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hi welcome to the international space

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station flight control room i understand

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today we are talking with students from

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the clark creek stem academy welcome

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students i have a special treat because

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i understand you guys have a lot of

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questions about living and working

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aboard the international space station

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and today's guest has certainly done

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that

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astronaut mike fossum he is a veteran of

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three space flights his most recent

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flight he was the commander of

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expedition 29 welcome mike and thank you

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for joining us today hi amiko it's great

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to be back in mission control and great

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to be talking to the students from clark

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creek stem academy

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great so uh with that we're ready for

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your questions

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has your boy scout training helped you

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as an astronaut

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if yes how

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a great question my boy scout training

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helped me learn how to work as a part of

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a team

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because in scouting you know you work as

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a small group of teams uh

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and and you do different things and it's

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in ways it's kind of the same thing here

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uh in indeed as i lived on the space

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station i slept in a sleeping bag for

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six months and so in some ways it was

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kind of like camping out for six months

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at a time

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you also learned self-reliance how to

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take care of yourself in a lot of

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different ways from preparing food to

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simple first aid and we certainly used

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okay go ahead okay

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um

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what skills did you learn as an eagle

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scout that helped you

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as a nasa scientist or as an engineer

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i learned how a lot of different things

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work as i was in scouting in my youth

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and working toward being an eagle scout

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and uh

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and you know another part of it that we

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learned was taking the big trips as you

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get to be an older scout uh or you know

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older youth in different programs too to

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do big trips where you'd go on long

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trips a week or more

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into the mountains into the wilderness

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area canoeing on rivers and things and

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that gives you a different mindset as

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you escape the normal world that that

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you know which involves televisions and

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air conditioners and all those kind of

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things and living more on your own

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resources in a different environment

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and whether that different environment

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is uh is a

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place in the in a deep forest or a place

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in outer space it's still an

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adaptation that you have to do as you

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learn to rely on each other and learn on

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your training to be successful

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great so you would recommend

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boy scouts and becoming an eagle scout

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as good preparation to become a nasa

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astronaut

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scouting was certainly a great path for

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me and it is for many other people

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in in a lot of different ways so sure i

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recommend the scouting program and the

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girl scouting program and the venture

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program for older students are a good

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opportunities to learn different skills

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and learn that they're really critical

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are you still eligible for space flight

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yes i am

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thank you for asking i'm still an active

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astronaut and i'm still training i'm

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back in line and and i hope to go again

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someday i've worked very hard to get to

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this place and and i think i got another

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flight left in me

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are there any plans to construct another

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kepler type telescope if so where and

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oh

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um

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we don't have any more missions to go

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repair or work on any of those

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telescopes there are some big telescopes

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if i'm catching the question correct

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the the the the human space flight

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program is kind of separate from our

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telescope programs these days

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the hubble space telescope is the most

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famous one of course and and we sent

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several space shuttle crews to visit the

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hubble space telescope to help do some

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maintenance and some repairs to that to

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extend its lifetime for for a long time

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and uh but those discoveries that it

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that are being made through the uh

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through the the hubble space telescope

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being the most famous and the other

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observatory scopes uh is a separate kind

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of program

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excellent question

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you have another one

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what is the status of your skeletal

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system since logging

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well believe it or not i came you know

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after my last flight with i lived in

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space about five and a half months and

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thanks to some really good medicine and

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really good exercise

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uh machines and and programs that we did

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in space i came home with a very very

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little change to my to my skeleton

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system as well as my musk my muscles so

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and and my cardiovascular system so my

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bones were healthy my muscles were

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healthy and my heart and lungs working

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together for the cardiovascular system

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also was came back in in great shape now

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i worked very hard i worked out six days

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a week on orbit and i worked hard during

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those workouts and and that's really

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exciting news and it's kind of new

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because we have some new exercise

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equipment up there that allows us to to

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get some really good exercise and put

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the stress on that skeleton so you

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maintain your bone strength and that's

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important someday

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when your head when you're on the way to

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mars back again and you want to come

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home healthy

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and that's a great question and also you

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know in addition to just

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exercise you know as we know even here

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on earth diet and exercise combined are

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very important and so one of a couple of

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research

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things that they're doing now is looking

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at nutrition as well to help mitigate

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those effects

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they've definitely found that the food

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we eat makes a big difference in our

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bone health also especially when we're

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up there and one big example that the

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nutrition people told me beforehand was

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be sure you eat eat fish a few times a

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week because the fish and the fish oils

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end up being really important for bone

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health and they don't completely

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understand why at least i don't

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understand why so i can't explain it to

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you but eating that good good diet with

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with lots of good good meat vegetables

