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station this is houston are you ready

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houston station we're ready for the

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military times this is mission control

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houston please call station for a voice

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check

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station this is the military times how

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loud and clear military times hello

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great to be with you today and welcome

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aboard to the international space

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station

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hi commander cassidy this is tony

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lombardo the managing editor of navy

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times thanks for agreeing to talk with

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my first question my pleasure tony it's

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great to great to be with you

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my first question to you is

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can you take just a minute and explain

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to me what a typical day in the life at

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the space station is like what kind of

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yeah exactly so we wake up around six or

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so and we have a morning daily

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conference with with the ground teams

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around the world at roughly 7 15 7 30

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in that first hour is all the normal

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things you do

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uh at on earth you know wake up go to

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the bathroom clean yourself up eat some

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things and uh and prepare a little

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reading for what you're about to tackle

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for the day and then during the day the

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we close out the day at 7 30 p.m with

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another daily conference in in between

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that time we're doing uh science

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experiments our personal personal health

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and fitness with a couple hours of

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exercise eating lunch

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and maintenance on the space station and

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any other things that that come up

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unplanned uh that need attention

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and then we we wrap up the day uh what

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we call pre-sleep and that's the

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analogous to the time that you spend on

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earth after you finish work and you

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drive home you go to the grocery store

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you you go home and relax with your

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family watch some tv read a book and

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then go to bed and we have a couple of

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hours of that in the evening where we

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typically look out the window and talk

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with each other and things like this

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so that that's our day

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and we go to bed around 10 30 at night

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okay as a navy seal you're up there

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representing the defense department how

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would you say what you're doing is

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well you if if you look at the the

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the astronaut office we're about half

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military half civilian so any given time

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you'll have a military uniform wearing

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uh astronaut up here in fact not only

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from from the united states but my

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crewmate luca parmitano is an italian

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air force

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officer and pilot so

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you

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know that what we're doing up here is

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not necessarily military in nature but i

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i think the what the military brings is

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pretty is pretty substantial to of being

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a good crewmate an effective astronaut

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and understanding how to work in an

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operational environment because that's

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what we have here is an operational

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environment we're every day doing things

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that could uh impact the health of the

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station or in some cases our own

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personal health and and and to be able

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to understand all that and talk on the

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radio and work with the ground teams is

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very much what we're used to

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from our military training

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you mentioned your italian crewmate what

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other foreign countries

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are represented up there and what

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yeah that's a good question so so right

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now on board we have myself and karen

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nyberg are nasa u.s astronauts luca is

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in luca parmitano is an italian

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astronaut from the european space agency

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and we have three russian cosmonauts

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pavel fyodor and and sasha

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and all together

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what we what we're learning what we

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learned together is just interaction

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good interaction much like if you do a

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joint training exercise or go

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into a a

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joint combined

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task force or something overseas

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you realize that everybody speaks a

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little bit differently in their own

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language and maybe their acronyms are

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different but when you get down to the

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individual

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soldier sailor airman or in this case

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astronaut cosmonaut we're all cut from

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the same breed and we all have the same

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sense of humor and we're all just trying

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to get through our day without making

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mistakes and doing the best we can

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and uh and that's and that's the bottom

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line that's what i've learned is that uh

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internationally

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uh we're all training for the same

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mission

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and we're basically the same guys we're

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in slightly different uniforms and with

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the different accents

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okay

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what career advice would you offer to a

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service member looking to get into the

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you know i'm often asked that and uh the

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best advice i ever got was to just keep

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keep on doing uh

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jobs and taking sets of orders that

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you're satisfied with in within your

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military career because when you do that

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you'll tend to do them well

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and you'll a you'll enjoy your military

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career and if and by the chance you get

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selected to come to to become an

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astronaut and work in the space program

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then that's all all great but you're

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that's

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based on a foundation of hard work and

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doing well in your military chosen

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career field and that was the case with

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me i i really enjoyed my time in the

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seal teams

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and i knew that it was a long shot to

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get selected there

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during my interview process i realized

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just how many really really good people

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there are out there and and i just was

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really lucky to get to get picked

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so if i had continued on in my in my

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seal team career that would have been

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fine too because i thoroughly enjoyed

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what i was doing there

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um what what's been your most fulfilling

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experience so far in space and what's

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well that's a good question i think

