Only by studying large numbers of people can we figure out, are astronauts dying at a higher rate of cancer, and what types of cancers, than other people?
— John M. Grunsfeld
When I grew up as a kid, we didn't know there were any other planets outside of our own solar system. It was widely speculated that planet formation was an incredibly rare event and that it's possible that other planets just don't exist in our galaxy, and it's just this special situation where we happen to have planets around our sun.
The James Webb Space Telescope was specifically designed to see the first stars and galaxies that were formed in the universe. So we're gonna see the snapshot of when stars started. When galaxies started. The very first moments of the universe. And my bet? There's gonna be some big surprises.
Hubble has really opened our eyes to what the universe is made of, its structure, and has helped us learn how little we know about the universe.
The most striking thing to me about human space flight and my own personal experience is that I've seen dramatic changes on Earth. We humans are rapidly changing the planet. I've watched Amazonia as the rainforest has been cut down. That's something I've seen out the window. I'm very worried about that.
A deep ocean under the icy crust of Ganymede opens up further exciting possibilities for life beyond Earth.
The Hubble Space Telescope is more than remarkable. It has answered just so many of those fundamental questions that people have been asking about the cosmos since people were able to ask questions.
It's pretty amazing to me that we have had a space shuttle program that's lasted for 30 years - for one space shuttle. That's quite an achievement.
There is no stronger case for the motivational power of real science than the discoveries that come from the Hubble Space Telescope as it unravels the mysteries of the universe.
Sciences are being unified by the search for life in the universe.
Getting a team of scientists on Mars could be transformative.
I thrive with high-performance challenges in front of me.
When I grew up on the south side of Chicago, it was kind of a rough neighborhood, and when my parents saw the prospect of my older sister going to middle school, high school, they decided that we would move to the north side of Chicago, Highland Park, and for me, that was a whole new ballgame.
To help enable the kind of science Hubble is performing makes my life worthwhile.
We need to move off the planet. And Mars is the next best place.
I was not really scared on my spacewalks. We practice so much and need to stay so focused that it has a calming effect on me. I do a kind of visualization and meditation in the airlock prior to going outside, to guide my first activities once I get out in space.
The best would be to fly in space with family and friends.
When I first went to Hubble, as an astronomer and as a scientist, it was a dream come true. And as an astronaut, the Hubble missions are premiere missions because Hubble is so important to science, so important to humanity, that it's just a very special event. But as an astronomer, it was sort of the holy grail of missions.
Hubble uniquely has been able to look in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a nearby star and figure out what's in that atmosphere.
Hubble showed us the marvel and majesty of stars being born.
We don't know how many planets we're going to have to examine before we find life, and not finding it on 10 or 100 doesn't mean it's not there. This may be very tricky.
There's a perspective that I've gained as an astronaut that I didn't get from my science activities. In my science activities, I learned by the seat of my pants. Spending 17 years as an astronaut, I learned the NASA formalism of systems engineering as if my life depended on it. Literally.
Are we alone? Many, many people on planet Earth want to know. We are on the cusp of being able to answer that question... because of the investments we're making in space technology.
Asteroid detection, tracking, and defense of our planet is something that NASA, its interagency partners, and the global community take very seriously.
There's no question that if we stay on planet Earth and never leave, that eventually we'll be wiped out.
Science fiction has been an inspiration to generations of scientists and engineers, and the film series 'Star Wars' is no exception.
Life outside of Earth is probably going to be really hard to find.
All indications are that three and a half billion years ago, Mars looked like Earth. It had lakes. It had rivers. It had river deltas. It had snow-capped peaks and puffy clouds and blue sky. Three and a half billion years ago, it was a happening place. The same time on Earth, that's when life started. So did life start on Mars?
Absolutely the most fun thing to do in space and rewarding thing, in many ways, is to look back at planet Earth.
I grew up on the south side of Chicago in the 1960s, and I think there was a synchronicity of events that inspired me to be an astronaut, and, of course, the backdrop is nothing less than Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. That was a time in our nation where we aspired to great things, and we achieved them.
I don't particularly want to jump out of an airplane with a parachute if I don't have to. I don't want to go bungee jumping. I like adventure with a real purpose that I can buy into.
The James Webb Space Telescope was specifically designed to see the first stars and galaxies that were formed in the universe.
After my spacewalks, I am quite exhilarated but also tired, similar to a workout on Planet Earth.
Hubble isn't just a satellite; it's about humanity's quest for knowledge.
Because of Hubble and other telescopes, we've now discovered that there are probably planets around every star, or virtually every star. There are solar systems around most stars. And the fact that we're here on a planet, Earth, means that it's likely there's lots of other Earths out there.
The Hubble Space Telescope, which was designed for extreme servicing, you know, we can fix everything. And the James Webb Space Telescope, where we can fix nothing. It has to work the first time. And it's a very complicated telescope.
I kind of feel like I found my cause in life servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
I believe that the future of humans, and the future of Earth, depends on space exploration. That's not a French problem, or a problem for Alabama: it's a planet-wide problem. International cooperation is crucial.
I see no difference between scientific exploration and human exploration.
I think that space exploration as a broad activity is the most important things that humans can do. I've always found it fascinating, interesting, compelling, and I have a drive to go out into space.
The strangest thing I've found is that when I got to space, I felt more comfortable in space that I've ever been on Earth before. I just felt this is my home.
If I could live in space, I would definitely do that.
The surface of Mars is bathed in ultraviolet light, bathed in radiation. Mars's magnetic field is essentially gone, so the surface of Mars is essentially sterilized.
Here on Earth, we're exposed to asteroids hitting the Earth, eventual changes in the Sun, changes in the Earth's climate, things we're doing to the Earth's climate. If we want to survive, we need to become a multi-planet species. That's further down the road, but the first wave is going to be the explorers.
I'm absolutely compelled for NASA to send international astronauts to Mars to find out if Mars ever harbored life.
Growing up in Highland Park, in high school, I had some very influential teachers: I had a math teacher who taught calculus that helped me learn to be in love with mathematics; I had a chemistry teacher who inspired us to work what was in the class and to go beyond.
Once we get beyond Mars, which formed from the same stuff as Earth, the likelihood that life is similar to what we find on this planet is very low.
I'm an incurable romantic. But I'm not an adrenaline junkie.
I can't imagine anywhere I'd rather be than outside the space shuttle in my space suit next to the Hubble Space Telescope.
Sometimes astronauts feel a little ill or get minor scrapes. I trained as a crew medical officer to do basic treatment.