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fresh vegetables and fruits and stuff as

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well as the exercise all work together

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to make your body stronger here on earth

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too so and i did a lot of that before i

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flew to so i launched in pretty good

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shape

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which is important yep so you hear it at

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home you hear you hear it now eat your

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veggies mom was right

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if salmonella was found to be more

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aggressive or up

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regulated on the iss how might we be

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able to use this binding on planet earth

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well what they've what they're doing is

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working on a vaccine for salmonella and

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working on medicines associated with

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that that was a completely surprising

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finding that some of these

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bacteria and organisms

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become stronger in space and we don't

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know why

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we don't know for sure if it's their

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biologic processes are more efficient in

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a microgravity environment

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if maybe the radiation is somehow

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tweaking them up just like you might see

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in cartoons or bad movies

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we're not really sure but that gives us

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the opportunity to research these things

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in a new way in a new light that we did

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not expect to find and so

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there's a lot of exciting things that

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are just starting to

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to to come out along those lines so keep

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an eye on that

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the space shuttle seemed like an

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ultimate space vehicle it could land

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like an airplane and glide yet it also

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has rocket type capacity too why is it

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no longer in operation

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oh boy we could go on a long time about

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that i was fortunate to fly two times on

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the space shuttle and what an amazing

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flying machine it was because you're

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right it's the stuff that's right out of

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science fiction and it really was a

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beautiful amazing flying machine

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i think the reason we're not flying it

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is because as beautiful and as amazing

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as it was

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it did have some design flaws some

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things that were weaknesses and the just

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the basic way that it was was built and

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the way it was launched and there were

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some weaknesses particularly with the

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heat

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and we recognize that loss here just

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this week as we remembered the 10 year

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anniversary of the loss of space shuttle

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columbia that had a damage to the heat

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shield that ended up

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destroying the shuttle and killing the

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seven astronauts and at that time as we

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recovered from that ass from that

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accident

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we realized that the these design

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weaknesses were just uh really uh they

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were really significant and we needed to

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move on to the next generation of of

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spacecraft so they made the decision to

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stop flying the space shuttles

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at the point where we finished building

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the space station and we hit that point

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a year and a half ago while i was on the

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space station we saw space shuttle

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atlantis come up for sts-135 and that

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was the last shuttle flight

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it was sad to see it go for all of us

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especially the flu honor and the tens of

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thousands of people across the country

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that worked on the space shuttle program

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through the years

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but it was time to uh to go ahead and

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move forward with a new vehicle that

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would be a little safer

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no vehicle will have the kind of

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capability that the shuttle had though

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with a huge cargo bay

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and uh landing uh like a like a like an

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aircraft on a runway what a remarkable

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capability that was i'm i'm excited and

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proud to have been part of it but i look

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forward to the to the next vehicles that

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are coming

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coming along in the years ahead too

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because we've got a lot of exciting

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times ahead we do and i think also you

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know not only we're wanting to

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expand so we're wanting to go further

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and beyond low earth orbit and so it is

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going to take something else to get

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absolutely

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the space shuttle as cool as it was

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would never go to the moon because at

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the moon you don't need wings and you

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don't need tires

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and even mars that has a tiny bit of

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atmosphere you would not have landing

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systems like the shuttle so you need to

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use more of a capsule type of vehicle

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and a or a lander type of vehicle so

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the the shuttle was great for helping us

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build this magnificent space station and

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its work is done and so now we have to

