At the annual meeting of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education (CCSSE) a couple of weeks ago in St. Louis, which included flight directors from most of our 50 learning centers around the world, I received the Chairman’s official light saber! We have an amazing and dedicated board of directors, but obviously we’re big on fun and low on formality! It’s my great honor to help continue the legacy created by the families of the Space Shuttle Challenger in the aftermath of the tragedy, and led so ably by Mr. Bill Readdy these past several years. 

June with the very first copy of Star Challengers!

One of the highlights was the “world premiere” of June Scobee-Roger’s new book, “Star Challengers.” The first books arrived from the printer during our board meeting. I’m the proud owner of an autographed first edition! http://blogs.challenger.org/2010/08/star-challengers-book-moon-base-crisis.html

Chuck Berry still has the moves and the music at 83!

I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Chuck Berry, the inspiration behind Elvis, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and generally The Origins of Rock. Life seems to continue to take amazing twists and turns for me — not sure how I got so lucky, as I’m certainly not worthy — and so one evening during the Challenger meetings I was surprised to find myself at Blueberry Hill, in the front row with June, rocking out as the 83 year old Mr. Berry rocked the house! Whatever fountain of youth he’s found, I want some… 

Meanwhile, back in Houston, they’ve announced an opportunity to suggest wake-up music for the Space Shuttle crews of the final missions. Having been the beneficiary of great wake-up calls on 4 of my 5 missions (one flight involved ’round-the-clock operations, so we didn’t have music piped up to us), John Matson of Scientific American interviewed me for his article on the subject: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nasa-shuttle-music My all-time favorite wake-up tunes were Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xotoDy5806Y) and the song my son Luke sent before the final spacewalk of my career, the theme song to Star Wars! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI)

I recently had a chance to get back to the recording studios of Purple Songs Can Fly, located at Texas Children’s Hospital Cancer Center. I’ve been inspired for several years by the talented children and their mentor/creative genius, Anita Kruse. Kids undergoing chemotherapy and other treatments can take their minds to another place and create beautiful music, recordings of which I’ve taken with me to space, and more recently to the summit of Everest. Several of my favorite kids on the planet gave a concert while I was there, and I shared a few stories from the mountain with them (and returned a CD that had been to the top). http://purplesongscanfly.com/photos.html

Who's that good looking astronaut hiding behind that floating corned beef sandwich??!

A good friend emailed me a book review (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/06/RVJE1ECBE5.DTL) with a doctored photograph that bears striking similarity to yours truly. The book review suggests dramatic sensationalism with a number of over-recycled themes, like the corned beef sandwich on Gemini 3, so I won’t be rushing out to buy a copy… Please send me yours and I’ll recycle it for you!

I was also recently back at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex to give a few talks to guests from all over the world. It was great to see my buddies Nick, Jon, Livia and others while there. As I left KSC my last visit in May, they informed me that the ladies at the VC had come up with a new nickname for me. This group never misses an opportunity for a practical joke, so they kindly had a new set of wings made up for my flight suit!

I will never wear this in public!

Luke pointing out the contrail from "the best seat in the house!"

Also while down in Cocoa Beach, there just happened to be an ATLAS 5 launch. It turned out to be at a rather uncivilized hour of the day, just after 7 AM, when I’d much prefer to be deep in REM sleep. On the bright side, there happened to be a Starbucks in the lobby of our hotel, so I rousted my son and we were able to watch/feel it soar to orbital velocity while wading in the surf, camera in my right hand and Caramel Macchiato in my left… Absolutely spectacular!

 

 

Nearing summit as the sun slowly rises...

 

Jay Redman atop Mount Rainier

Jay isn’t the kind of guy who gives up easy, you see. Jason “Jay” Redman, a Navy Lieutenant and SEAL, was caught in a fierce firefight in Afghanistan. Separated from some of his team, Al-Qaeda gunfire ripped his face and left arm to pieces, and he very narrowly avoided becoming a fatality of war. Thinking of his faith and family in what might’ve become his final moments on Earth, he somehow held on. Forty-plus surgeries later, including 7 months with a tracheotomy breathing tube, he’s an inspiration to all wounded warriors. A large orange poster board that he displayed outside his room at Bethesda Naval Hospital says it all about Jay:

‘‘Attention to all who enter here. If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the absolute utmost physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20 percent further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere.”

