>> NOW, A CONVERSATION WITH WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS' OWN
RESIDENT ASTRONAUT CADY COLEMAN.
WE SAT DOWN RECENTLY TO TALK ABOUT HER OWN TIME IN SPACE,
MORE SIX MONTHS, PLANS FOR A POSSIBLE MISSION TO MARS AND THE
FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN SPACE PROGRAM.
>> IT DEPENDS ON THE KIND OF PEORIA PULSION YOU TALK ABOUT,
HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE.
WE'RE CERTAINLY TALKING MONTHS TO GET TO MARS.
IN ORDER TO PREPARE FOR THAT WE ARE HAVING DESTINATIONS THAT ARE
CLOSER TO HOME, GOING TO THE MOON, TO AN ASTEROID.
WHY GO BACK TO THE MOON, PEOPLE SAY.
THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WE CAN LEARN ABOUT SPACE FLIGHT THAT WE
NEED TO LEARN IN THOSE DESTINATIONS THAT ARE BEYOND LOW
EARTH ORBIT BUT STILL PRETTY CLOSE.
BUT IF MY FIRST IS THE EARTH, WE'RE ACTUALLY QUITE CLOSE TO
THE EARTH ON THAT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
AND IT IS A NATIONAL LABORATORY WHERE WE ARE DOING EXPERIMENTS
EVERY DAY IN ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF DISCIPLINES,
BASIC RESEARCH, COMBUSTION, FLUID PHYSICS, MATERIAL SCIENCE
BUT ALSO FOR TECHNOLOGY.
YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE THE WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM THAT WE USE,
THE AIR RECYCLING SYSTEM THAT WE USE, THEY BREAK MORE THAN ONCE A
MONTH.
AND I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT THAT'S NOT THE HORSE I WANT TO
TAKE TO MARS.
IT'S NOT BECAUSE STUPID PEOPLE DESIGN THEM, IT'S BECAUSE
THERE'S A LOT OF LESSONS TO LEARN ABOUT HOW THINGS WORK IN
LOW EARTH ORBIT.
WE ARE LEARNING THOSE LESSONS STATION IS A GIANT TEST PAD.-
IT'S ANOTHER REASON WHY SCOTT'S PARTICIPATION UP THERE SO LONG
AND HAVING A STEADY RECORD UP THERE CAN BE SO IMPORTANT.
WE'RE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY LETS SONS ON THAT SPACE STATION.
AND ALSO DOWN HERE, I GUESS I LIKE TO BRING IT BACK TO EARTH
BECAUSE IT'S WHERE MOST OF THE PEOPLE I KNOW LIVE, RIGHT?
AND ALL THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO FOR CLOSED LOOP
WATER OR CLOSED LOOP AIR, HOW COULD WE LIVE ON MARS, HOW COULD
WE GROW PLANTS THERE.
ALL OF THOSE LESSON, IF YOU HAD A SUSTAINABILITY EXPERT SITTING
IN THIS CHAIR THEY WOULD TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE SAME THINGS THAT
WERE IMPORTANT TO THEM.
HOW DO I RECYCLE WATER WHEN I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH?
HOW DO I HAVE A SOURCE OF CLEAN WATER?
HOW DO I RECYCLE AIR?
HOW DO I GROW PLANTS WHERE THERE'S NOT TRADITIONAL GROWING
GROUND?
EVERYTHING FROM A DESERT ON ANOTHER CONTINENT TO VERTICAL
FARMING IN A CITY.
SOME OF THE THINGS WE NEED TO KNOW FOR MARS, LEARNING ABOUT
HOW TO WE USE ENERGY JUST FOR THE WAVE LENGTH OF LIGHT WE NEED
TO GROW PLANTS, IT'S FOOTBALL VERTICAL FARMING IN OUR CITIES.
EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY AND OUR NEERKSDZ AND OUR NEEDS RIGHT
HERE ON EARTH FOR A SUSTAINABLE PLANET.
>> I KNOW YOU SPENT TWO TRIPS ON THE SHUTTLE, SIX MONTHS ON THE
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY IS COMING
BACK AFTER ALMOST A YEAR, 11 MONTHS AND SOME DAYS, JUST ABOUT
DOUBLE THE TIME YOU WERE THERE.
REMEMBERING, IMAGINING YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE TIMES TWO, WHAT'S IT
LIKE TO LITERALLY COME BACK DOWN TO EARTH AFTER THAT MUCH TIME IN
SPACE, THAT MUCH TIME WEIGHTLESS?
>> FIRST OF ALL, I'LL GO ON THE RECORD AND SAY THAT MOST OF US
ARE JUST INSANE LEE JEALOUS OF SCOTT.
I REMEMBER BEING SCHEDULED TO COME HOME AFTER SIX MONTHS AND
WISHING SO MUCH SO THAT I COULD STAY ANOTHER SIX.
IT'S NOT JUST IN MY IMAGINATION, I SPECIFICALLY REMEMBER THIS
MOMENT.
BECAUSE IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO GET GOOD AS THINGS WE DO UP
THERE, THE DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS, AND JUST EFFICIENT
AND WORKING IN ZERO GRAVITY AND EVERYTHING FLOATING AROUND.
IT'S REALLY CLEAR WHEN YOU'RE UP THERE HOW IMPORTANT THE WORK IS,
AND THAT EVERY MINUTE YOU CAN GET MORE WORK DONE IS GOING TO
BE IMPORTANT TO EVERYBODY DOWN HERE ON EITHER.
