1
00:00:07,990 --> 00:00:06,070
we spoke with don pettit at the human

2
00:00:10,150 --> 00:00:08,000
research program workshop a few weeks

3
00:00:12,549 --> 00:00:10,160
back now in one space shuttle mission

4
00:00:15,829 --> 00:00:12,559
and two six-month tours of duty on the

5
00:00:18,310 --> 00:00:15,839
space station totaling 370 days in space

6
00:00:20,150 --> 00:00:18,320
don pettit his hand has had his hand in

7
00:00:22,230 --> 00:00:20,160
almost every experiment and been a test

8
00:00:24,710 --> 00:00:22,240
subject for even more today we get his

9
00:00:27,349 --> 00:00:24,720
take on the not so glamorous but

10
00:00:29,109 --> 00:00:27,359
important side of research

11
00:00:30,710 --> 00:00:29,119
we're hearing a lot about what the

12
00:00:32,389 --> 00:00:30,720
researchers want but we're kind of

13
00:00:34,310 --> 00:00:32,399
interested in what's it like on the

14
00:00:36,310 --> 00:00:34,320
other side of things they want you guys

15
00:00:40,869 --> 00:00:36,320
to volunteer for this research what's

16
00:00:43,270 --> 00:00:40,879
that like it comes with the job

17
00:00:45,590 --> 00:00:43,280
we're guinea pigs

18
00:00:47,590 --> 00:00:45,600
but that's part of our job if you want

19
00:00:49,190 --> 00:00:47,600
to fly a space station it's a scientific

20
00:00:49,990 --> 00:00:49,200
research lab

21
00:00:54,069 --> 00:00:50,000
you

22
00:00:56,229 --> 00:00:54,079
stuck with needles and

23
00:00:59,189 --> 00:00:56,239
and have instruments taped all over your

24
00:01:01,270 --> 00:00:59,199
body and have all the different kinds of

25
00:01:03,590 --> 00:01:01,280
blood and spit and urine and things like

26
00:01:05,429 --> 00:01:03,600
that collected and then after flight

27
00:01:07,910 --> 00:01:05,439
there's going to be biopsies muscle

28
00:01:09,750 --> 00:01:07,920
biopsies and and all kinds of other

29
00:01:11,350 --> 00:01:09,760
things like that and that's just part of

30
00:01:13,830 --> 00:01:11,360
the job

31
00:01:15,030 --> 00:01:13,840
but it's for a purpose and a great cause

32
00:01:16,390 --> 00:01:15,040
it is

33
00:01:18,710 --> 00:01:16,400
and

34
00:01:21,590 --> 00:01:18,720
you look at

35
00:01:24,070 --> 00:01:21,600
what we learned from early transoceanic

36
00:01:25,429 --> 00:01:24,080
exploration of vitamin deficiencies

37
00:01:27,190 --> 00:01:25,439
things like that

38
00:01:29,910 --> 00:01:27,200
crew members didn't necessarily

39
00:01:32,310 --> 00:01:29,920
volunteer for these fades but they were

40
00:01:33,270 --> 00:01:32,320
very much part of

41
00:01:37,350 --> 00:01:33,280
the

42
00:01:40,230 --> 00:01:37,360
scientific discoveries of vitamins and

43
00:01:44,230 --> 00:01:40,240
their impact on your diet and we're

44
00:01:47,190 --> 00:01:44,240
reliving through that era again on space

45
00:01:49,350 --> 00:01:47,200
station where you take people and put

46
00:01:51,670 --> 00:01:49,360
them in an environment where the

47
00:01:54,389 --> 00:01:51,680
magnitude of gravitational forces have

48
00:01:56,550 --> 00:01:54,399
been changed by a factor of a million

49
00:01:59,190 --> 00:01:56,560
a factor of a million change any other

50
00:02:01,590 --> 00:01:59,200
environmental factor by a million and

51
00:02:03,670 --> 00:02:01,600
see how long it takes the nematodes to

52
00:02:05,749 --> 00:02:03,680
shrivel up and die and the fact that we

53
00:02:08,150 --> 00:02:05,759
can go there and come back basically

54
00:02:10,469 --> 00:02:08,160
unscathed is an amazing discovery in

55
00:02:12,550 --> 00:02:10,479
itself but there's all kinds of tertiary

56
00:02:15,350 --> 00:02:12,560
things that we are learning about human

57
00:02:18,150 --> 00:02:15,360
physiology simply by going there for

58
00:02:21,030 --> 00:02:18,160
long periods of time and coming home

59
00:02:23,030 --> 00:02:21,040
and and we are prying this information

60
00:02:25,190 --> 00:02:23,040
literally from the souls of those

61
00:02:28,309 --> 00:02:25,200
explorers that go off into the

62
00:02:30,470 --> 00:02:28,319
wilderness and and this is what's going

63
00:02:33,190 --> 00:02:30,480
to give an incredible benefit to all the

