WEBVTT - Smart Talks with IBM: 355 Days in Space: Finding Meaning with Astronaut Mark Vande Hei 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.480 This season of Smart Talks with IBM is all about 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.480 new creators, the developers, data scientists, c t o s 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:23.280 and other visionaries creatively applying technology in business to drive change. 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:26.680 They use their knowledge and creativity to develop better ways 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.280 of working, no matter the industry. Join hosts from your 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.880 favorite Pushkin Industries podcasts as they use their expertise to 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:37.480 deepen these conversations, and of course Malcolm Gladwell will guide 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.839 you through the season as your host and provide his 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.000 thoughts and analysis along the way. Look out for new 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:45.480 episodes of Smart Talks with IBM on the I Heart 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.159 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts, 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:56.720 and learn more at IBM dot com slash smart talks. Hello, Hello, 0:00:56.920 --> 0:01:01.760 Welcome to Smart Talks with IBM podcast Bushkin Industries, Ighart 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:06.240 Radio and IBM. I'm Malcolm Glabo. This season, we're talking 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:09.760 to the new creators, the developers, data scientists, c t 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:13.720 o s and other visionaries who are creatively applying technology 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:18.000 and business to drive change. Channeling their knowledge and expertise, 0:01:18.319 --> 0:01:22.520 they are developing more creative and effective solutions, no matter 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.960 the industry. On the final episode of the season. Our 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:31.360 guest is NASA astronaut and retired Army Colonel Mark Bandahi. 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.679 Mark holds the record for the longest single space flight 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.600 undertaken by an American. He spent three hundred and fifty 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:42.560 five days in orbit on the International Space Station, returning 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:47.440 to Earth on March thirty. During his nearly year long 0:01:47.480 --> 0:01:51.680 stay in space, Mark conducted scientific experiments on behalf of NASA, 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:56.000 including research where he himself was the test subject. By 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.800 documenting the physiological changes he went through, Mark serves as 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:03.800 an important source of data and understanding the impact of 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:08.120 extended spaceflight on humans. I spoke with Mark about his 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.960 experience as an astronaut and what he learned from living 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:13.959 in space for a year. He told me about performing 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:17.720 research only doable in space, times he felt true fear, 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.960 and how seeing Earth from orbit challenged his personal beliefs 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.080 and led him to become an advocate for mental health 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:31.520 and sustainability. Okay, let's get to the interview, So tell 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:33.840 me a little bit. Did you always want to be 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:36.560 an astronaut? What? What? What drew you to space in 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:41.400 the first place. I was always curious about space, largely 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.480 because just trying to get my head wrapped around how 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:49.200 we fit into the very grandest scheme of things has 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.440 always been interesting to me. But I always thought of 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.000 becoming an astronaut, like trying to become Spider Man. Like 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:59.360 that's just not a realistic idea. It might sound cool, 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.840 but that's like a superhero thing. So when I first 0:03:02.960 --> 0:03:07.640 joined the Army, my company commander, my boss, handed me 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.600 a note because he knew I had a degree in 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.360 in a technical field. That was a message from the 0:03:13.440 --> 0:03:17.320 Army saying that NASA wanted military people with these qualifications 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.240 to apply to the ASTERNAT program. And I looked at 0:03:19.280 --> 0:03:21.600 the list and I had a bunch of them. That 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:25.160 made me really excited. I thought, that's like, that's a possibility. 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:28.840 And then um, when I went to grad school, had 0:03:28.880 --> 0:03:31.079 a lot of different things to possibly study, and it 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:36.080 showed space physics, and just randomly, the Army said, Hey, 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.840 we're starting a new career field called space operations. I 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.000 signed up and got accepted to go into space operations, 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:44.240 and I ended up getting loaned out to the Aston 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.280 office at NASA to work in the Mischi Control Center, which, honestly, 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.520 I love that job so much that I could be 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.480 doing that till and never having been an astro, and 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:55.080 felt like I was super blessed. It was amazing to 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:59.680 live in history and just talking to the astronauts in space, 0:04:00.120 --> 0:04:02.760 helping them solve problems while I'm listening to what the 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:05.520 flight control team is doing. That's a fantastic job. I 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:08.360 absolutely loved it. During the three year period that I 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:11.880 expected to do that, they're hired another class and that 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:15.400 was That was the first time I decided to apply, 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.240 and largely because my wife said, Mark, come on, you 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:21.039 gotta try. Because I thought there's no way they would 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.280 ever hire me, so I almost self selected myself out 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:26.320 of that possibility. So really, I feel very very fortunate. 