FoS Kathryn Thornton

🚀 The FUTURE of SPACE (FoS) video podcast, hosted by Daniel Fox , is a candid and informal conversation between Fox and leaders, investors, innovators, educators, celebrities, movers and shakers, who are shaping the future of humankind into outer space and here on Earth. Just like how two friends would chat and philosophize together, with one thing missing, a glass of wine! 🚀

Our Guest today is Kathryn Thornton . Kathryn is an American scientist and a former NASA astronaut with four (4) space shuttle missions, exceeding 975 hours in Space, including 21 hours of extravehicular activity (EVA). One of the shuttle missions was to the Hubble Space Telescope to service and repair. She is now Professor Emerita at the University of Virginia in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Kathryn was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010. She is the recipient of numerous awards including NASA Space Flight Medals, The Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award, the University of Virginia Distinguished Alumna Award, the Freedom Foundation Freedom Spirit Award, and the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement.

You can find all podcast episodes on the FUTURE of SPACE website and remember to subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, and other platforms.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:00 3 words for Space? MAGICAL. INFINITE. UNFORGIVEN.
• 03:00 Nature doesn't care
• 04:40 What is the HUMAN story of Space?
• 05:25 Our expansion in Space
• 08:00 Europe was a mess in the 1500s
• 09:00 The Earth is not fragile
• 12:25 The Complexity of Climate Change
• 14:45 The cultural complexity of Space expansion
• 15:41 Journey to Space
• 18:00 A mentor
• 20:00 The attraction of Space
• 21:00 The sound of the Space Shuttle
• 22:00 Looking at and away from the Earth
• 24:00 The Space Shuttle experience
• 25:30 Coming back to Earth
• 29:00 Biologically adapting to Space
• 31:15 Space and Hollywood
• 33:00 Happy to be alive
• 34:20 The human experience of going to Space
• 36:20 Adapting to new environments
• 38:45 Starliner
• 41:00 Big breakthrough needed
• 43:00 From wagons to space shuttle
• 45:20 3 words of wisdom? DON'T. LOOK. BACK.
• 50:00 Conclusion