‘This generation will be going to Mars’: NASA astronaut reveals future of space tourism
EXCLUSIVE: As British astronaut Tim Peake reaches the half-way point of his mission, a NASA veteran with four shuttle missions under his belt shares fascinating insight into life in space and what’s next for galactic travel.
“People ask if it was everything I thought it would be and I say oh, it was so much more. They ask if it was worth it - all the hard work - and I tell them a million times over.”
Don Thomas was 39 years of age when he first launched into space.
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His mission was 15 days long, which was the record longest space shuttle mission when it launched in 1994.
The father-of-one from Ohio had been training at NASA for four years prior to that take-off, after completing a master of science degree and a doctorate in Materials Science at Cornell University.
Don recalls: “I had dreamed of it since I was six years old and 33 years later it was happening… You have no idea how you’re going to feel up there. To see the earth and to experience a launch, there’s nothing quite like it.”
The years to follow would see Dom venture into space three more times.
They ask if it was worth it - all the hard work - and I tell them a million times over
Don said: “Three of my missions were science missions, they were called ‘space labs’ and they were a precursor for the International Space Station… It was a 24-hour-a-day operation.
“In the other one of my missions we deployed a big communication satellite. We used these satellites to talk from the shuttle and space station back to earth.”
When asked if it ever got any easier to launch himself into the unknown, Don said: “It’s scary every time, that danger is always there.
“Launches for the spouses are very stressful because of the hazard. If something bad happened during the mission I wouldn’t even know it would happen so quickly.
Don said: “These students today, 30 years from now they’re going to Mars. This generation and any generation can really learn a lot from a place like this… I wish I had the opportunity to go when I was younger.”
And what does a man who has spent over 1,000 hours in space think about extra terrestrial life forms?
Don said: “I don’t think I’m authorised to really answer that. We see some funny things, but if you study them you can usually figure out what you’re looking at.
“Having said that, the universe is just so huge that I believe there are other galaxies, planets… There’s other life out there, we just haven’t seen it yet.”
The Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex has launched three new exhibits this year including the International Space Station Research Adventures, which gives visitors the chance to step into Tim Peake’s shoes and experience what astronauts are doing on the ISS right now. More information can be found at www.KennedySpaceCenter.com