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.680 I could have very easily not pursued this. I'm very 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.359 happy it worked out, and I'm very happy I did 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.599 pursue it. There's thousands of people that could do this 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:36.960 job that never got the opportunity and may have done 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.520 a better job than I did. I just somehow got 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:43.800 the job. Yeah. Now, you had the record for the 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.240 longest time in space, right, it's the record for an 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:52.800 American astronut for the longest single flight. So Scott Kelly 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.520 flew for three and forty days continuously, and I threw 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.240 flew for three and fifty five days continuously. What is 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.200 it about you that allows you to do that? Like 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:05.960 you know, if you I'm I'm I'm gonna say, if 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.880 you put me through the exact same training you went through, 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.080 there's no way I'm spending three days I would have, 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.480 I would lose my mind. I think what I'm gonna 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:15.320 do is compare myself between the first flight and the 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:17.200 second flight. After I came back from the first flight, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.640 I had no desire to go back. The big change 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.680 for me between the first and second flight is I 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:24.640 paid a lot more attention to my mental health. I 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:27.560 got in the habit of meditating every day, and I 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:32.359 think that helped me not only recognize the value of 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.440 trying to appreciate the present moment and try to be 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.200 curious about the present moment, but it also made me 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:42.480 more aware of what internal habit patterns I have, and 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:44.880 it gave me the ability to kind of almost be 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.000 an external observer of those, so that when I I 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:51.280 could recognize sometimes that hey, you're making up a very 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.960 negative story and that's why you're grumpy right now. And 0:05:54.040 --> 0:05:56.520 that really helped me out with making a mental shift. 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.560 Tell me a little bit about what you're doing when 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.480 you're up. You know, why is it important to do 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:07.240 various kinds of experiments and things in space? Yeah, great question. 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.160 That's a really important question too. So it is a 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:13.479 national laboratory, and it's it's unique because a lot of 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:18.120 dominant forces on the ground are not dominant forces in space. 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.960 So you get pretty interesting effects. Like when you make 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:27.360 a flame on the Earth, because of the pressure differentials 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:32.880 and the fact that the hot combustion products are lighter, 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:35.240 they will rise up and go away from the flame, 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.599 and that will draw in the auction rich gases that 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.920 keep the flame going. So in space, those combustion gases 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.440 will just make a ball around the source of the fire. 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:48.320 Turns out that flames in space burn more efficiently and 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.200 at a lower temperature, So there's some potential to have 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:56.400 a cleaner burning combustion engine. But that just gives us 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.920 a more depth of understanding of how these things work. 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.719 It just gives us another way to change some of 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.880 the the variables. Another thing that that we can do 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:08.640 on the space station is sedimentation. If you take a 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.640 solution over time on the Earth with the heavier items 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.360 and that solution are going to settle to the bottom. Well, 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:16.920 in space, there's no preferred direction for those things to 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:18.560 go in because everything isn't. This what I like to 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.840 call a free fall that just keeps missing the Earth. 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:24.560 So we're in a continuous state of freefall. Solutions stay 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:29.440 very homogeneous. You can do experiments like there's even the 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:34.200 way we try to simulate the human body with body 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.800 samples and try to understand how things work. In the 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.640 space station, where those things float, it's a closer simulation 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:42.840 to something being inside the human body. So there's this 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.240 I could go on and on. Clearly there's a whole 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:46.880 lot of different things that that allows us to do. 