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visit them in museums

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next question okay

282
00:10:40,389 --> 00:10:38,320
what type of manages needs to be

283
00:10:42,230 --> 00:10:40,399
performed on the iss

284
00:10:43,910 --> 00:10:42,240
we have to maintain lots of different

285
00:10:45,269 --> 00:10:43,920
things inside and just like you do at

286
00:10:47,430 --> 00:10:45,279
home we have to do some little house

287
00:10:49,350 --> 00:10:47,440
cleaning about once a week we get out

288
00:10:50,949 --> 00:10:49,360
the vacuum cleaner and we clean well we

289
00:10:53,509 --> 00:10:50,959
don't really have carpets but we clean

290
00:10:54,949 --> 00:10:53,519
the walls and even vacuum the computers

291
00:10:57,509 --> 00:10:54,959
and the air like you have the air

292
00:10:59,190 --> 00:10:57,519
conditioners at home well in space those

293
00:11:00,949 --> 00:10:59,200
are even more important because they

294
00:11:03,350 --> 00:11:00,959
collect all of the dust gets caught in

295
00:11:05,110 --> 00:11:03,360
air conditioner filters and so we have

296
00:11:07,590 --> 00:11:05,120
we have to vacuum those up and keep the

297
00:11:09,509 --> 00:11:07,600
place clean

298
00:11:11,110 --> 00:11:09,519
as well as there's other things

299
00:11:12,470 --> 00:11:11,120
associated with just living and working

300
00:11:13,990 --> 00:11:12,480
up there

301
00:11:15,509 --> 00:11:14,000
just like you might have to do at the

302
00:11:18,069 --> 00:11:15,519
house where something breaks and it's

303
00:11:20,230 --> 00:11:18,079
time to change out the garbage disposal

304
00:11:21,829 --> 00:11:20,240
or work on a leak in the plum

305
00:11:23,430 --> 00:11:21,839
the plumbing someplace and things like

306
00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:23,440
that so we're doing those kind of things

307
00:11:28,389 --> 00:11:26,800
as normal maintenance and preventative

308
00:11:29,590 --> 00:11:28,399
maintenance they call it too we'll go

309
00:11:31,829 --> 00:11:29,600
through and we'll make sure that all the

310
00:11:33,590 --> 00:11:31,839
bolts are tight on the treadmill

311
00:11:36,310 --> 00:11:33,600
so that as we're pounding away on a

312
00:11:37,910 --> 00:11:36,320
treadmill in space we're not shaking

313
00:11:39,190 --> 00:11:37,920
anything loose and then causing some

314
00:11:40,550 --> 00:11:39,200
damage

315
00:11:42,230 --> 00:11:40,560
every once in a while we have to go

316
00:11:44,230 --> 00:11:42,240
outside and do some maintenance on

317
00:11:45,430 --> 00:11:44,240
things we've changed out batteries that

318
00:11:47,590 --> 00:11:45,440
are part of our

319
00:11:48,790 --> 00:11:47,600
our solar array electrical system

320
00:11:50,550 --> 00:11:48,800
outside

321
00:11:52,389 --> 00:11:50,560
we've gone out to fix a

322
00:11:54,470 --> 00:11:52,399
an ammonia leak that was part of the

323
00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:54,480
cooling system outside