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the most fulfilling and most challenging

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could be the same thing i personally

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really enjoy the space walks that i've

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done and i feel very privileged that

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i've been able to be a part of of

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three since i've been up here on this

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particular mission

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and

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we had a really challenging

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episode on the last one where luca had a

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problem a technical problem with his

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suit and

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and that was

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very challenging to deal with it in real

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time but also very rewarding and very

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fulfilling to see the whole team the

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ground team the onboard folks that were

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inside the space station and luca and

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myself outside all working together to

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bring to make quick decisions and bring

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him in

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as fast and safely as we could to get

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his helmet off he had water leaking

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inside his helmet

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so that was a really challenging

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situation and and

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in retrospect one of the more rewarding

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and feeling what fulfilling ones i've

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had

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um most of us here on earth will never

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get a chance to do a space walk can you

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well first and foremost if you

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took your toes and went to the top of a

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skyscraper and put your toes over the

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edge of the skyscraper and leaned over

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your brain would tell you what are you

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doing you're crazy back off you're going

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to fall and that's kind of the sensation

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that you have when you're very on your

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first spacewalk when you open the hatch

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and you're looking right down at the

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earth even though we've been looking out

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the window here on the space station

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it's just somehow it's it's

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psychologically different when it's just

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your helmet and you look down once you

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get over that initial

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it only takes a minute or a couple of

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minutes to realize that you're not going

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to fall and everything's going to be

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okay

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and and then you start going to work

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and

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there's a very um refined timeline a

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script of of the pace of work that we

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need to do so in the back of your mind

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you're always thinking am i are we

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working on the timeline or we're ahead

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or behind

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what do we have

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ahead of us what challenges could be

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there and so for me it was a lot like

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and some of the missions that i've done

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in my military career where

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if things are going well you're always

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in your back your mind thinking all

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right what is around the corner that's

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going to prevent us from from finishing

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what little gotcha do have we not

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thought about and and how can we

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posture ourselves to deal with that

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quickly and still get all of our jobs

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done and and that's that's kind of the

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mindset that i have during spacewalks um

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and then every now and then i have to

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stop and relax and just look and see and

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take in the the breathtaking beauty of

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where i am out with one hand on the very

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far edge of the port side of the space

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station for example looking all the way

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down uh across the space station and

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down to the earth and trying to capture

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that my mental picture in my mind's eye

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to capture forever and ever

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okay commander well thank you very much

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for your time i appreciate it and this

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thank you thank you very much and thanks

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for the reporting on the navy times i

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enjoy that magazine a lot

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station this is houston acr that

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concludes the military times portion of

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the event please stand by for a voice

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check from wbur fm

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and station this is wbur fm how do you

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hello there in boston great to to be

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with you and welcome aboard the

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international space station hey

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commander cassidy it's anthony brooks in

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boston thanks so much for joining us

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today we're very grateful uh to have you

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and i got to say this is the first time

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uh my voice has been in outer space as

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far as i know so i'm very excited about

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well anthony it sounds just like it does

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let me ask you this commander cassidy

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when you return home next month you will

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have been in space for six months which

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is i think hard for a lot of people on

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earth to imagine what that feels like

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what's the biggest challenge about being

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well

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it's um there's several ways to answer

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that question one is uh on the personal

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level you know we miss our our family

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and friends and our loved ones on the

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ground and uh and and that's a big part

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of it we're all all of us that are up

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here when it's time to return that's one

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of the first things we think about is

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our our family friends and loved ones

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um

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second to that

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would be some of the pleasant things

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that that each of us have on earth for

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me um it's been the summertime right now

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so i realized that i

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00:11:12,790 --> 00:11:10,800
missed the the smell of fresh cut grass

