Astronaut Reunion

I've been asked to give a briefing on ISS Science at the Astronaut Reunion this Thursday morning. I'm not sure who in the audience will really be there, BUT I am told that all astronauts there ever were have been invited, which means that some potentially cool historical figures could show up.

Or not.

I'm a little stressed about it because, well, it's the entire history of the astronaut corps as invitees. And the thought occured to me that this could be something of a job interview that might actually be remembered by some inclination of chance if anyone in that room might happen to be reviewing astronaut applications in the next who-knows-how-many-years-from-now-astronaut-application-process.

But then again I thought the same about NEEMO (in fact I gave a nice impromptu speech from 67 feet underwater to the astronaut office, and one of my astronaut crewmates said afterwards, "Now THAT was your astronaut interview") and it apparently didn't even get me a "Highly Qualified" letter on the last round of astronaut applications.

The other part of me is not stressed at all. Because, darn it, I'm an Associate Program Scientist for the ISS and it's really my job to talk this stuff, and I'm finding it more and more fun to talk this stuff.

So then the only remaining stressful part really is to make sure I cover the big messages that will make a big enough impact for that audience to take home and spread around, because frankly, not all of them are in love with ISS. Surprised? It's true. Even those in the astronaut corps can repeat erroneous messages they've heard over and over regarding the usefulness of ISS as a research platform. There are some who think we should just skip ISS and go to Mars. That's true of all audiences.

So my challenge for this is to make sure I use my 35 minute presentation slot to show all in the audience the benefits of ISS. It's critical for me particularly with this audience, since they serve as NASA ambassadors for the public. If they get the right message, and agree to the message, then they can help spread the message to the public. People listen to astronauts. People should hear the good messages about ISS research.