324
00:11:59,030 --> 00:11:56,800
sunny williams and aki

325
00:12:01,110 --> 00:11:59,040
hoshide went outside and did some work

326
00:12:02,949 --> 00:12:01,120
on that system a few months back

327
00:12:06,629 --> 00:12:02,959
so it's uh it's

328
00:12:08,470 --> 00:12:06,639
uh it's always uh busy and active times

329
00:12:10,629 --> 00:12:08,480
it is and a lot of this maintenance work

330
00:12:12,550 --> 00:12:10,639
you know it is essential because it's

331
00:12:14,949 --> 00:12:12,560
what enables us

332
00:12:16,790 --> 00:12:14,959
essentially to conduct all the research

333
00:12:19,670 --> 00:12:16,800
that we're doing which is the main

334
00:12:20,949 --> 00:12:19,680
reason for going up there um using that

335
00:12:22,710 --> 00:12:20,959
international space station it is a

336
00:12:24,069 --> 00:12:22,720
laboratory and it's you know it's

337
00:12:26,790 --> 00:12:24,079
something you have to do but it's all

338
00:12:28,870 --> 00:12:26,800
part of what enables us to con continue

339
00:12:31,750 --> 00:12:28,880
that research part of it's also a test

340
00:12:33,670 --> 00:12:31,760
bed as we have systems that

341
00:12:35,269 --> 00:12:33,680
for instance that remove carbon dioxide

342
00:12:37,190 --> 00:12:35,279
from the air because we don't get fresh

343
00:12:38,949 --> 00:12:37,200
air from outside we have to remove that

344
00:12:40,629 --> 00:12:38,959
carbon dioxide that we're breathing out

345
00:12:42,790 --> 00:12:40,639
all the time has to be removed from the

346
00:12:44,150 --> 00:12:42,800
air and that system has caused us some

347
00:12:45,509 --> 00:12:44,160
trouble through the ears and so the

348
00:12:48,310 --> 00:12:45,519
engineers on the ground are trying to

349
00:12:50,150 --> 00:12:48,320
figure out what causes it to fail and

350
00:12:52,470 --> 00:12:50,160
they're working on the next generation

351
00:12:54,389 --> 00:12:52,480
carbon dioxide removal equipment that

352
00:12:56,550 --> 00:12:54,399
won't take as much maintenance

353
00:12:57,910 --> 00:12:56,560
and again on the way to mars someday or

354
00:12:59,590 --> 00:12:57,920
another planet

355
00:13:01,269 --> 00:12:59,600
it's going to be important for you guys

356
00:13:03,750 --> 00:13:01,279
to have a system that you don't have to

357
00:13:05,269 --> 00:13:03,760
call home for for spare parts because

358
00:13:06,710 --> 00:13:05,279
you can't call home

359
00:13:08,710 --> 00:13:06,720
that's right or we can't deliver the

360
00:13:11,829 --> 00:13:08,720
spare parts to you

361
00:13:13,829 --> 00:13:11,839
that's a great question next one

362
00:13:15,190 --> 00:13:13,839
uh what was your favorite space walk in

363
00:13:17,750 --> 00:13:15,200
life

364
00:13:19,190 --> 00:13:17,760
oh my that's that's hard that's really

365
00:13:21,829 --> 00:13:19,200
hard i think

366
00:13:23,829 --> 00:13:21,839
probably my favorite one was was my last

367
00:13:26,470 --> 00:13:23,839
one i did a space walk in

368
00:13:28,069 --> 00:13:26,480
july of 2011 just over a year and a half

369
00:13:30,629 --> 00:13:28,079
ago and that was while space shuttle

370
00:13:33,350 --> 00:13:30,639
atlantis was docked to the space station

371
00:13:35,590 --> 00:13:33,360
it was so cool to we took a broken pump

372
00:13:37,750 --> 00:13:35,600
module from the space station and we put

373
00:13:39,269 --> 00:13:37,760
it in the cargo bay of the shuttle and

374
00:13:42,150 --> 00:13:39,279
we moved the

375
00:13:43,829 --> 00:13:42,160
a new uh science experiment that came up

376
00:13:45,430 --> 00:13:43,839
in the shuttles cargo bay up to the

377
00:13:47,670 --> 00:13:45,440
station where they've been doing that

378
00:13:49,509 --> 00:13:47,680
that work up there and it was so cool

379
00:13:51,910 --> 00:13:49,519
for me that was my seventh spacewalk

380
00:13:53,910 --> 00:13:51,920
i've been outside almost around 48 hours

381
00:13:55,670 --> 00:13:53,920
working outside and it was really

382
00:13:58,310 --> 00:13:55,680
so cool to me to i'd worked as an

383
00:13:59,990 --> 00:13:58,320
engineer on spacewalk procedures and

384
00:14:02,389 --> 00:14:00,000
tools and things

385
00:14:04,870 --> 00:14:02,399
when i was an engineer working at nasa

386
00:14:06,470 --> 00:14:04,880
uh then as an as a astronaut i helped

387
00:14:08,949 --> 00:14:06,480
build the space station and it was

388
00:14:10,629 --> 00:14:08,959
really neat for me on my last flight

389
00:14:13,189 --> 00:14:10,639
while the shuttle was there for its very

390
00:14:15,509 --> 00:14:13,199
last flight to be outside and be in the

391
00:14:17,590 --> 00:14:15,519
cargo bay of space shuttle atlantis

392
00:14:19,269 --> 00:14:17,600
uh and kind of a way of paying tribute

393
00:14:21,189 --> 00:14:19,279
to that uh you know amazing flying

394
00:14:23,110 --> 00:14:21,199
machine one more time and

395
00:14:24,949 --> 00:14:23,120
and uh just kind of got a lot of work

396
00:14:27,030 --> 00:14:24,959
done but i also took a few minutes to

397
00:14:29,670 --> 00:14:27,040
enjoy the experience of of the

398
00:14:32,629 --> 00:14:29,680
incredible view of the earth and the

399
00:14:34,310 --> 00:14:32,639
stars from not looking through big thick

400
00:14:36,710 --> 00:14:34,320
glass windows but through a little

401
00:14:38,470 --> 00:14:36,720
skinny fishbowl of a helmet

402
00:14:39,509 --> 00:14:38,480
and if you ever watched fossum when he

403
00:14:40,949 --> 00:14:39,519
was uh

404
00:14:43,030 --> 00:14:40,959
working aboard the international space

405
00:14:44,230 --> 00:14:43,040
station or any time he end during any of

406
00:14:46,069 --> 00:14:44,240
his space flights i think it would be

407
00:14:47,990 --> 00:14:46,079
very difficult to determine which one he

408
00:14:50,230 --> 00:14:48,000
was was his favorite was it space

409
00:14:51,509 --> 00:14:50,240
walk-in or fixing the plumbing because

410
00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:51,519
he always looked like he was having a