280
00:11:14,949 --> 00:11:12,800
and you know just being outside in the

281
00:11:17,990 --> 00:11:14,959
in the summertime and and going to the

282
00:11:20,389 --> 00:11:18,000
beach and that sort of thing so so those

283
00:11:22,310 --> 00:11:20,399
uh types of things that you can just do

284
00:11:23,990 --> 00:11:22,320
on earth are are a few of the examples

285
00:11:25,509 --> 00:11:24,000
that i'm looking really looking forward

286
00:11:27,910 --> 00:11:25,519
to when i get back

287
00:11:30,230 --> 00:11:27,920
um commander cassidy quick question you

288
00:11:32,069 --> 00:11:30,240
know we're following where you are right

289
00:11:34,389 --> 00:11:32,079
now online and i think when i started

290
00:11:36,870 --> 00:11:34,399
talking to you you were somewhere over

291
00:11:38,470 --> 00:11:36,880
senegal i'm wondering if you can just

292
00:11:39,990 --> 00:11:38,480
give me a sense of your view what are

293
00:11:44,550 --> 00:11:40,000
you seeing what do you see when you look

294
00:11:49,750 --> 00:11:47,430
well right this second i i i don't

295
00:11:52,870 --> 00:11:49,760
exactly know but for instance it the

296
00:11:54,550 --> 00:11:52,880
best way for me to describe it is if uh

297
00:11:57,430 --> 00:11:54,560
it's it you don't see the whole entire

298
00:11:59,670 --> 00:11:57,440
earth we're we're about 200 200 250

299
00:12:01,670 --> 00:11:59,680
miles above the surface of the earth so

300
00:12:03,750 --> 00:12:01,680
if you sat in your car

301
00:12:06,389 --> 00:12:03,760
your driver's seat or car and you sort

302
00:12:11,750 --> 00:12:09,350
a long horizon across the windshield

303
00:12:14,389 --> 00:12:11,760
that would be what we see the horizon of

304
00:12:16,629 --> 00:12:14,399
the earth and uh

305
00:12:18,550 --> 00:12:16,639
for instance we can see all of florida

306
00:12:20,790 --> 00:12:18,560
when we're over it you see the whole

307
00:12:22,949 --> 00:12:20,800
state of florida and up the partially up

308
00:12:25,269 --> 00:12:22,959
the east coast when we come across the

309
00:12:27,990 --> 00:12:25,279
mediterranean uh as we go through the

310
00:12:30,949 --> 00:12:28,000
straits of gibraltar you can see

311
00:12:32,870 --> 00:12:30,959
uh italy and in the uh and its boot

312
00:12:34,230 --> 00:12:32,880
there and that's we we watch that a lot

313
00:12:36,470 --> 00:12:34,240
with luca here

314
00:12:38,710 --> 00:12:36,480
so so that kind of gives you an

315
00:12:40,949 --> 00:12:38,720
appreciation of the the the amount of

316
00:12:41,910 --> 00:12:40,959
territory the amount of of land that we

317
00:12:45,190 --> 00:12:41,920
can see

318
00:12:47,829 --> 00:12:45,200
mediterranean for instance and when you

319
00:12:49,590 --> 00:12:47,839
come across the persian gulf you can you

320
00:12:51,990 --> 00:12:49,600
can see

321
00:12:53,430 --> 00:12:52,000
all the sand that's all around that

322
00:12:55,590 --> 00:12:53,440
whole region and then and then the

323
00:12:57,910 --> 00:12:55,600