YOU REALLY WANT TO STAY LONGER AND DO THAT.
>> I REMEMBER IN THE EARLIER DAYS OF THE SPACE PROGRAM, WHEN
THEY WERE FIRST GOING FOR LONGER FLIGHTS, I THINK IT WAS A GEM
NIGH FLIGHT THAT WAS GOING TO BE TWO WEEKS.
I REMEMBER ONE OF THE NASA DOCTORS TALKING ABOUT THINGS
THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT, CALCIUM DEPLETION IN BONES, BLOOD
POOLING IN THE EXTREMITIES BECAUSE OF NO GRAVITY, INCREASED
EXPOSURE TO RADIATION.
THIS WAS GOING TO BE TWO WEEKS. 9 TESTING AND EXAMINING OF
ASTRONAUT SCOTT KELLY IS GOING TO BE GOING ON FOR WEEKS,
MONTHS, YEARS, IT'S REALLY GOING TO BE SOMETHING, ISN'T IT?
>> AND ACTUALLY, RIGHTLY SO.
WE ALL GO THROUGH IT.
IT'S SUCH VALUABLE INFORMATION.
I GET A PHYSICAL ONCE A YEAR FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE WHETHER I
LIKE IT OR NOT.
EVERY TIME ONE OF US HAS SOMETHING TAKEN OUT EVERYBODY
WANTS TO SEE IT.
IT'S A GLASS HALF FULL AND GLASS HALF EMPTY WAY TO THINK ABOUT
IT.
NONE OF US WANT TO HAVE BONE LOSS.
WE LOSE BONE 10 TIMES FASTER THAN A WOMAN WHO HAS
OSTEOPOROSIS WHO IS 70 YEARS OLD.
WHAT SHE LOSES IN A YEAR SOMEBODY LIKE MYSELF OR SCOTT
LOSES IN A MONTH IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
WE'RE TESTING OUT COUNTER MEASURES LIKE EXERCISE AND DIET
AND VITAMINS AND DRUGS, DIFFERENT THINGS.
SO THE BAD NEWS IS IT HAPPENS VERY QUICKLY TO US.
THE GOOD NEWS IS BECAUSE IT HAPPENS SO QUICKLY, WE CAN TAKE
BLOOD AND URINE AND ALL THOSE SAMPLES.
AND EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE SO FEW OF US, THE NO.
N, 15 PEOPLE, 30 PEOPLE, 500 PEOPLE, THOSE
NUMBERS ARE STILL VERY SMALL WHEN IT COMES TO MEDICAL
STUDIES.
BUT THEY ARE A LITTLE MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN USUAL BECAUSE
WE ALL HAVE SORT OF THIS VERY EVEN UNEVENTFUL MEDICAL HISTORY
THAT MAKES US A NICE BASELINE AND EASIER TO STUDY THAN FOR
EXAMPLE A POPULATION OF 70-YEAR-OLDS WITH OSTEOPOROSIS.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF EARTH BENEFITS I'M QUITE PROUD OF
BEING PART OF, EVEN THOUGH OR PRIMARY GOAL IS ACTUALLY TO
UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE FOR THE LONGER JOURNEY TO
GO FURTHER OUT INTO THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND ON INTO MARS.
>> WE THINK OF YOU AS OUR NEIGHBOR WHAVMENT CAN YOU TELL
US ABOUT WHAT CADY COLEMAN IS DOING NOW FOR NASA?
>> I'M WORKING FOR THE CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST THERE.
IT'S A MARVELOUS AMAZING JOB, KEEPING AN EYE ON TECHNOLOGY AND
UNDERSTANDING HOW TO CONNECT THE PEOPLE WE NEED AROUND THE
PLANET, WHICH OFTEN IS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INNOVATIVE, THOSE
SMALL COMPANIES AND INTERESTING PEOPLE, MANY OF THEM YOUNG, THAT
HAVE GREAT IDEAS.
WE'RE A BIG GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION.
AND SO IN THE CHIEF TECHNOLOGIST'S OFFICE WE HAVE
PRIZES AND CHALLENGES.
HOW DO WE ACTUALLY GET THAT INNOVATION TO MARS?
HOW DO WE GET IT FOR OURSELVES AND OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.
THINGS LIKE PRIZES AND CHALLENGES AND CROWDSOURCING OF
DATA OR JUST USING THE PEOPLE ON THE PLANET.
I'M WORKING IN ALL THOSE THINGS THAT INVOLVE TECHNOLOGY, THEY
INVOLVE PEOPLE.
I ALSO SPEND A LOT OF TIME HELPING COMMUNICATE BETWEEN THE
NASA HEADQUARTERS AND THE MORE OPERATIONAL SPACE STATION, JUST
TRYING TO EXPLAIN REALLY WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHAT IT'S LIKE.
>> IF ALL THINGS WERE EQUAL, IF IT HAPPENS IN A BETTER TIME
FRAME, YOU'D LOVE TO MAKE THAT TRIP TO MARS, WOULDN'T YOU?
>> I WOULD GO IN A MINUTE AND GO BACK UP TO THE SPACE STATION TO
DO SOME OF THE DAY-TO-DAY WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
>> ASTRONAUT CADY COLEMAN, THANKS FOR COMING BY.
>> I LOVE COMING HERE, YOU KNOW THAT.