411
00:14:57,430 --> 00:14:53,120
great time up there that's a great

412
00:15:04,069 --> 00:14:59,509
how were you able to communicate with

413
00:15:08,870 --> 00:15:06,150
you bet communicating with my family is

414
00:15:11,590 --> 00:15:08,880
really important i was we threw kind of

415
00:15:13,750 --> 00:15:11,600
a link up with through computer systems

416
00:15:16,150 --> 00:15:13,760
and data systems we can use a we can

417
00:15:17,750 --> 00:15:16,160
call people on a telephone and so i

418
00:15:19,110 --> 00:15:17,760
would talk to my wife

419
00:15:20,870 --> 00:15:19,120
almost every single day i'd have the

420
00:15:23,509 --> 00:15:20,880
chance to talk to my wife

421
00:15:24,870 --> 00:15:23,519
we have four four children and some of

422
00:15:26,230 --> 00:15:24,880
them are out of the house and so i

423
00:15:28,389 --> 00:15:26,240
didn't get to talk to each one of my

424
00:15:30,069 --> 00:15:28,399
kids every single day but i tried to

425
00:15:32,150 --> 00:15:30,079
talk to him every week or so and then

426
00:15:33,269 --> 00:15:32,160
every weekend i had a little video

427
00:15:35,189 --> 00:15:33,279
conference

428
00:15:38,069 --> 00:15:35,199
about at least 15 minutes and usually

429
00:15:40,389 --> 00:15:38,079
longer with my wife and and one or more

430
00:15:42,870 --> 00:15:40,399
of my kids with her and so that's how we

431
00:15:44,629 --> 00:15:42,880
we kept in touch we also had email and

432
00:15:46,389 --> 00:15:44,639
it's not quick email like you're used to

433
00:15:48,150 --> 00:15:46,399
now we certainly couldn't text message

434
00:15:50,470 --> 00:15:48,160
or anything that quickly

435
00:15:55,990 --> 00:15:50,480
but uh but we we did send emails and

436
00:16:01,430 --> 00:15:57,990
what is the most promising research

437
00:16:04,150 --> 00:16:01,440
being conducted on the iss

438
00:16:06,230 --> 00:16:04,160
oh cool that that that one i have to

439
00:16:08,389 --> 00:16:06,240
think about for just a second i think

440
00:16:11,829 --> 00:16:08,399
the the health things that we were

441
00:16:13,110 --> 00:16:11,839
working on with bone health we lose bone

442
00:16:15,910 --> 00:16:13,120
in space

443
00:16:18,230 --> 00:16:15,920
10 times faster than an osteoporotic 80

444
00:16:20,790 --> 00:16:18,240
year old woman which is pretty pretty

445
00:16:22,230 --> 00:16:20,800
fast and so if we don't take these

446
00:16:24,470 --> 00:16:22,240
countermeasures and so i think it's

447
00:16:26,870 --> 00:16:24,480
really exciting to know that with

448
00:16:28,470 --> 00:16:26,880
with you know really with good exercise

449
00:16:31,670 --> 00:16:28,480
and with some of the medications and i

450
00:16:34,069 --> 00:16:31,680
was a guinea pig for a medicine

451
00:16:35,670 --> 00:16:34,079
that you can really stop this you can

452
00:16:37,749 --> 00:16:35,680
halt this and control it and that that

453
00:16:39,990 --> 00:16:37,759
kind of thing's exciting a lot of the

454
00:16:41,910 --> 00:16:40,000
other research that was going on

455
00:16:43,990 --> 00:16:41,920
uh had to do with the material science

456
00:16:45,509 --> 00:16:44,000
where we were loading samples in a

457
00:16:47,430 --> 00:16:45,519
furnace and then while we're sleeping

458
00:16:49,509 --> 00:16:47,440
overnight the ground is turning on that

459
00:16:52,230 --> 00:16:49,519
furnace and getting it so hot it melts

460
00:16:53,829 --> 00:16:52,240
the the metal samples in there and then

461
00:16:55,430 --> 00:16:53,839
cools them down in a certain way as

462
00:16:58,069 --> 00:16:55,440
they're learning how to build

463
00:16:59,670 --> 00:16:58,079
uh different compounds because they as

464
00:17:01,910 --> 00:16:59,680
they they don't get the same kind of

465
00:17:03,749 --> 00:17:01,920
mixing you get in gravity

466
00:17:06,470 --> 00:17:03,759
there was also a really cool fluid

467
00:17:09,429 --> 00:17:06,480
dynamics experiment it was like a fluid

468
00:17:11,590 --> 00:17:09,439
that had microscopic strands of plastic

469
00:17:13,510 --> 00:17:11,600
in it they call them a polymer and they

470
00:17:15,029 --> 00:17:13,520
were doing a dynamic test and that i

471
00:17:17,110 --> 00:17:15,039
could see in a lot of the science we

472
00:17:19,669 --> 00:17:17,120