really beautiful lush green nile river

324
00:12:59,590 --> 00:12:57,920
delta right in the middle of all that so

325
00:13:01,750 --> 00:12:59,600
so there's some really breathtaking

326
00:13:04,389 --> 00:13:01,760
views to be seen on our planet

327
00:13:05,990 --> 00:13:04,399
well speaking of of breathtaking views

328
00:13:07,670 --> 00:13:06,000
commander i wonder if you could just

329
00:13:09,910 --> 00:13:07,680
tell me a little bit about what it's

330
00:13:12,069 --> 00:13:09,920
like to walk in space that this is

331
00:13:14,150 --> 00:13:12,079
something that uh you know as a kid

332
00:13:16,550 --> 00:13:14,160
growing up and trying to imagine what

333
00:13:18,790 --> 00:13:16,560
it's like to be in outer space that that

334
00:13:20,710 --> 00:13:18,800
that sort of inspires the imagination

335
00:13:27,110 --> 00:13:20,720
what's it like to step outside of a

336
00:13:30,389 --> 00:13:28,949
well at first it's really intimidating

337
00:13:32,150 --> 00:13:30,399
you know that there's a lot of people

338
00:13:33,829 --> 00:13:32,160
that put a lot of hard work into

339
00:13:35,430 --> 00:13:33,839
building whatever piece of equipment

340
00:13:37,670 --> 00:13:35,440
whatever piece of hardware you're about

341
00:13:39,910 --> 00:13:37,680
to install or repair

342
00:13:42,710 --> 00:13:39,920
and there's a sensation of not wanting

343
00:13:45,189 --> 00:13:42,720
to do anything to to mess up the chances

344
00:13:47,269 --> 00:13:45,199
of that being installed successfully

345
00:13:49,509 --> 00:13:47,279
aside from that you mentioned walking in

346
00:13:51,590 --> 00:13:49,519
space but i should add that it's there's

347
00:13:53,430 --> 00:13:51,600
really not much walking involved in fact

348
00:13:55,189 --> 00:13:53,440
our legs just sort of drag along and

349
00:13:57,269 --> 00:13:55,199
don't do much of anything

350
00:14:00,470 --> 00:13:57,279
uh it's all done with your hands so it's

351
00:14:02,949 --> 00:14:00,480
hand over hand uh across a

352
00:14:04,710 --> 00:14:02,959
path of handrails and we always have a

353
00:14:07,189 --> 00:14:04,720
safety tether connected back to the

354
00:14:09,430 --> 00:14:07,199
airlock hatch which it's kind of like a

355
00:14:11,269 --> 00:14:09,440
dog leash with a little slow pull so if

356
00:14:13,910 --> 00:14:11,279
you if you fell off nobody ever has and

357
00:14:16,389 --> 00:14:13,920
we don't want to test it but if you did

358
00:14:18,069 --> 00:14:16,399
it would pull you slowly back to where

359
00:14:20,310 --> 00:14:18,079
the airlock hatch is

360
00:14:23,110 --> 00:14:20,320
we always keep our hands on and when we

361
00:14:25,110 --> 00:14:23,120
get to a work work area we clip in so we

362
00:14:27,430 --> 00:14:25,120
can be nice and safe and secure in that

363
00:14:28,870 --> 00:14:27,440
local area in that region right around

364
00:14:30,710 --> 00:14:28,880
we're about to work

365
00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:30,720
but while you're working on the on the