 

Kevin Ivory victorious on the summit of Mount Ranier --- Kev has my ice axe and flag in his left hand (flown during Space Shuttle mission STS-86, and taken to the summit of Everest with me in 2009)

 

 

Kevin Ivory, a Marine medic (Petty Officer Third Class) on his 3rd tour of duty in Iraq, was out on patrol in Fallujah when the Humvee he was driving ran directly over three Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), launching him and his buddy Phil 10 feet in the air. Severely wounded by shrapnel blast, he found the strength to render aid to Phil, who’d lost his arm in the attack. Despite Kevin’s severe injuries, blood loss and shock, he managed to place and maintain a tourniquet on his buddy’s arm, drifting in and out of consciousness. When rescue crews found the pair, an unconscious Kevin still had a tight grip on Phil’s brachial artery, thereby saving his life. Although Kevin emphatically said he’d never climb a mountain like Rainier again (he mentioned Mauna Kea in Hawaii as an option — basically anyplace warm!), seeing him celebrate on the summit was a beautiful thing, and clearly a milestone event in his life. 

Celebration on the Summit: Mike Day (lower right), Kevin Ivory (center) and Bryan Stuart (far right); Scott, Bob and Erica also raising the flag...

21-year Navy SEAL veteran (Master Chief) Mike Day makes Rambo look like a male figure skater doing a Triple Salchow with a Half Gainer (or whatever it is those little guys do). Mike faced such overwhelming odds in an Al-Qaeda firefight in Fallujah it’s hard to fathom it, especially given the humility in which he recounts his fateful day. Riddled with bullets and presumed dead (he took 27 bullets in total, 16 to his body and 11 to his body armor), he somehow rallied and took down his four assailants. Had his valor been witnessed by two independent sources, as is required for the Congressional Medal of Honor, it is likely he’d have received our nation’s highest honor for valor in combat. Mike made it to the top in fine form, and apparently liked it well enough to want to take a friend and fellow wounded warrior (double lower extremity amputee) to climb Denali, an even colder and tougher destination. That’s just the kind of guy he is — as a retired SEAL, he works with a non-profit to help other wounded veterans get the services they need to transition back into civilian life.

Bryan Stuart, also a Navy SEAL, was hard hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) during his first tour of duty, and has stoically fought  to recover strength and function following multiple injuries and other issues. An electronics and communications expert on the SEAL teams, he hopes to go back to college soon to pursue an electrical engineering degree as his wife completes medical school. SEALs are famously tough: Bryan never showed any weakness or suffering on the climb. Although a quiet individual by nature, I could tell by his proud smile that he was powerfully changed by the summit experience. What’s more, the experience left the entire team of guides and volunteers (including Micah, Bill, Curtis, Art, Ann, Erica, Heidi, Tim, Kegan, Walt, Bob and me) with a profound sense of awe — we most likely derived even greater uplift from the climb than the vets!

Please consider giving generously to Camp Patriot so they can help others — “Giving back to those who have given.” www.camppatriot.org

Camp Patriot honors those who’ve given us so much…

Brave American military men and women proudly serve us around the world, including in the direct line of fire in Afghanistan and Iraq. As a result, there are over 2.3 million disabled veterans in the US, and this number continues to grow. Thankfully there is an incredible organization called Camp Patriot (www.camppatriot.org) that strives to honor and support them by providing meaningful outdoor activities, regardless of their injuries.

I met Founder and Executive Director Micah Clark last summer at a conference, and immediately wanted to do what I could to help. He and fellow mountaineer Curtis Fawley asked me to join their 2010 Mt. Rainier Summit Challenge, and it took all of a microsecond to consider my reply. I’m deeply honored to help guide a group of remarkable Americans to the top of 14,411-foot Mt. Rainier, as well as give a keynote at their annual fundraiser tomorrow evening in Seattle: Camp Patriot Program 7.8.10

The Summit Challenge Team includes four (dis)abled servicemen, among them Navy SEALs and 1 Navy Corpsman (medic):

Navy Corpsman Kevin Ivory

Navy SEAL Jason Redman

Navy SEAL Mike Day

Navy SEAL Bryan Stuart

We’ll also be supported by my friends at International Mountain Guides (IMG, www.mountainguides.com), with whom I climbed Everest, and the fine folks at Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI, www.rmiguides.com).