don't really get to see it happening but

473
00:17:21,669 --> 00:17:19,679
this one i was helping settle all up and

474
00:17:23,189 --> 00:17:21,679
i'd get the sample in this test chamber

475
00:17:26,230 --> 00:17:23,199
and then it would start to spin this

476
00:17:28,150 --> 00:17:26,240
little blob about the size of a bean

477
00:17:30,710 --> 00:17:28,160
inside there and they would be twisting

478
00:17:32,789 --> 00:17:30,720
those microscopic plastic fibers and

479
00:17:36,150 --> 00:17:32,799
then they stretched it now this that

480
00:17:37,909 --> 00:17:36,160
would form a really thin strand and in

481
00:17:39,669 --> 00:17:37,919
gravity that's strange just

482
00:17:41,669 --> 00:17:39,679
like silly putty but

483
00:17:43,990 --> 00:17:41,679
then and in gravity it would just

484
00:17:45,590 --> 00:17:44,000
collapse but in in the microgravity

485
00:17:47,990 --> 00:17:45,600
environment up there they would pull

486
00:17:50,710 --> 00:17:48,000
this strand out two feet long and they'd

487
00:17:52,710 --> 00:17:50,720
be able to measure the tension the pull

488
00:17:54,789 --> 00:17:52,720
in there and by doing that they

489
00:17:57,430 --> 00:17:54,799
understand the basic physics of this

490
00:17:59,110 --> 00:17:57,440
kind of of a special fluid that's

491
00:18:01,190 --> 00:17:59,120
important for them

492
00:18:02,789 --> 00:18:01,200
petrochemical and plastic industries

493
00:18:04,549 --> 00:18:02,799
that use these kind of fluids in their

494
00:18:06,470 --> 00:18:04,559
production processes

495
00:18:08,070 --> 00:18:06,480
and so they wanted to know more about

496
00:18:10,390 --> 00:18:08,080
exactly how this stuff works and so

497
00:18:12,390 --> 00:18:10,400
that's fundamental science i'm not sure

498
00:18:13,990 --> 00:18:12,400
what it'll be used for but the research

499
00:18:15,110 --> 00:18:14,000
team on the ground was really excited

500
00:18:16,549 --> 00:18:15,120
about the

501
00:18:18,070 --> 00:18:16,559
the the science that we were able to

502
00:18:19,029 --> 00:18:18,080
accomplish so it was cool to be part of

503
00:18:20,549 --> 00:18:19,039
that

504
00:18:22,070 --> 00:18:20,559
if you look up any of your materials and

505
00:18:25,510 --> 00:18:22,080
look at polymers

506
00:18:26,549 --> 00:18:25,520
oh yeah there's lots of stuff on the web

507
00:18:29,909 --> 00:18:26,559
absolutely

508
00:18:37,190 --> 00:18:34,870
what what spacecraft replace the shuttle

509
00:18:38,150 --> 00:18:37,200
well that's a tricky question the

510
00:18:40,150 --> 00:18:38,160
shuttle

511
00:18:42,310 --> 00:18:40,160
had so many capabilities no one

512
00:18:45,110 --> 00:18:42,320
spacecraft is going to replace the space

513
00:18:47,510 --> 00:18:45,120
shuttle right now when i when i traveled

514
00:18:49,590 --> 00:18:47,520
to and from the space station i traveled

515
00:18:51,669 --> 00:18:49,600
on a russian soyuz rocket launching out

516
00:18:54,230 --> 00:18:51,679
of a country called kazakhstan on a

517
00:18:56,310 --> 00:18:54,240
place called baikonur cosmodrome we

518
00:18:58,549 --> 00:18:56,320
launched from the same launch pad that

519
00:19:01,110 --> 00:18:58,559
eureka guerin the first human in space

520
00:19:02,950 --> 00:19:01,120
launched from over 50 years ago

521
00:19:06,630 --> 00:19:02,960
so it was pretty cool to be part of that

522
00:19:08,150 --> 00:19:06,640
historical uh program and be another a

523
00:19:09,830 --> 00:19:08,160
person in there

524
00:19:12,470 --> 00:19:09,840
we've had several different vehicles

525
00:19:14,230 --> 00:19:12,480
that are providing cargo to the space

526
00:19:16,549 --> 00:19:14,240
station

527
00:19:18,630 --> 00:19:16,559
japan has a cargo vehicle the europe

528
00:19:21,110 --> 00:19:18,640
european space agency has a cargo

529
00:19:23,590 --> 00:19:21,120
vehicle a private american company

530
00:19:25,990 --> 00:19:23,600
called space exploration has a cargo

531
00:19:28,710 --> 00:19:26,000
vehicle that's been there twice now uh

532
00:19:30,710 --> 00:19:28,720
other other companies have

533
00:19:33,430 --> 00:19:30,720
have cargo ships that are really close

534
00:19:35,590 --> 00:19:33,440
to flying a company called orbital has

535
00:19:37,029 --> 00:19:35,600
one that's very close to flying and then

