Yesterday I went to UT, where I got to listen to a lecture by former NASA astronaut George Nelson. I had fun and learned a lot. He talked about the space race, his personal life and where we are headed.
George Nelson received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College in California and later earned a master’s and doctorate in astronomy from the University of Washington.
He said he started his space career when he saw a NASA flyer that said that it needed astronauts for the shuttle missions. He realized that he had all the prerequisites so he filled in the form and sent it in. A couple months later he found out that he had been selected, along with several hundred others, to have a week-long psychological test. NASA would single out a few to become astronauts. One of the tests, as Nelson recalled was "They zipped you up in a three-foot cloth sphere, with your own personal rebreather. They left me in for a long time, I don't know how long because I fell asleep :). I think they were testing me for claustrophobia."Nelson was one of the few that got selected.
He flew STS-41C, STS-61-C (the mission before the Challenger accident) and STS-26 (the mission directly after the Challenger accident) On his first mission he was the first person to do an EVA untethered. He logged 411 hrs in space, 10 of them EVAs.
In his lecture he was talking abouut where the American Space Program is going. As far as he can tell- nowhere. “I’m a bit nervous about where the space program is going at the moment,” Nelson said. “Do we need another Sputnik to kick us in the rear and inspire us to do something?”
Here is a really neat video on Nelson's first mission (STS-41C) with a commentary by the astronauts of this mission:
Enjoy!
Sincerely, Space Cadet
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