Camp Patriot not only enables adventures such as this Rainier ascent, they aspire to build a mountain lodge to support thousands of other disabled veterans in the years ahead. Please consider giving generously: http://www.camppatriot.org/donations.html

TRACK OUR CLIMB IN REAL TIME:

In the days ahead I’ll post thoughts and photos from the climb here. In the meantime, you’ll be able to track our progress via my handy SPOT Messenger, dusted off from my last Mt. Everest climb: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=42312

Check out these other links, including video of our team training in Arizona a couple of months ago:

• http://www.azfamily.com/video/featured-videos/Vets-that-form-Camp-Patriot-97830019.html
• http://www.twitter.com/camp_patriot
• http://www.myspace.com/480215603

International Science Conference for Children, Gdansk

I recently visited Gdansk, Poland, to speak at the International Science Conference for Children (“Międzynarodowej Konferencji Naukowej dla Dzieci”), held at the Polytechnic University of Gdansk. The brainchild of Dr. Agata Hofman, it pulled science-inspired kids from all over the region to participate in lectures, robotics, chess competitions and much more. Most of the lecturers were the kids themselves, who had studied at great length to prepare their topics and educate their contemporaries! The audience included students from all academic and socioeconomic backgrounds, including several from local orphanages and those with special physical disabilities. 

I was asked to give the opening keynote to a very large group of young scientists, and never have I seen so much enthusiasm to learn — every single kid in the auditorium had his or her hand up to ask a question. When it was announced that I could only take 10 more questions, the anxiety and tension in the room grew exponentially as students tried to capture the attention of the microphone holders… Afterwards I met 100′s of kids around the conference, including attending one of the lecture series where the presentations were given in English — pretty remarkable for a pre-teen to do a serious research project, and then present your results and flashy PowerPoint in a foreign language!

Upon arrival in Poland, my hosts asked me what I’d most like to see in Gdansk. A frequent traveler, I had read up on the Old City and wanted to walk its cobblestone streets and see the famous cathedrals, but I was most interested in seeing the shipyards, made world famous by Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement — a key ingredient in the demise of the Iron Curtain. Not only did I get a chance to see these sights, they upped the ante by calling the office of one of my longtime heroes, President and Nobel Laureate Walesa himself. 

A snapshot from Lech's smartphone, alongside some of my wonderful hosts...

What a thrill to get to spend some quality time with a living legend, literally someone who changed the world in remarkable ways. I was immediately impressed by the charismatic 67 year-old, tech-savvy President Walesa: he had his aid take his smartphone and snap a photo of our group upon arrival. With a couple of taps on its pressure-sensitive screen, he smiled broadly and then took us behind his desk to see his monitor, where within seconds our group photo appeared on his photo-blog: http://www.lechwalesa.blip.pl/ 

Visiting the former President in his office in old town Gdansk

Although it seemed he understood English to some extent, one of my hosts (Ewa, pronounced “Eva”) translated our half hour exchange, on topics ranging from the majesty of the Universe and the Earth from space, to what he was passionate about in this day and age — he now travels widely to speak on his vision of a “United States of Europe” as a means to adopt a common set of values and remain globally competitive. I certainly hope I can keep the same level of passion and engagement when I reach his age!

I also visited the beautiful town of Tczew (“Chev”), perhaps a half hour drive from Gdansk without traffic. I had the chance to speak to a very large auditorium full of students there, who also treated me to specially prepared songs, dance and space-themed artwork. I hope to post some of the art show’s top entries on my web site very soon… Perhaps the best part of the trip was being invited into the home of my hosts, Agata and Maciej Hofman (with beautiful kids and grandmother), for two home-cooked dinners, including venison stew, roast duck and wild pheasant (I’d never had pheasant before, but it was amazing…). My Everest 2008 buddy of Polish descent, Jaroslaw Hawrylewicz, also happened to be in town from NYC — fun to relive the experience with a great friend!

My hosts also arranged a special mass and organ concert at Oliwa (“Oliva”) Cathedral, one of the oldest brick churches in Europe, with one of the finest organs in the world (carved, mechanical angels move in synch with the melody, and the organ itself has over 7800 pipes!).

How’s your Polish? Mine is nonexistent, although I can make some headway with the locals speaking Russian. Here are a couple of TV broadcasts while I was there, the first one being Poland’s top morning show (“Good Morning Polska?): 

http://dziendobrytvn.plejada.pl/24,34045,news,,1,,konferencja_dla_dzieci,aktualnosci_detal.html

http://pomorska.tv/Dzie%C5%84_Dziecka_na_politechnice,1049,polecamy.html

Sporting SIr Edmund-style goggles, just prior to the summit push

A year ago today I was packing for my summit bid on Mount Everest, full of excitement and significant trepidation. A week later I was able to get past my earlier failure and injury, reaching the top just prior to sunrise on 20 May 2009. My good friend Sabrina Singh thought the occasion of this anniversary warranted a reunion of sorts, bringing together the two trekking teams that visited me at Everest Base Camp in 2008 and 2009. As such, I’ll be giving a presentation at the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s IMAX theater next Thursday evening at 6:30 PM. The public is welcome: if you’re in town, please come on by — kids welcomed and encouraged!

