After the loss of Columbia a couple of years ago, I think we were reminded of the risk. All of us, though, have always known that the Space Shuttle is a very risky vehicle, much more risky than even flying airplanes in combat. ↗
I think I was very interested in the space program as a kid, watching the first Apollo missions to the moon, and it's something I thought that would be a lot of, of fun and exciting and a very worthwhile job. ↗
Later, after flying in the Navy for four or five years, spending some time on an aircraft carrier, I applied to and was accepted in a program where I went to graduate school first and then to the Naval Test Pilots School. ↗
The first two missions have some test objectives, some new capabilities that we're going to try to develop on orbit to possibly be used on later flights. ↗
There's been a lot of discussion about NASA culture and changing that. I think our culture has always been one of trying to do a very difficult job and do it well. ↗
An audience is going to be able to find a little bit of Dorothy in themselves and relate to this woman.: roles like Dorothy Day are so rare in Hollywood. ↗