366
00:14:34,389 --> 00:14:32,560
piece of equipment always in the corner

367
00:14:37,189 --> 00:14:34,399
of your eye you can see the earth below

368
00:14:39,670 --> 00:14:37,199
you flying by or when it's nighttime for

369
00:14:41,750 --> 00:14:39,680
instance you see nothing but what your

370
00:14:43,670 --> 00:14:41,760
headlights illuminate like maybe a three

371
00:14:44,470 --> 00:14:43,680
foot diameter circle right in front of

372
00:14:45,350 --> 00:14:44,480
you

373
00:14:47,030 --> 00:14:45,360
so

374
00:14:49,590 --> 00:14:47,040
as we go around the earth every 90

375
00:14:51,590 --> 00:14:49,600
minutes 45 minutes of in the day you see

376
00:14:53,430 --> 00:14:51,600
the earth below you dangling beneath

377
00:14:55,829 --> 00:14:53,440
your feet and at night you see

378
00:14:57,990 --> 00:14:55,839
absolutely nothing total pitch darkness

379
00:14:59,350 --> 00:14:58,000
so it's it's it's really an interesting

380
00:15:02,230 --> 00:14:59,360
place to work

381
00:15:04,150 --> 00:15:02,240
um well what's it like the first time

382
00:15:06,150 --> 00:15:04,160
you step out into space i've got to

383
00:15:09,030 --> 00:15:06,160
imagine that it's like stepping off of a

384
00:15:10,550 --> 00:15:09,040
mountain top or off of a of a skyscraper

385
00:15:11,430 --> 00:15:10,560
is there a part of you that has to sort

386
00:15:18,710 --> 00:15:11,440
of

387
00:15:22,230 --> 00:15:20,550
yes you know that's exactly right i was

388
00:15:25,030 --> 00:15:22,240
just telling the folks before i was

389
00:15:26,389 --> 00:15:25,040
talking to you that it's my my

390
00:15:28,150 --> 00:15:26,399
experience was if

391
00:15:29,829 --> 00:15:28,160
as if i had just walked up to the edge

392
00:15:31,350 --> 00:15:29,839
of the skyscraper and tilted my head

393
00:15:33,350 --> 00:15:31,360
over the side and my brain was telling

394
00:15:35,990 --> 00:15:33,360
me no no what are you doing you're too

395
00:15:38,230 --> 00:15:36,000
close in fact this is a kind of a funny

396
00:15:39,670 --> 00:15:38,240
story on my very first spacewalk on my

397
00:15:42,150 --> 00:15:39,680
shuttle mission there happened to be a

398
00:15:44,069 --> 00:15:42,160
piece of uh a drink straw that had

399
00:15:46,629 --> 00:15:44,079
floated into our airlock and when we

400
00:15:48,470 --> 00:15:46,639
when i opened the hatch this piece of

401
00:15:51,269 --> 00:15:48,480
trash the drink straw

402
00:15:52,470 --> 00:15:51,279
flew right past my head and i saw it go

403
00:15:54,550 --> 00:15:52,480
out the corner of my eye and then i

404
00:15:56,550 --> 00:15:54,560
watched it kind of spiral its way down

405
00:15:58,230 --> 00:15:56,560
to the earth and i remember thinking i

406
00:16:00,949 --> 00:15:58,240
don't want to be that drink straw so

407
00:16:03,030 --> 00:16:00,959
hold on tight

408
00:16:04,629 --> 00:16:03,040
commander you mentioned your italian

409
00:16:08,150 --> 00:16:04,639
colleague there in the space station

410
00:16:11,030 --> 00:16:08,160
luca parmitano and i know you had of

411
00:16:14,710 --> 00:16:11,040
a few really tense moments uh during a

412
00:16:17,350 --> 00:16:14,720
spacewalk with luca parmitano when his

413
00:16:19,110 --> 00:16:17,360
helmet began filling with water which

414
00:16:21,590 --> 00:16:19,120
was potentially a very dangerous

415
00:16:23,670 --> 00:16:21,600
situation tell us briefly what happened

416
00:16:27,430 --> 00:16:23,680
and and what you had to do to take care

417
00:16:33,590 --> 00:16:30,550
so at about 45 minutes or an hour into

418
00:16:35,030 --> 00:16:33,600
our our spacewalk luca noticed or he

419
00:16:37,509 --> 00:16:35,040
started to feel

420
00:16:39,829 --> 00:16:37,519
water on the back of his head

421
00:16:42,150 --> 00:16:39,839
and we were trying at first to figure

422
00:16:44,310 --> 00:16:42,160
out what the source was we have a drink

423
00:16:47,509 --> 00:16:44,320
bag of water that we wear inside the

424
00:16:49,590 --> 00:16:47,519
suit right on our belly on our belly

425
00:16:52,150 --> 00:16:49,600
and and we thought it might have been

426
00:16:54,069 --> 00:16:52,160
that the bag maybe have exploded open or

427
00:16:54,949 --> 00:16:54,079
something but we he realized it wasn't

428
00:16:57,110 --> 00:16:54,959
this

429
00:16:59,269 --> 00:16:57,120
and the water had a funny taste to it

430
00:17:01,430 --> 00:16:59,279
which indicated that it was sort of a

431
00:17:03,590 --> 00:17:01,440
technical water that

432
00:17:06,309 --> 00:17:03,600
uh coming from the backpack which is

433
00:17:07,990 --> 00:17:06,319
used to cool ourselves our long

434
00:17:08,789 --> 00:17:08,000
underwear has these

435
00:17:16,390 --> 00:17:08,799
cool

436
00:17:18,870 --> 00:17:16,400
as it interacts with a thing called a

437
00:17:20,470 --> 00:17:18,880
sublimator to keep the water cold and it

438
00:17:21,990 --> 00:17:20,480
keeps our body cold and then carries the

439
00:17:24,630 --> 00:17:22,000
heat back and rejects it to space

440
00:17:26,390 --> 00:17:24,640
otherwise we'd get really hot anyways so

441
00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:26,400
in that cooling water system there was