From the NASA Johnson Space Center “JSC Today” Newsletter:  
Astronaut Scott Parazynski will celebrate the one-year anniversary of his Mount Everest Summit with personal photographs and video taken during the 2009 trekking season. Also learn how your fellow team members from JSC, Goddard and Marshall hiked to the Base Camp of Mount Everest to visit Scott in Nepal in 2008 and 2009. Bring your families for this free, special event in the IMAX theatre of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. 

Where: Houston Museum of Natural Science 
5555 Hermann Park Drive 
Houston Texas 77030-1799 

When: May 20 at 6:30 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.)

http://www.hmns.org/education/children_families/special_events.asp#5-20

Future Astronaut Will, suited up with me at the KSC Visitor’s Center

If you ever had any doubts about the power of the space program to inspire, they would have completely evaporated these past few days at the KSC Visitor’s Center, where I gave a number of talks at The Astronaut Encounter (http://tinyurl.com/25dn9ko). My own passion for space began at age 5, growing up in the shadow of Apollo and my father’s work on the program. Although our present day Space Shuttle is about to retire and the path ahead for human spaceflight is less than clear, Americans will continue to fly into space on one vehicle or another — and a new generation of young explorers is watching and waiting for their turn. My little friend Will (pictured above, and coincidentally a 5 year old), came with his parents to hear me speak, fully decked out in his space suit. Go for launch!

Prior to each of my presentations at the Astronaut Encounter theater, a beautiful film that highlights NASA’s 50 years of achievement (as well as the painful losses of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia) is screened. The film closes with a quote from our 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. He described my philosophy on the good life with a clarity I’d never be able to muster:

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorius triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” 

Exactly, what he said. Period.

It was great to be back at the Cape, and to work with the fine folks at the Visitor’s Center. Nick, Livia, Jon and many other staff members took great care of me, and will host you well should you make a trip of your own. And I suggest you do so, ideally in time to see one of our final Space Shuttle launches…

It's a rare day when I feel short, but even on tiptoes my 6'3" frame was overshadowed by these KSC visitors from Holland! I sure hope that Wendy "Too Short" Lawrence never sees this photo...

As I was headed down to dinner on my final night in Cocoa Beach, a very familiar face boarded the elevator. “Al? Hi, my name’s Scott Parazynski, you may not remember me, but I think you’re taking over from me as the Duty Astro at KSC tomorrow!” Al Worden (http://www.alworden.com/), Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot and larger-than-life hero, was right down the hall from me in the hotel! It was a thrill to speak with him briefly, and thus “pass the microphone.” He was headed out to visit the legendary but severely ailing Guenter Wendt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guenter_Wendt), former Pad Leader for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. Prayers for comfort going out to Mr. Wendt and his family in this difficult time…

How lucky can a lucky guy get? I’m thrilled to to serve as an Honorary Captain of the US Olympic Luge Team, about to take on the rest of the world’s best in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Having once trained and competed for such a coveted spot, I admire these athletes deeply. Luge is an incredibly demanding sport, requiring dedicated training for many years to have a shot at the Olympics — and without the fanfare and sponsorships of the likes of downshill skiing or figure skating. They train, they go to school, they work, and soon they’ll compete for their nation and for themselves. It will be a great honor to be there with my son to cheer them on. 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wyles-scott-parazynski-serves-as-honorary-captain-of-us-luge-team-in-vancouver-games-82694757.html

In the days ahead I’ll introduce the team here (along with some of the coaches and my fellow HC’s). Make sure you catch the competition February 13 through February 17!

The lunar and Everest rock samples (and fancy Pringles/duct tape holder) with Zambo

The past few weeks have been a blur of Everest-related activity, and hypoxia is not to blame! The Discovery Channel’s “Everest: Beyond the Limit” series detailing the 2009 summit season went live just after Christmas. Last week we held the official hand-off of the “nuggets” — the small Apollo 11 lunar samples I took to the top, and a summit rock I brought down — over to NASA.

