how did your
navy career prepare you

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to be an astronaut.

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>> Mario Runco: Ah,
good question.

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My navy career, I was a
meteorologist, oceanographer,

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and I was also a surface ship
watch officer in the navy.

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And the scientific part of my
background, the meteorology,

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oceanography, helped with
my ability to understand all

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of the technical parts of what
is needed to operate in space,

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orbital mechanics and the like.

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So I had a very rigorous
engineering,

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scientific background.

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The navy portion of it
is the crew of a ship,

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much like the crew
of a spaceship,

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is based in operations.

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And it's very similar when
you're operating on board a ship

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or a submarine to
when you're operating

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in a spacecraft as a crew.

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You learn to operate as a team,

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you learn your systems
on the ship.

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And indeed, many of them --
actually, they're all the same.

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Say that, for example,
there's environmental systems

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on the ship, as there
are on a spacecraft.

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So some of the hardware's
different and how it is --

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it functions is different,
but the principle

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and why it's there is
basically the same.

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So it's a very close one-to-one
relationship between operating

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in the naval environment
as a space environment.

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00:11:23,540 --> 00:11:24,830
>> Kelly Humphries: And
interestingly enough,

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one of the crew members

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00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:28,070
on the space station right
now also is a navy veteran.

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Chris Cassidy was a navy seal.

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Next question.

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00:11:35,060 --> 00:11:37,710
>> Solomon [assumed spelling]:
I'm Solomon, ninth grade.

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00:11:37,710 --> 00:11:41,890
And my question is what made
you want to be an astronaut?

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00:11:41,890 --> 00:11:44,990
>> Mario Runco: Well,
I've always had a desire

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to learn new things

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00:11:46,770 --> 00:11:50,660
and to understand the
Universe, what's out there.

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But very specifically,
when I was very young

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at age five years old,
the first satellite went

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into orbit, Sputnik.

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And then shortly
thereafter, a few years later,

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the first human beings, Yuri
Gagarin and Alan Shepard,

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went into orbit around Earth.

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And I knew then that's
exactly what I wanted to do.

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And I feel very, very
fortunate and privileged

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to have had the opportunity
to do so.

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And I'm very lucky to be here
sitting talking to you about it.

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00:12:23,090 --> 00:12:23,890
>> Go ahead?

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00:12:23,890 --> 00:12:24,400
>> Ms. Sukumar: Yeah.

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00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:26,930
>> What do you think is your
most significant accomplishment

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00:12:26,930 --> 00:12:30,070
in all your space
missions as an astronaut?

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00:12:30,070 --> 00:12:32,430
>> Mario Runco: Ah, my most
significant accomplishment?

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The most memorable one was
the one on my second mission,

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was when I did a spacewalk.

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And honestly, I guess the most
significant accomplishment is

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on my last mission,
we had a number

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00:12:48,470 --> 00:12:51,480
of technology development
experiments on board

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that spacecraft, both on
the shuttle and others

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00:12:55,130 --> 00:12:57,920
that we put overboard
and we tested

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in orbit alongside
the space shuttle.

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00:13:00,810 --> 00:13:05,740
And in that sense, is those
technology development

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00:13:05,740 --> 00:13:07,600
experiments were
pushing the boundaries

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of what are capabilities
are to explore space.

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So I guess that, in my
mind, would be something

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that if we can move to an area

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where we can explore it more
efficiently and go farther

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00:13:20,790 --> 00:13:26,000
out into space is something
that I hope continues.

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00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:26,740
>> Kelly Humphries:
and I think some

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00:13:26,740 --> 00:13:28,120
of those were directly
applicable

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00:13:28,120 --> 00:13:30,240
to the space station
development, weren't they?

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00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:31,800
>> Mario Runco: Actually, yes.

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We had attitude control
satellite.

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00:13:35,580 --> 00:13:37,050
It's called the satellite
test unit.

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00:13:37,050 --> 00:13:42,240
It was a device that we tried to
use the forces in Earth's orbit

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00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,140
to control the attitude
of this spacecraft.

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And in a sense, they do a little
bit with the space station.

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00:13:49,250 --> 00:13:53,860
We've got gyros that move
through angular momentum

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that can torque the
space station around.

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We also have thrusters, but
we don't use those that often.

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00:13:59,230 --> 00:14:02,340
And we try to keep the space
station in an equilibrium point

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00:14:02,340 --> 00:14:05,650
where we don't have
to use the gyros even.

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00:14:05,650 --> 00:14:11,510
But all three together hold the
spacecraft where it needs to be.