442
00:17:31,110 --> 00:17:29,200
somehow a leak coming into his suit and

443
00:17:32,630 --> 00:17:31,120
it when the leak was putting the water

444
00:17:34,150 --> 00:17:32,640
right on the back of his head and as

445
00:17:36,870 --> 00:17:34,160
that water bubble got bigger and bigger

446
00:17:39,830 --> 00:17:36,880
and bigger at one point it got into his

447
00:17:41,669 --> 00:17:39,840
communications cap and then the surface

448
00:17:42,310 --> 00:17:41,679
tension the water just kind of pulled it

449
00:17:43,270 --> 00:17:42,320
all

450
00:17:44,630 --> 00:17:43,280
around

451
00:17:46,870 --> 00:17:44,640
his whole head

452
00:17:48,789 --> 00:17:46,880
and though that same surface tension

453
00:17:50,470 --> 00:17:48,799
kept the water bubble on his head

454
00:17:51,430 --> 00:17:50,480
instead of that water floating around

455
00:17:53,750 --> 00:17:51,440
inside

456
00:17:56,310 --> 00:17:53,760
the comm cap well as the water grew it

457
00:17:58,230 --> 00:17:56,320
started to go over his eyes and his ears

458
00:18:00,310 --> 00:17:58,240
and eventually got close to his nose and

459
00:18:01,430 --> 00:18:00,320
then on to his nose once we got into the

460
00:18:03,830 --> 00:18:01,440
airlock

461
00:18:06,230 --> 00:18:03,840
and so when i when he first noticed it

462
00:18:08,310 --> 00:18:06,240
and i came up to him and looked i could

463
00:18:10,230 --> 00:18:08,320
see that the water was growing and

464
00:18:12,150 --> 00:18:10,240
together with the ground team we decided

465
00:18:14,150 --> 00:18:12,160
it was time to end that spacewalk and

466
00:18:15,669 --> 00:18:14,160
send him back well as luck would have it

467
00:18:17,669 --> 00:18:15,679
or unluck would have it it became

468
00:18:20,070 --> 00:18:17,679
nighttime at that point and luca had to

469
00:18:22,230 --> 00:18:20,080
go back to the airlock at night with

470
00:18:25,510 --> 00:18:22,240
very little low visibility because of

471
00:18:27,110 --> 00:18:25,520
the water sloshing around and hardly any

472
00:18:28,630 --> 00:18:27,120
communications because the water was

473
00:18:31,110 --> 00:18:28,640
getting onto his communication

474
00:18:33,190 --> 00:18:31,120
microphones so anyways that was the most

475
00:18:35,270 --> 00:18:33,200
tense moment right right when he went

476
00:18:37,510 --> 00:18:35,280
back until we met up together again at

477
00:18:39,390 --> 00:18:37,520
the airlock and uh

478
00:18:42,390 --> 00:18:39,400
and closed the hatch and started the

479
00:18:44,470 --> 00:18:42,400
repressurization to get his helmet off

480
00:18:46,150 --> 00:18:44,480
and i would uh we were we were

481
00:18:47,590 --> 00:18:46,160
communicating to each other with hand

482
00:18:48,950 --> 00:18:47,600
signals because he couldn't talk very

483
00:18:52,310 --> 00:18:48,960
well

484
00:18:54,150 --> 00:18:52,320
and uh and i was watching his

485
00:18:56,390 --> 00:18:54,160
his face in his mouth to make sure that

486
00:18:59,110 --> 00:18:56,400
he had good access to air but once we

487
00:19:01,029 --> 00:18:59,120
got the hatch open the russian crew and

488
00:19:02,150 --> 00:19:01,039
karen were right there to get his helmet

489
00:19:04,390 --> 00:19:02,160
off and and

490
00:19:06,870 --> 00:19:04,400
and execute a nice

491
00:19:08,710 --> 00:19:06,880
suit removal quickly

492
00:19:10,549 --> 00:19:08,720
well commander i'm glad that worked out

493
00:19:12,230 --> 00:19:10,559
for luca parmitano let me ask you one

494
00:19:13,990 --> 00:19:12,240
last quick question you mentioned the

495
00:19:15,909 --> 00:19:14,000
russian crew the first time you went

496
00:19:17,830 --> 00:19:15,919
into space you traveled aboard a u.s

497
00:19:19,830 --> 00:19:17,840
space shuttle this last time you

498
00:19:21,669 --> 00:19:19,840
rocketed into space on a russian rocket

499
00:19:23,430 --> 00:19:21,679
you'll be returning home with the

500