536
00:19:39,430 --> 00:19:37,039
hopefully in the next few months they'll

537
00:19:41,190 --> 00:19:39,440
get up there these guys are several of

538
00:19:43,909 --> 00:19:41,200
them are also working on

539
00:19:45,750 --> 00:19:43,919
human vehicles using kind of their cargo

540
00:19:47,990 --> 00:19:45,760
ship as the first step and then

541
00:19:49,830 --> 00:19:48,000
developing that into

542
00:19:52,310 --> 00:19:49,840
into a ship that could take people up

543
00:19:55,110 --> 00:19:52,320
there again it won't replace the shuttle

544
00:19:57,830 --> 00:19:55,120
with a great big majestic uh

545
00:19:59,430 --> 00:19:57,840
spaceship with seven people at a time

546
00:20:01,990 --> 00:19:59,440
but we're working on those things and

547
00:20:05,590 --> 00:20:02,000
inside nasa we're working on

548
00:20:07,750 --> 00:20:05,600
other spacecraft that can go beyond

549
00:20:10,149 --> 00:20:07,760
the 200 miles that we'd go to to the

550
00:20:12,149 --> 00:20:10,159
space station so we're working private

551
00:20:14,149 --> 00:20:12,159
companies are working on on

552
00:20:16,310 --> 00:20:14,159
options to provide

553
00:20:18,070 --> 00:20:16,320
ways for people to get to and from low

554
00:20:20,870 --> 00:20:18,080
earth orbit as we call it the space

555
00:20:23,110 --> 00:20:20,880
station is that that 200 to 250 miles in

556
00:20:24,950 --> 00:20:23,120
altitude but the moon is a lot further

557
00:20:26,630 --> 00:20:24,960
away and mars is much further than that

558
00:20:29,430 --> 00:20:26,640
so we're working on

559
00:20:31,029 --> 00:20:29,440
another vehicle within nasa more that

560
00:20:33,190 --> 00:20:31,039
that will be able to go further and

561
00:20:36,630 --> 00:20:33,200
support the the exploration goals that

562
00:20:40,149 --> 00:20:39,029
and amico this is nasa the digital

563
00:20:41,669 --> 00:20:40,159
learning network just want to let you

564
00:20:43,909 --> 00:20:41,679
know we have about two minutes left so

565
00:20:46,549 --> 00:20:43,919
maybe one or possibly two questions okay

566
00:20:51,110 --> 00:20:46,559
okay good job we're ready

567
00:20:52,630 --> 00:20:51,120
go ahead how do did you earn the nasa

568
00:20:58,390 --> 00:20:52,640
except

569
00:20:59,909 --> 00:20:58,400
great question it's i'm proud to have

570
00:21:01,750 --> 00:20:59,919
been awarded that

571
00:21:03,190 --> 00:21:01,760
it's one of the awards that uh they're

572
00:21:05,909 --> 00:21:03,200
available for people that are just

573
00:21:07,430 --> 00:21:05,919
working hard and doing their job and and

574
00:21:09,350 --> 00:21:07,440
and kind of standing out i'm i was

575
00:21:11,590 --> 00:21:09,360
fortunate to be recognized for my

576
00:21:14,070 --> 00:21:11,600
contributions and lots of you know great

577
00:21:16,549 --> 00:21:14,080
people not just astronauts but other the

578
00:21:18,950 --> 00:21:16,559
great people that work at nasa you know

579
00:21:20,870 --> 00:21:18,960
get that award so it's a it's a great

580
00:21:23,750 --> 00:21:20,880
great honor for me and and to share that

581
00:21:27,029 --> 00:21:23,760
honor with lots of other people

582
00:21:29,029 --> 00:21:27,039
okay i think we can squeeze in one more

583
00:21:31,990 --> 00:21:29,039
why did you find it necessary to

584
00:21:33,669 --> 00:21:32,000
construct a replacement protocol for the

585
00:21:35,590 --> 00:21:33,679
source

586
00:21:38,870 --> 00:21:35,600
as an emergency

587
00:21:41,110 --> 00:21:38,880
escape vehicle okay well i worked on the

588
00:21:41,830 --> 00:21:41,120
x-38

589
00:21:43,909 --> 00:21:41,840
and

590
00:21:45,510 --> 00:21:43,919
through the space station program as

591
00:21:47,350 --> 00:21:45,520
this partnership has evolved we've had

592
00:21:48,710 --> 00:21:47,360
lots of different countries and partner

593
00:21:51,190 --> 00:21:48,720
nations that are bringing different

594
00:21:53,510 --> 00:21:51,200
capabilities and one of the things an

595
00:21:55,909 --> 00:21:53,520
idea that we worked on here in it at

596
00:21:59,510 --> 00:21:55,919
nasa was called the x-38

597
00:22:00,870 --> 00:21:59,520
as a crew escape vehicle uh and uh it

598
00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:00,880
was something we tried out and went