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00:14:11,510 --> 00:14:12,870
>> Kelly Humphries: Great.

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00:14:12,870 --> 00:14:13,610
Another question?

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00:14:13,610 --> 00:14:18,850
>> How does your body shift
from gravy to no gravity?

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00:14:18,850 --> 00:14:21,130
And how do you feel?

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00:14:21,130 --> 00:14:24,040
>> Mario Runco: Well, the body
does a number of reactions

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00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,630
when you get into space
and you're in orbit

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00:14:27,630 --> 00:14:29,830
and the gravity vector
is removed.

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00:14:29,830 --> 00:14:33,970
Primarily -- and we had
already discussed some of that

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00:14:33,970 --> 00:14:39,010
with the bone density loss,
the muscle toning loss.

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00:14:39,010 --> 00:14:43,940
But the most immediate reaction
that one feels is a fluid shift.

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00:14:43,940 --> 00:14:47,630
And again, I'm sitting
here, or if I'm standing up,

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00:14:47,630 --> 00:14:50,210
gravity is working to
hold my bodily fluids,

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00:14:50,210 --> 00:14:57,000
the bloods in my legs and arms
if I have my arms at my side.

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00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,650
When you remove the
gravity, that --

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00:14:58,650 --> 00:15:00,850
there tends to be a fluid
shift out of the legs,

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00:15:00,850 --> 00:15:02,970
into the chest cavity
and the head.

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00:15:02,970 --> 00:15:04,910
And if you look very carefully
at some of the pictures

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00:15:04,910 --> 00:15:07,560
of the astronauts in space,
they do look a little puffy,

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00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,940
a little more full than
they do on the ground.

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00:15:10,940 --> 00:15:12,640
And that is because
of that fluid shift.

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00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:16,420
Now, a consequence of that fluid
shift is what we call space

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00:15:16,420 --> 00:15:19,110
adaptation syndrome.

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00:15:19,110 --> 00:15:23,660
It's not the same as, but it's
not very much different as,

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00:15:23,660 --> 00:15:27,430
it's hard to describe, as when
you -- if you go aboard a ship

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00:15:27,430 --> 00:15:30,560
and you have a tendency
to be seasick.

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00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,780
It is a similar reaction,
but not exactly.

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00:15:34,780 --> 00:15:36,610
And you tend not to
feel very comfortable.

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00:15:36,610 --> 00:15:38,930
You got this -- maybe
a headache.

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00:15:38,930 --> 00:15:40,530
You might have some nausea.

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00:15:40,530 --> 00:15:42,710
It depends on the individual.

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00:15:42,710 --> 00:15:47,620
And what's the good news is, is
that goes away after a few days.

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00:15:47,620 --> 00:15:48,970
The body adapts.

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00:15:48,970 --> 00:15:52,450
You tend to, you know,
not notice it anymore.

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00:15:52,450 --> 00:15:55,770
An analogy I would draw is if
you ever had a tooth filled,

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00:15:55,770 --> 00:15:58,220
you know, with a cavity
and you had a filling done

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00:15:58,220 --> 00:16:01,580
or you had work done on your
teeth, you know, the first day

341
00:16:01,580 --> 00:16:04,240
or two that you had that
filling, you tend to notice it.

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00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:06,530
But then after a few
days or three days,

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00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:08,260
you don't notice it anymore.

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00:16:08,260 --> 00:16:09,810
You get used to that feeling.

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00:16:09,810 --> 00:16:14,110
And it's sort of the same with
space adaptation syndrome.

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00:16:14,110 --> 00:16:16,130
>> Kelly Humphries: Okay.

347
00:16:16,130 --> 00:16:17,570
Another question?

348
00:16:17,570 --> 00:16:20,740
>> Brian Brookes
[assumed spelling]:

349
00:16:20,740 --> 00:16:23,350
My name is Brian Brookes,
I'm in ninth grade.

350
00:16:23,350 --> 00:16:24,140
I'm a freshman.

351
00:16:24,140 --> 00:16:28,810
And I wanted to know what
does up in space smell like?

352
00:16:28,810 --> 00:16:30,200
>> Mario Runco: Did
I get that right?

353
00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:31,290
>> Kelly Humphries:
What does space --

354
00:16:31,290 --> 00:16:33,290
>> Mario Runco: Smell --
what does space smell like?

355
00:16:33,290 --> 00:16:34,880
That's a darn good question.

356
00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:39,910
Actually, the direct
answer is nobody knows

357
00:16:39,910 --> 00:16:43,400
because space would not
have smell if you're outside

358
00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,430
because it's basically a vacuum.

