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Get your STS-121 mechandise and support this site at the same time. Full range can be viewed by clicking the image on the left.<\/em><\/font><\/font><\/p>\nKelly noted that he had always aspired to being an astronaut, although he still classes himself as Navy when introducing himself in public. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018It was certainly something I was interested in as a kid, but I also liked the idea of being a pilot or a doctor or a race car driver,\u2019 said Kelly. Before joining NASA I was a pilot in the Navy. I saw becoming an astronaut as the next challenging step in aviation. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018If it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s someone I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know very well I tell them I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in the navy. If they quiz me further I tell them I work for NASA. And if they ask me again I tell them I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m an astronaut. Often people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe me when I tell them.\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n Kelly already has a mission under his belt, servicing as a pilot on STS-103 \u2013 the third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. <\/font><\/p>\n Spaceflight history books (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n \u2018The Hubble had some troubles with its gyroscopes which allow the telescope to point very precisely. It was our job to fix it. It was a big problem so we were in a hurry to do it. We fixed it over three different space walks. But as a pilot I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually do the space walk. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018We were the first shuttle mission to spend Christmas there on the Hubble repair mission. It was nice, we all enjoyed a festive Christmas dinner and listened to some music.\u2019 <\/p>\n <\/font> NASASPACEFLIGHT.COM RSS FEED \u2014> <\/p>\n In-between answering obvious questions about the feeling of weightlessness and the food that astronauts eat while on board of a shuttle, Kelly mentioned that he\u2019s more nervous about watching other launches, as opposed to his own. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nerve-wracking beforehand,\u2019 he noted. \u2018But to be honest you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re too busy concentrating on the task at hand to think about worrying. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strange because I get more nervous when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m watching a rocket launch than when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m directly involved in it.\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018I would love to go to the moon, but I would prefer to go to Mars! It\u2019s the planet that is most like Earth, I will certainly be involved in the next Mars mission but I will probably be too old to actually go there.\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n Kelly also believes there\u2019s a very good chance that there\u2019s alien life is out there to be found, although he joked that NASA is yet to supply shuttles with laser guns \u2013 in case the Romulan Empire turns up in Low Earth Orbit. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018The chances are very high. There are millions of stars and no doubt billions of planets surrounding them so the odds of us being the only planet with life on it are extremely slim. I would like to think there are intelligent life forms but I really have no idea and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how anyone could know for sure. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018(Laughing) I would get straight on the radio back to Earth mission control and report that we had encountered an alien craft,\u2019 he jokingly added, when asked what the protocol is for bumping into an alien craft. \u2018But seriously, there is no protocol in place because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not expected to happen.<\/p>\n Interestingly, Kelly doesn\u2019t see the attraction in space tourism, especially the future plans to set up permanent hotels in space and on the moon. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018A few Russians have spent more than a year in space. As far as people spending their whole lives there, it may happen some day, but I would wonder why. <\/p>\n \u2018Space is a pretty hostile environment, even within the confines of a shuttle. You have to deal with effects of radiation and you have to deal with the effects of weightlessness. <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018I know people are reserving seats with Virgin Galactic, but they are sub-orbital flights that only last a few minutes.\u2019<\/font><\/p>\n \u2018I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen a few (space movies). I liked Apollo 13, that was actually quite realistic,\u2019 added Kelly. \u2018There are certainly some movies where I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll sit starring at the screen thinking, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcthat is so unrealistic,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Space Cowboys is an example of that.\u2019<\/p>\n Kelly\u2019s brother Mark is already in the UK media spotlight, with STS-121 already gaining large UK media coverage \u2013 the launch is also confirmed on three major networks for live coverage.<\/font><\/p>\n \u2018Travelling into space is a very unique opportunity for anyone,\u2019 noted Kelly when speaking about his twin brother, \u2018and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unusual for members of the same family to do the same thing, let alone a twin.<\/font><\/p>\n \u2018It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s great to share the experiences.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/u><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Astronaut Scott Kelly might not have been reading from the NASA PAO manual when he took part in a live webchat with UK Shuttle fans. The brother of Mark Kelly \u2013 who will fly on STS-121 next month \u2013 gave one of the most open insights into being an astronaut. Organised by Britain\u2019s best selling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Flying in space exceeded my expectations by a huge amount. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the greatest experiences a person could ever have.\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n
<\/em><\/font>STS-121 Mission T-Shirt. Use discount code \u2018nasaspaceflight\u2019 when ordering from Countdown Creations & receive 5% off!<\/p>\n
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<\/font><\/p>\nMoving on to the VSE (Vision for Space Exploration), Kelly\u2019s eyes are more on Mars, rather than the moon, even if it\u2019s not going to involve a mission where he\u2019ll actually get to walk on the red planet\u2019s surface. <\/font><\/p>\n
<\/font>\u2018We plan for things that are remotely possible and meeting an alien craft doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fit that criteria. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t carry an weapons or lasers on board!\u2019 <\/font><\/p>\n
Just a few days ago, it was announced that a big budget movie was to be made on the Challenger disaster. Kelly isn\u2019t immune from cringing when Hollywood gets it wrong.<\/p>\n
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