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.800 And delicate structures, even protein structures that we could never 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:52.880 make stay together on the ground, can stay together in space. 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:55.800 Oh that's interesting. So it just gives you a it's 0:07:55.800 --> 0:08:01.400 like another context for trying to it and scientific knowledge. 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:04.280 It just you've you've changed all of kind of the 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:08.720 defining variables of the experiment. Absolutely, that's it's a very 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:13.000 significant thing. Absolutely. And then there's also that the idea 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:14.560 of what we're doing in the space station, not just 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:18.160 for science, but for human exploration, because we're putting people 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:19.960 in space for such a long period of time, we're 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:23.160 getting a better understanding of how to keep people healthy. 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.320 We can do technology experiments to try to figure out 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.760 how to get things to work for these long er 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:31.720 ation space flights where we're gonna put people much further 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.200 away from the Earth than I was on my flight. 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:36.640 Some of those experiments associate were associated with me being 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:39.320 a subject of the experiments. Give me an example of 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:44.360 a kind of health care related line of research. Sure, 0:08:44.880 --> 0:08:46.840 I'm very open about the fact that I lost eight 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.640 percent of my bone density. That's not typical for somebody 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:51.960 at my age and my activity level, But as a 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:53.800 function of being in space, I lost eight percent of 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.560 my bone density because no more you know, you're not 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.679 exercising with any resistance at all. Is that? Is that 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.800 the reason almost true? You spend all of your time 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:07.680 except for when you're exercising, without really needing a skeleton 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.719 to to to support you. Because that's why we have 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:12.440 a skeleton. When you're in a freefall all the time, 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.160 there's nothing that you have to use to resist the 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.240 ground or to keep you standing on the ground. So 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.360 we have a resistive exercise device on the space station that. Actually, 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.320 it's very interesting. It uses vacuum cylinders as the source 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.640 of the force. So when you expand the vacuum cylinder, 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:30.600 unlike a spring, the vacuum cylinder the force will be 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:32.880 constant regardless of how far you pull it, whereas with 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:35.840 a spring, the more you expand the spring, the higher 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:39.040 the force gets. So that allows us to have kind 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.840 of what we want. But I like to tell school kids, 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.600 if you imagine those vacuum cylinders being attached to one 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.080 side of a seesaw pulling upwards and you on the 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:50.680 other side of the seesaw pulling upwards, then you can 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:53.959 change the mechanical advantage by moving where the pivot point is, 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:55.800 where the fulcrum is, and so we have the ability 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.120 to turn a crank and it can adjust the force 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:01.160 you feel anywhere from twenty pound to six pounds. But 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:05.040 even so, I'm stunned though by in the space of 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:10.000 a year, even given determined efforts on your part to 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:12.920 counteract the effects of the physiological effects of being in 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:16.920 a zero gravity atmosphere, even then the effect on your 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:22.240 body was profound. A lot. It's a lot, But I 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.800 lost seven percent on the first flight, and I got 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.800 it all back before the second flight, so I fully 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:29.680 expect to get it all back. It does come back, 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:34.040 and with if somebody ever, some archaeologists someday ever examined 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:35.520 my bones, they would be able to tell that I 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:37.880 had flung in space because the way that matrix is 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.719 built is somewhat different. But I fully expect all of 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:43.120 all the bone density to come back. You know, the 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:46.000 series we're doing is it's called The New Creators, and 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:51.400 we're really focused on the role the creativity plays in 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.320 kind of pushing the envelopes of knowledge. So I'm just 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.320 I'm just curious about you're up there in this strange 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:03.319 environment doing what's sound like some pretty sophisticated experiments. Can 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:04.880 you give me an example at the time when you 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.280 felt your kind of your creativity was being tapped in 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:13.480 a meaningful way in this experience. Yeah? Interesting. I would 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:20.840 say there is an experiment called Celestial Immunity that involved 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:28.920 us with uh small Petrie dishes that contained body uh samples. 