359
00:16:46,430 --> 00:16:50,010
And there's no way to sense
odors 'cause we need atmosphere

360
00:16:50,010 --> 00:16:52,090
and air for -- to
pass over our nostrils

361
00:16:52,090 --> 00:16:54,220
to have a sense of smell.

362
00:16:54,220 --> 00:16:58,400
Having said that, there is
a sense of odor in space.

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00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,400
And that tends to be
like a new car smell.

364
00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:04,500
If you get into a new car.

365
00:17:04,500 --> 00:17:06,590
Everybody -- most
people like the smell.

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00:17:06,590 --> 00:17:07,610
You take it in.

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00:17:07,610 --> 00:17:10,970
And that is from the
outgassing of the materials

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00:17:10,970 --> 00:17:13,000
of which the car is made.

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00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:14,970
And depending upon
the spacecraft,

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00:17:14,970 --> 00:17:17,150
in the case of the
space shuttle,

371
00:17:17,150 --> 00:17:18,300
I was not aware of that.

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00:17:18,300 --> 00:17:20,700
And you kind of get used
to it because you operate

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00:17:20,700 --> 00:17:22,980
in a similar environment
in simulators.

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00:17:22,980 --> 00:17:26,820
You actually train in the space
shuttle at times before launch.

375
00:17:26,820 --> 00:17:28,520
So you're in the real vehicle.

376
00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,680
And you're also inside
your suits at times.

377
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,120
And what I noticed one
time after being removed

378
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:40,350
from the space shuttle after
several years, I got back inside

379
00:17:40,350 --> 00:17:44,900
of one, and what
struck me was the odor.

380
00:17:44,900 --> 00:17:50,000
The smell of the space
shuttle itself is

381
00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,200
that combined collective of
outgassing from the materials

382
00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:56,190
in the space shuttle, at least

383
00:17:56,190 --> 00:17:57,720
in the case of the
space shuttle.

384
00:17:57,720 --> 00:18:02,700
And it hit me that
that's the smell of space.

385
00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:06,580
So it's not really the
space outside that smells.

386
00:18:06,580 --> 00:18:08,580
It's the things that
we bring with us

387
00:18:08,580 --> 00:18:12,780
that actually give us
a sense of orientation

388
00:18:12,780 --> 00:18:15,470
from a sense of smell
perspective.

389
00:18:15,470 --> 00:18:17,190
>> Kelly Humphries: Now,
you're a veteran spacewalker.

390
00:18:17,190 --> 00:18:19,540
I understand there is a
special smell that comes

391
00:18:19,540 --> 00:18:20,960
with coming back in the airlock

392
00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:22,950
after a spacewalk,
for some folks.

393
00:18:22,950 --> 00:18:23,460
>> Mario Runco: Yes.

394
00:18:23,460 --> 00:18:27,010
When you come back in and
pop your helmet off, again,

395
00:18:27,010 --> 00:18:32,470
it's that odor of the
spacecraft that hits you,

396
00:18:32,470 --> 00:18:35,810
that it's like a sense of home.

397
00:18:35,810 --> 00:18:40,030
I mean, if you walk into
various retail stores

398
00:18:40,030 --> 00:18:42,870
or somebody's home,
there's a slightly different

399
00:18:42,870 --> 00:18:44,240
characteristic odor.

400
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,420
And that's -- you know, if
it's your home and that's --

401
00:18:47,420 --> 00:18:48,970
and if it's something
wrong or different,

402
00:18:48,970 --> 00:18:50,490
then you'll notice it.

403
00:18:50,490 --> 00:18:50,820
>> Kelly Humphries: Okay.

404
00:18:50,820 --> 00:18:51,330
>> Mario Runco: Yeah.

405
00:18:51,330 --> 00:18:51,560
>> Kelly Humphries: Well,

406
00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:53,950
I understand that's all
the time we have for today.

407
00:18:53,950 --> 00:18:56,770
We want to thank you folks
for being with us today.

408
00:18:56,770 --> 00:18:58,210
And thank you, Mario --

409
00:18:58,210 --> 00:18:58,490
>> Mario Runco: My pleasure.

410
00:18:58,490 --> 00:18:59,040
>> Kelly Humphries:
For joining us

411
00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:00,440
and answering the
students' questions.

412
00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:08,160
We hope you have a great rest
of your day and a great weekend.

413
00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:09,580
>> Mario Runco: Take care, guys.

414
00:19:09,580 --> 00:19:09,810
>> Thank you.