The “Everest BTL” episode in which I was featured, along with buddies Dawes, Danuru, Mingma, Ed, Mike, Louis and Paul, is mega-dramatically entitled: “Deadly Countdown!” If you missed one of the dozen times it played that week, fear not! All is not lost! Assuming you don’t have a heart ailment or fear of heights, here is the full episode online: http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/everest-beyond-the-limit-deadly-countdown-full-episode.html

Last week three great friends joined me for probably the last pages of the “Everest chapter” in my life… Keith Cowing and Miles Obrien flew into Houston for a ceremony to formally hand over the small rocks, picked up literally worlds apart. The recipient was my good friend George “Zambo” Zamka, about to command the STS-130 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. Keith and Miles, both fellow Directors of the Challenger Center for Space Science Education (www.challenger.org), were driving forces in sharing the expedition with countless thousands of kids around the world through our blogs and videochats. They encouraged me and helped me find sponsorship despite the longest of odds, and I’m eternally grateful. Zambo flew with me on my final Shuttle mission, STS-120, and he and his new crew will now be the couriers of what I consider to be precious cargo. Although this is  a very minor duty on a very complex mission (!), I hope that having these tangible objects of exploration will help inspire future astronaut explorers as they venture off to places even more distant in the years ahead. You can see the hand-off ceremony (Miles was MC) and a presentation on my Everest years on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3St_RRXZLU

Apollo 11 lunar samples and a piece of the "Roof of the World" mounted and ready for a trip to the International Space Station; they will eventually reside in the appropriately-named "Tranquility Module."

Everest summit gear on display at Space Center Houston

Other mentions of recent events (Big Thanks to Robert Pearlman for the photos above!):

• collectSPACE (Robert Pearlman’s great site): http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-010610a.html
• Air & Space Magazine photo of the day: http://www.airspacemag.com/snapshot/80860072.html
• MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34757736/ns/technology_and_science-space/
• Mother Nature Network: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/rocks-from-the-moon-and-from-everest-join-crew-of-the

WHAT: Retired NASA Astronaut Scott E. Parazynski, the only human to both travel into space and climb Mt. Everest, will speak at the AIAA Space 2009 Conference & Exhibition’s “Education Alley”

Education Alley, AIAA’s innovative aerospace education program, will highlight the world of aerospace engineering and science to over two thousand Pasadena area students in grades K-6 from September 14-17.

WHEN: Tuesday, September 15 at 11:15 a.m.

WHERE: Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, Calif.

DETAILS

Tuesday, September 15, 11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Exploring From Earth to the Stars (Pasadena Convention Center Exhibit Hall)

Speaker: Scott Parazynski, retired NASA Astronaut and employee of Wyle, will recount his experiences from his five space shuttle missions and from his May 2009 summit of Mt. Everest. Parazynski will be available for media interviews both before and after his talk.

AIAA SPACE 2009 is co-chaired by NASA and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, and is sponsored by Orbital Sciences Corporation and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Additional sponsors include The Boeing Company, SpaceX, United Space Alliance, Stellar Solutions, Ball Aerospace Technologies, Harris Corporation, and The Aerospace Corporation. Aerospace America and Space News are the official media sponsors. Additional support will be provided by the California Space Authority, the American Astronautical Society, and the AIAA Technical Activities Committee Space & Missiles Group.

AIAA’s premier annual space conference, AIAA SPACE 2009 serves as a venue for senior government and industry leaders and technologists. Under the theme “Space: New Opportunities for a New Era,” the four-day event will examine the need for increasing America’s commitment to education in the “STEM” subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; how best to approach the problems posed by global climate change; how to reduce global fossil fuel consumption; and the role that space exploration and space technologies will play in achieving these goals.

AIAA is the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. With more than 35,000 individual members worldwide, and 90 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org.

“Parazynski has a long list of accomplishments. He is also an avid mountain climber and has scaled some of the world’s tallest peaks, including Cerro Aconcagua. Last year he attempted to climb Mount Everest, but was thwarted by a back injury. He is also a SCUBA diver, pilot and a medical doctor. Parazynski, it seems, loves doing things that would scare the daylights out of most people. When asked by students on Tuesday whether he was ever scared while in space, he answered yes, but not in the way one might think. “The first (mission), you’re just trying not to screw up multi-million dollar satellites and very expensive equipment,” he said. “If you were to make a mistake, you would be letting a lot of people down. I wanted to do a good job because I wanted to fly again.” There is one thing, however, Parazynski admitted might scare him a little. “Have you ever ridden in a skeleton (sled)?” he asked. “That just looks nuts.”