0:11:28.960 --> 0:11:31.319 I don't know if it was a solution with some 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.760 blood or or what or what, but I just know 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:38.000 they were from various people, elderly and young people, and 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:42.040 we would go through and use a pipette too inoculate 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.840 them with various things, and then we would take these devices, 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:51.000 put him in a black box to control the carbon 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:53.080 dioxide and the temperature, and put them in a in 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:54.959 a place to let them kind of incubate for a while. 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:58.360 In the process of doing it, I think my creativity 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.440 came in as I was describing the challenges that I 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:05.000 realized that the the people who designed the experiment might 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.000 not have realized we run into. And I was able 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.960 to to use what I've had my hands on to 0:12:10.080 --> 0:12:12.719 to give them advice about ways we could change the 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:16.480 experiment around. Because those peature dishes didn't have a lid, 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.480 so they were just held in there by surface tension. 0:12:20.040 --> 0:12:22.760 And so the first time I did it, I I 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.199 put them very slowly into the box, I closed the box, 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:26.600 couldn't see what they were doing, and I had to 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.440 very gently move them over to to the place where 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:31.560 they can incubate. And I had no idea if I 0:12:31.559 --> 0:12:35.199 was succeeding or failing. So I think there was a 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.240 lot of conversation, a lot of observing, a lot of 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:41.079 trying to draw on the unique experiences I'm exposed to 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:42.559 to help out them. And it turned out I was 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:45.360 an orbit long enough that the second iteration that came up, 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:48.280 and they had, among other things, that had put a 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.080 thin sheet of flexible plastic on top. So instead of 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:54.079 having to try to contain everything there, we just had 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.800 to puncture it with a needle and add the add 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.160 the inoculation that way instead, tell me a little bit 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:03.640 more about that paramit. That's that celestial immunity investigation. But 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:07.200 that's like the best name ever for a science experiment. Um, 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:11.120 I agree, it sounds like Jesus is involved in some ways. 0:13:11.440 --> 0:13:15.679 I agree, no, wrong, But what was that experiment about 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.400 trying to trying to trying to investigate. We're trying to 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:22.760 understand how the human immune system reacts to different situations. 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.080 So again, I think it's a great experiment to highlight 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:29.400 because a better understanding of the human immune system will 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.760 help out everybody. So on Earth, we might do an 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.080 experiment where we have a variety of of different cell 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:40.640 samples that were exposing to various pathogens and studying them. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.040 And hear, what we're doing is repeating the experiment under 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:48.760 a radically different set of of conditions and in the 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.880 hopes that changing the parameters of the experiment exposed some 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:55.800 new bit of knowledge or yes, And I don't know 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.560 if that's been successful or not, but we do know. 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:00.800 We do know that there are of viruses that are 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.040 more virulent in space for some reason. We don't understand 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:07.960 why their biological things react differently. What was the most 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:13.079 fun thing you did when the Uh one of my crewmates, 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.520 Caleb Baron, for some reason that two of us decided 0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:19.040 we're going to try to do some stunts together. So 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:23.480 we we literally would just have our feet hooked underneath 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.320 some handrails and push off towards each other and then 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.400 do something like get curl up, hit our hands down low. 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:33.640 It causes to each spin um simultaneously Eno directions to 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:35.880 a couple of backflips and then land. And it took 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:38.480 a lot of attempts before we actually made it look 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.000 like something was in sync. I've never once done a 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:43.040 backflip in my life, but I've done four in a 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:44.680 row before I hit my head on something on the 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:50.640 space station. UH. We grew hatch chili peppers. UH. I 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.920 recently got a certificate from New Mexico that said, congratulations, 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.040 you're a hatstronaut. So I'm proud to have that title. 