64
00:02:35,670 --> 00:02:33,200
people on the planet that stay firmly

65
00:02:36,949 --> 00:02:35,680
rooted on terra firma

66
00:02:38,949 --> 00:02:36,959
you have not you've been to space

67
00:02:40,869 --> 00:02:38,959
station twice what did you learn

68
00:02:42,949 --> 00:02:40,879
physically about yourself and what keeps

69
00:02:44,070 --> 00:02:42,959
you coming and being a part of this

70
00:02:45,589 --> 00:02:44,080
program

71
00:02:49,589 --> 00:02:45,599
i feel like

72
00:02:53,030 --> 00:02:49,599
i was born to live and work in space it

73
00:02:55,509 --> 00:02:53,040
is the environment where i really excel

74
00:02:59,910 --> 00:02:55,519
at and it just

75
00:03:00,949 --> 00:02:59,920
it i there's just this glow inside of me

76
00:03:03,509 --> 00:03:00,959
that

77
00:03:04,630 --> 00:03:03,519
is intensified whenever i'm off of the

78
00:03:07,030 --> 00:03:04,640
planet

79
00:03:09,030 --> 00:03:07,040
of the research that that you performed

80
00:03:11,430 --> 00:03:09,040
i guess on yourself others drew blood or

81
00:03:12,630 --> 00:03:11,440
whatever

82
00:03:14,869 --> 00:03:12,640
was there anything that you've learned

83
00:03:16,710 --> 00:03:14,879
from that there are examples where we're

84
00:03:17,589 --> 00:03:16,720
collecting data

85
00:03:19,750 --> 00:03:17,599
and

86
00:03:21,350 --> 00:03:19,760
any one person's data

87
00:03:24,229 --> 00:03:21,360
by itself

88
00:03:27,030 --> 00:03:24,239
isn't so significant but you collect 30

89
00:03:29,509 --> 00:03:27,040
or 40 crew members worth of data over 10

90
00:03:31,430 --> 00:03:29,519
years and now you have a scientific data

91
00:03:33,589 --> 00:03:31,440
set and so there are many examples of

92
00:03:35,910 --> 00:03:33,599
that from nutrition experiments that

93
00:03:38,470 --> 00:03:35,920
we're doing where we're looking at high

94
00:03:40,390 --> 00:03:38,480
sulfur protein versus low sulfur protein

95
00:03:43,589 --> 00:03:40,400
on the diet and potential for

96
00:03:46,789 --> 00:03:43,599
decalcifying your bones and then you

97
00:03:49,670 --> 00:03:46,799
look at exercise protocols

98
00:03:50,789 --> 00:03:49,680
where you try to define a protocol that

99
00:03:53,589 --> 00:03:50,799
will do

100
00:03:56,229 --> 00:03:53,599
the best job of preserving your body

101
00:03:58,789 --> 00:03:56,239
your physiology your your cardiovascular

102
00:04:01,350 --> 00:03:58,799
system your skeletal system with the

103
00:04:04,070 --> 00:04:01,360
minimum amount of time and effort put in

104
00:04:06,869 --> 00:04:04,080
by the crew members uh so those are two

105
00:04:09,350 --> 00:04:06,879
examples the the eyeball studies that

106
00:04:11,350 --> 00:04:09,360
we're going on now and they nasa has

107
00:04:12,630 --> 00:04:11,360
this acronym called vip but what it

108
00:04:15,110 --> 00:04:12,640
means is

109
00:04:16,949 --> 00:04:15,120
you your eyeballs go squirrely when you

110
00:04:19,670 --> 00:04:16,959
get on orbit that we have a number of

111
00:04:21,189 --> 00:04:19,680
retinal maladies that turn up because

112
00:04:25,110 --> 00:04:21,199
you've been on art for long periods of

113
00:04:28,150 --> 00:04:25,120
time and we're just now getting to

114
00:04:29,909 --> 00:04:28,160
the understanding of what's going on and

115
00:04:33,749 --> 00:04:29,919
possibly figuring out

116
00:04:37,670 --> 00:04:33,759
how to prevent that and that knowledge

117
00:04:40,310 --> 00:04:37,680
will spin off onto eye health for

118
00:04:42,469 --> 00:04:40,320
everybody on planet earth and and it

119
00:04:43,510 --> 00:04:42,479
will be amazing to see what comes from

120
00:04:45,270 --> 00:04:43,520
that

121
00:04:48,710 --> 00:04:45,280
what's next for you or do you have an

122
00:04:50,870 --> 00:04:48,720
investigation or are you going back i'm

123
00:04:52,950 --> 00:04:50,880
i'm still an active astronaut

124
00:04:54,710 --> 00:04:52,960
and so i do all the training i check all

125
00:04:57,590 --> 00:04:54,720
the boxes needed and i'm working a

126
00:04:59,830 --> 00:04:57,600
ground job dealing with

127
00:05:02,790 --> 00:04:59,840
keeping experiments and equipment