599
00:22:05,350 --> 00:22:02,640
aways with it and then decided to move

600
00:22:07,590 --> 00:22:05,360
off in in different directions and since

601
00:22:09,990 --> 00:22:07,600
then we were using the russian soyuz

602
00:22:12,710 --> 00:22:10,000
spacecraft to be our emergency escape

603
00:22:14,710 --> 00:22:12,720
vehicle it's our ride up and our ride

604
00:22:16,230 --> 00:22:14,720
down and we could use it we could jump

605
00:22:18,230 --> 00:22:16,240
in there and leave at any moment if

606
00:22:19,830 --> 00:22:18,240
there's a big problem on the space

607
00:22:21,270 --> 00:22:19,840
station we could leave at any moment and

608
00:22:22,549 --> 00:22:21,280
that's important we have to have a way

609
00:22:24,390 --> 00:22:22,559
out

610
00:22:26,310 --> 00:22:24,400
at the same time we're working on like i

611
00:22:29,270 --> 00:22:26,320
said some of these other companies uh

612
00:22:31,350 --> 00:22:29,280
are working on another are other options

613
00:22:33,190 --> 00:22:31,360
that we could use on the space station

614
00:22:35,190 --> 00:22:33,200
besides just using the russian soyuz

615
00:22:37,110 --> 00:22:35,200
spacecraft so we're we're learning as we

616
00:22:39,590 --> 00:22:37,120
go we're trying out some ideas some of

617
00:22:41,669 --> 00:22:39,600
them are working out some of them

618
00:22:43,430 --> 00:22:41,679
we we decide to step away from and try

619
00:22:45,350 --> 00:22:43,440
something else

620
00:22:47,029 --> 00:22:45,360
hey you guys have had a bunch of great

621
00:22:48,549 --> 00:22:47,039
questions today i think they're out of

622
00:22:50,710 --> 00:22:48,559
time and they're gonna pull the plug on

623
00:22:52,549 --> 00:22:50,720
us but uh thank you very much your

624
00:22:54,310 --> 00:22:52,559
questions are great i can tell you've

625
00:22:56,630 --> 00:22:54,320
been doing your homework which is half

626
00:22:59,270 --> 00:22:56,640
the battle you've been studying you've

627
00:23:01,430 --> 00:22:59,280
been studying and getting and asking

628
00:23:02,870 --> 00:23:01,440
some really solid questions that show

629
00:23:05,830 --> 00:23:02,880
that you're you're getting a lot of good

630
00:23:07,830 --> 00:23:05,840
understanding of our business here and i

631
00:23:10,310 --> 00:23:07,840
hope you can see where you might fit

632
00:23:12,149 --> 00:23:10,320
into this business in the years ahead

633
00:23:14,630 --> 00:23:12,159
nasa is an exciting place to work the

634
00:23:16,710 --> 00:23:14,640
human space flight business is uh

635
00:23:18,710 --> 00:23:16,720
is just one of the greatest challenges

636
00:23:21,190 --> 00:23:18,720
and and most exciting things that i can

637
00:23:22,789 --> 00:23:21,200
imagine doing i'm excited to have been

638
00:23:24,950 --> 00:23:22,799
here and i know amico and all the other

639
00:23:27,430 --> 00:23:24,960
people that work at johnson space center

640
00:23:29,350 --> 00:23:27,440
are excited to be here continuing to

641
00:23:30,789 --> 00:23:29,360
operate the space station from this room

642
00:23:32,230 --> 00:23:30,799
that we're sitting in right now in

643
00:23:34,390 --> 00:23:32,240
mission control

644
00:23:36,070 --> 00:23:34,400
and uh and getting ready to to help

645
00:23:39,510 --> 00:23:36,080
operate the the other vehicles in the

646
00:23:42,390 --> 00:23:39,520
future and get ready for you guys

647
00:23:44,230 --> 00:23:42,400
thanks it was great talking to you guys

648
00:23:46,789 --> 00:23:44,240
thank you so much

649
00:23:48,549 --> 00:23:46,799
thank you you bet thank you very much