0:14:57.640 --> 0:15:01.640 The thought we tarned cooking with them. We didn't cook 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.400 with them. We of course, it was science. So we 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:06.480 had to ship most of them back to the ground 0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:10.120 frozen carefully. But they were very nice about letting us 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.080 have some of the chili peppers, and they warned us 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.200 that the stress response to the space environment that these 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.880 peppers have, they think would be that they're more potent. 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:24.400 And I think they were more potent. They were shockingly spicy. 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.080 NASA could sell those chili peppers to some fancy restaurant 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:32.160 and it could be, you know, celestially, you know, celestial 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.600 pepper soup or something. You know, what a great name 0:15:35.640 --> 0:15:41.360 for a dish. I'm sure that celestial foods will be 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:44.240 the culinary trend of the future. Pretty soon, we'll all 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:48.040 be paying extra for specially vegetables grown in space. Forget 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:52.400 farm to table, try orbit to table. Getting aside, there 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:54.840 was one thing I made sure to ask Mark. I 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:57.800 wanted to know more about the relationship between the astronauts 0:15:57.800 --> 0:16:01.720 and space and the NASA team on the ground. New 0:16:01.760 --> 0:16:05.880 technologies are reshaping the way astronauts communicate with their counterparts 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:10.680 on Earth. IBM, for example, is testing edge computing solutions 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.400 on board the space station to try and reduce the 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.520 time it takes to analyze and send data. But what 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.720 does this information flow mean for an astronaut's day to 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:24.080 day life and what happens if there's an emergency? I 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:26.680 asked Mark for more details. Tell me a little bit 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:31.080 about the role that technology plays in UM in all 0:16:31.120 --> 0:16:34.520 of this, I mean, you're you're doing these experiments, You're 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:38.400 actively learning in this new environment. UM, what's happening with 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:41.760 the data? How are you making sense of it? Processing it? 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:45.200 Tell me about that angle on the on your work. 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.680 The astronauts live in the space station. The ground control 0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:53.200 team is controlling the space station, so that data flow, 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.160 the telemetry from the space station, and the commanding to 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:59.720 the space station is happening just to actually get the 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:01.480 thing of work, to get the lab to work, to 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:03.400 make it. If we want to change the temperature, we 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:06.600 could we could go ahead and go deep into the 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.360 software we got on board that we're trained to use 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:12.280 in case we lose communications with the ground. But if 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.000 we even want to change the temperature, we just call 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:15.959 the ground control team and say, hey, one of our 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:17.879 crew members feels a little cold. We all agreed we 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:19.720 should raise the temperature by a degree or something. They 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:23.560 would change it. So they're in charge. We live there 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:25.560 and we take we take care of everything that we 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.720 possibly can. So data transfer is crucial to the way 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:33.520 we operate the space station today. In your time up there, 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:36.320 did you have any kind of moments of crisis? Did 0:17:36.320 --> 0:17:41.280 you ever lose communication with Houston? Two times we lost 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.919 as you control. I think we got to the point 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:50.240 where they told us to start executing the procedure and 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:52.720 then we're able to call us off, or they warned 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.800 us that it's possible you could lose you know, maybe 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:57.879 ten minutes from now, there's a risk of you losing 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:02.399 communications for example. Is that scary? What never felt scary 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.840 to me? And I don't. I think the reason it 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:06.760 didn't feel scary is because when we do that on 0:18:06.800 --> 0:18:09.760 the ground for training, when we do it in a simulation, 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:15.480 the simulation is much harder because in space, the ground 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.639 was trying to help as much as possible. But on 0:18:17.680 --> 0:18:20.679 the ground they give you a scenario where you call 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:23.400 the ground, you get no response. Every everything is as 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:26.439 bad as possible. So it was to me it felt 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.440 just like a simulation. But where the trainers were willing 