Being interviewed in front of the Astronaut Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center, trying to not look freezing cold...

January 28, 2011 marked 25 years since the loss of the Challenger crew. I was fortunate to spend the day with Dr. June Scobee-Rogers, who along with other Challenger crew family members took this incredible loss and created one of the world’s most inspirational learning organizations, the Challenger Center for Space Science Education (www.challenger.org). Beginning with 0530 AM interviews in Florida through a mid-day visit to Houston’s Challenger Learning Center (the world’s first), and finally ending in Albuqueque, NM (the most recent learning center), June was inspirational and energetic all day long! Many thanks also go out to Gwen Griffin and her team at Griffin Communications, Miles Obrien and David Waters (for their Spaceflight Now webcast in Houston) and Marion Epps (of Epps Aviation in Atlanta, for graciously providing air transportation to June, Gwen, Dan Barstow and myself).

We have much to look forward to at the Challenger Center, including aspirations to grow substantially to reach underserved communities around the nation: http://www.spacenews.com/profiles/110131-scott-parazynski.html

Test flying a Rotorway kit built helicopter in Chandler, AZ; doors open and just 45 degrees!

I’m just beginning a very exciting new job here in Houston, so I’ve taken a few weeks in between to devote some time to writing about some of the fun and unusual life experiences I’ve had thus far. I did some focused writing while sequestered away in Arizona, which also gave me the opportunity to test fly a helicopter I’ve always wanted to build, a Rotorway A600 Talon. I only have a few hours of helo time, but it seems the ultimate way to travel – low, slow and scenic, with the ability to touch down most anywhere. Hopefully in the next couple of years I’ll get a chance to build my own, as the demo flight was fantastic.

In closing, I think it’s also important to remember not to take yourself too seriously…

Wilma!!!

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!

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

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…

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

Happy New Year to one and all,

Scott

http://spacetweeps.podbean.com/2010/01/01/episode-201-can-you-spotscott-we-did/

“Challenger Center for Space Science Education announced today that former astronaut Scott Parazynski, MD has been named Chair-Elect of its Board of Directors. He will assume the role of the Chair of the Board in November 2010, succeeding Former Astronaut William F. Readdy. “Scott is a top-notch leader and manager with a passion for education, and I look forward to working with him this year as he transitions to his next role as Chair of the Board,” said Chair of the Board William F. Readdy.”

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.

Scott Parazynski and Keith Cowing answer questions from students at the Challenger Learning Center of Manhattan about his attempt to climb Mt. Everest and his career as an astronaut.

When astronaut Scott Parazynski stands atop Mt. Everest in a few days, he will be making note of a number of non-profit and educational organizations – among them the Explorers Club. With him will be Explorers Club flag #114. Scott carried this flag last year. However, he had to turn back due to a back injury. Scott’s climbing partner, Adam Janikowski carried it on to the summit. Flag #114 was returned to the Explorers Club last year at the annual Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner.

According to the Explorers Club website: “Every year Explorers Club members launch new research expeditions around the world, thus continuing the early goals laid down by the Club’s founders in 1904. The Explorers Club flag represents a history of courage and accomplishment and has been carried on hundreds of expeditions since 1918. Flag expeditions fulfill a fundamental part of the Club’s mission: To engage in scientific exploration and share the results.

Carrying the flag is a great honor and privilege that is shared with many famous members. A numbered Club Flag may be awarded on loan to an individual member who is taking an active part in a non-commercial field research expedition.”

History of Explorers Club flag #114

• 1944: Otto W. Geist – Alaskan Coastline Expedition
• 1988: Tom Hayllar, Ven McNamara – Cairns to Derby Walk
• 1988: Ruth Petzold – Monterey Canyon Expedition
• 1990: John Fine – Corsica Expedition
• 1991: Joseph Romig, Ph.D. – Noon Darkness Expedition
• 1993: James H. Smith, Jr. – 1993 Cerro Rabon Expedition
• 1994: Kenneth R. Wright – Machu Picchu Hydrological Survey Expedition
• 2002: Kenneth R. Wright – Prehistoric D018 Reservoir
• 2006: Scott W. Hamilton – Texarkana Ivory Bill Research Project
• 2007: Scott W. Hamilton – Ivory Bill Research Project 2007
• 2007: Graham Charles – Ice and Ocean – Greenland 2007
• 2008: Keith L. Cowing & Scott Parazynski – Everest on Orbit
• 2009: Keith L. Cowing & Scott Parazynski – Everest on Orbit: Return to Everest

Explorers Club flags have been to the moon, aboard the space shuttle and International Space Station. Another flag was carried aloft by commercial space traveller and Explorers Club Fellow Richard Garriott (FN’98) in October 2008.