00:19:25,190 --> 00:19:23,440
russians how does that compare with uh

501
00:19:29,750 --> 00:19:25,200
with the us shuttle what's that

502
00:19:34,390 --> 00:19:32,230
well first and foremost um all the books

503
00:19:35,590 --> 00:19:34,400
are in russian and there's a guy talking

504
00:19:37,750 --> 00:19:35,600
to you on the other side of the radio

505
00:19:39,510 --> 00:19:37,760
who's speaking in russian unlike in the

506
00:19:41,190 --> 00:19:39,520
shuttle where all the books are in my

507
00:19:42,950 --> 00:19:41,200
native language and the guys on the

508
00:19:45,350 --> 00:19:42,960
radio are all speaking english so that

509
00:19:46,390 --> 00:19:45,360
was one hurdle to get over but aside

510
00:19:48,310 --> 00:19:46,400
from that

511
00:19:50,310 --> 00:19:48,320
it's really more about the size of the

512
00:19:53,590 --> 00:19:50,320
vehicles i wouldn't equate the space

513
00:19:55,590 --> 00:19:53,600
shuttle to be like a big pickup truck

514
00:19:56,789 --> 00:19:55,600
king cab pickup truck lots of cargo in

515
00:19:59,590 --> 00:19:56,799
the back

516
00:20:01,669 --> 00:19:59,600
kind of a nice cushy or ride and you

517
00:20:05,190 --> 00:20:01,679
have a couple rows of seats in the front

518
00:20:07,430 --> 00:20:05,200
whereas the the soyuz is a small little

519
00:20:09,830 --> 00:20:07,440
race car you know where you just get the

520
00:20:11,510 --> 00:20:09,840
people and a soft bag of

521
00:20:14,149 --> 00:20:11,520
toiletries or something that can go

522
00:20:15,669 --> 00:20:14,159
along on your trip and uh and then

523
00:20:17,750 --> 00:20:15,679
because of that when you're driving a

524
00:20:21,270 --> 00:20:17,760
sports car for instance you feel all the

525
00:20:25,190 --> 00:20:21,280
turns and and i remember on on this most

526
00:20:27,909 --> 00:20:25,200
recent launch as as right off the pad as

527
00:20:30,149 --> 00:20:27,919
the uh the vehicles tried to vector in

528
00:20:32,470 --> 00:20:30,159
on its on its heading i could feel those

529
00:20:34,630 --> 00:20:32,480
small little course changes

530
00:20:36,630 --> 00:20:34,640
as the vehicle honed in on the right way

531
00:20:38,390 --> 00:20:36,640
to go whereas in the shuttle it's such a

532
00:20:40,149 --> 00:20:38,400
more massive vehicle

533
00:20:42,710 --> 00:20:40,159
i didn't i don't remember feeling those

534
00:20:44,230 --> 00:20:42,720
quick uh quick nuances in the in the

535
00:20:45,990 --> 00:20:44,240
heading changes so

536
00:20:47,590 --> 00:20:46,000
quite different because of the mass of

537
00:20:49,190 --> 00:20:47,600
the vehicle and then coming home will be

538
00:20:51,350 --> 00:20:49,200
a lot different because we'll land under

539
00:20:53,110 --> 00:20:51,360
parachute in the soyuz and on the space

540
00:20:55,510 --> 00:20:53,120
shuttle it was much like an aircraft

541
00:20:57,590 --> 00:20:55,520
landing with wings on the runway so a

542
00:20:58,870 --> 00:20:57,600
couple key differences neither one is

543
00:21:01,350 --> 00:20:58,880
more right or wrong they're just

544
00:21:03,190 --> 00:21:01,360
different and i'm really thankful to

545
00:21:05,270 --> 00:21:03,200
have both experiences

546
00:21:07,669 --> 00:21:05,280
well navy commander chris cassidy he's

547
00:21:10,070 --> 00:21:07,679
from york maine he's the flight engineer

548
00:21:11,750 --> 00:21:10,080
aboard the international space station

549
00:21:14,070 --> 00:21:11,760
commander cassidy thanks so much for

550
00:21:15,830 --> 00:21:14,080
joining us stay safe and safe travels

551
00:21:17,110 --> 00:21:15,840
and maybe we'll talk to you when you get

552
00:21:21,110 --> 00:21:17,120
back to earth on

553
00:21:23,750 --> 00:21:22,870
okay my pleasure great talking to you

554
00:21:29,110 --> 00:21:23,760
again

555
00:21:36,549 --> 00:21:31,750
station this is houston acr thank you

556
00:21:41,350 --> 00:21:39,510
thank you military times and wbur fm