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:30.800 to give us more help than they were willing to 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:34.240 give us on the ground. So and the culture that 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:36.880 I got trained in and that's worked for me really, 0:18:36.880 --> 0:18:40.840 really well, is one that says, slow way down. If 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:42.840 you're on an emergency on the space station, unless it's 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.200 an ammonia leak. In all other cases, slow way down 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:48.919 because the worst thing you can do is go so 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:50.960 fast that you make a mistake and cause problems. But 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:55.560 otherwise it's a very safe system. When I was leading 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.520 newer crew members, I tried to encourage them to have 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.639 a cold sure where if they had any confusion, that 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:04.960 they would feel comfortable stopping everybody and say, hey, why 0:19:04.960 --> 0:19:06.960 are we going down this path that doesn't make sense 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:08.520 to me? Because that could be the one question that 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.920 gets us to stay on the correct path. You said 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:14.680 you didn't get scared in that moment. Do you ever 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:19.160 get scared? Mark? Oh? Yeah, I definitely get scared. I 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.600 don't believe you. To give you an example, my experience 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:27.480 of returning to Earth is everything's really interesting. While you're 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.119 going through the atmosphere and you're in a ball of 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.480 flame and the heat shields melting away, and see things 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.280 that are melting away going past the window. That's interesting. 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:38.000 But then when there's nothing to pay attention to while 0:19:38.040 --> 0:19:39.760 you're falling towards the earth, and this time you know 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.760 you're in a trajectory that will result in you hitting 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:44.879 the earth with nothing to do except wait for the 0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:47.199 parachute to open for what I think was probably a 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:51.440 couple of very long minutes, and nobody was having a conversation. 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:53.320 We're just all quietly waiting to find out if we're 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.199 gonna live and we're gonna die. I didn't realize how 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.359 afraid I was that it wasn't gonna work until the 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:02.879 parachute actually opened, and how giddily overjoyed I felt when 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.520 when it actually opened, because I was just like, we're 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.439 gonna live. So yeah, I was scared, And again I 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:12.480 didn't realize it until after the fact. Yeah. Yeah, Um, 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.200 let's talk You mentioned at the beginning your sort of 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.480 interest in mental health. Let's talk about that a little bit. 0:20:18.160 --> 0:20:20.399 You know, you you went through an experience which is 0:20:21.640 --> 0:20:27.000 exceedingly difficult and unusual and surely must have taught you 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.239 a great deal about the kind of the challenges of 0:20:30.280 --> 0:20:34.640 maintaining one's mental health. Yeah, it was a good experience. 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:36.879 But certainly those life skills doesn't matter if you're in 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:41.879 space or not. Um I tend to get distracted easily, 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.920 and so practicing trying to stay focused on one thing 0:20:47.119 --> 0:20:50.760 and paying attention and trying to maintain a sense of 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:55.560 curiosity about something as simple as breathing is I think 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:59.880 a really good practice to try to to expand your 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:03.879 ability to stay focused and and actually even find joy 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:08.400 and relaxation in it. It's it's very reassuring if you 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:12.840 can get yourself to feel really relaxed no matter what's 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.879 going on, that it's it's it's like you've got this 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:18.880 island of comfort that you know is just internal to you. 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:21.679 So I thought that was very powerful. It's not something 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:26.400 that I how does the skill before my fifties at all. 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:34.760 And I think meditation has certainly helped the awareness of 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:39.880 the negative impact that the narratives that I would use 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.679 to fill in the gaps and information I had was 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:44.800 really powerful for me. And I'll give you an example 0:21:44.800 --> 0:21:48.879 that's associated with space flight. We have a module on 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:52.439 the space station that's called the PMM. It's like the 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:54.359 attic of the space station. If you have a task 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:56.560 that takes forty that you've given you forty. Miss Ado. 0:21:57.080 --> 0:22:00.159 Part of every activity is typically gathered the material you 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:01.919 need and a lot of time. That means you go 0:22:01.960 --> 0:22:04.000 into the p MM and it's not unusual to see 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:07.840 somebody's just ankles and feet sticking out between bags as 0:22:07.840 --> 0:22:10.280 they're digging with a flash head lamp on trying to 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:14.400 get deep into the into the depths of these bags 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:17.480