MY NAME IS TOM MARSHBURN,
I'M THE PILOT OF NASA'S
SPACEX CREW-3 MISSION TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHY SPACEFLIGHT
GRABBED ME THE WAY IT DID,
IT FOUND ME REALLY.
MORE THAN ME DECIDING TO BECOME
FASCINATED WITH IT.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT LEAVING
EVERYTHING WE KNOW BEHIND,
EVERYTHING NOT JUST OUR FRIENDS OR FAMILY
OR HOME BUT EVEN THE PLANET.
GOING TO PLACES THAT WE KNEW ALMOST NOTHING
ABOUT AT THE TIME I WAS READING ABOUT IT.
AND UNDERSTANDING HOW SOMEBODY COULD CHANGE,
SO IT WAS ALMOST LIKE GOING UP INTO HEAVEN OR
SOMETHING AND COMING BACK.
THAT WAS JUST INFINITELY FASCINATING TO ME.
I HAVE THREE BROTHERS AND THREE SISTERS.
FIVE OF THEM HAD DECIDED TO BECOME
DOCTORS. SO THE ONE THING
I KNEW I WAS NEVER GOING TO BE WAS A
DOCTOR, BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO BE JUST LIKE THEM.
BUT WHILE I WAS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL
IN THE ENGINEERING PHYSICS,
I REALIZED THAT EVERYBODY WAS HANGING OUT WITH,
EVERYBODY I ENJOYED BEING WITH WERE
EITHER MEDICAL STUDENTS OR DOCTORS.
MAYBE MEDICINE IS SOMETHING FOR ME,
AND TURNED OUT I LOVED IT.
GOT SO IMMERSED WITH IT THAT
I ACTUALLY FORGOT ABOUT SPACE FOR A FEW YEARS.
BEGAN TO PRACTICE AFTER THAT IN
TOLEDO, OHIO WHERE THEY HAD A LIFE FLIGHT PROGRAM,
AND THAT'S WHERE I DID MY RESIDENCY
FOR EMERGENCY MEDICINE I WANTED TO FLY.
AND SO I APPLIED FOR THE FIRST CLASS
OF WHAT WAS THEN THE SPACE MEDICINE
FELLOWSHIP AND IN '93, I SHOWED UP AT NASA,
I WAS ALL STARRY-EYED, EXCITED,
AND READY TO
START LEARNING ABOUT SPACE MEDICINE.
I GOT TO KNOW THE PATIENTS.
I GOT TO KNOW THE ASTRONAUTS AND THE
PILOTS THAT I WOULD BE WORKING WITH LATER.
AND THAT WAS ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF FUN.
ONE OF MY FIRST JOBS THEN AS A FLIGHT SURGEON
WAS TO GET SHIPPED OUT TO RUSSIA
TO SUPPORT THE PHASE ONE PROGRAM, WHICH IS WHEN WE TOOK NASA ASTRONAUTS,
PUT THEM ON THE MIR SPACE STATION
SO THAT WE COULD LEARN ABOUT
LONG-DURATION SPACE FLIGHT BEFORE WE
STARTED SENDING ASTRONAUTS TO THE INTERNATIONAL
SPACE STATION.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT WORKING AT
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, I THINK THAT IF ANYBODY
HAD EVER CONSIDERED FLYING IN SPACE
OR WANTING TO, WHEN YOU SHOW UP AND YOU SEE
THE INCREDIBLE THINGS THAT EVERYBODY IS DOING,
IT'S HARD NOT TO GET THE BUG
TO WANT TO APPLY AND BECOME AN ASTRONAUT.
SO I DID THREE SPACEWALKS, AND SUPPORTED
A FOURTH AS THE INSIDE CREW MEMBER.
THE MAIN GOAL FOR US WAS TO TAKE THESE BATTERIES,
EACH WEIGHING ABOUT 200, 250 POUNDS,
AND MOVE THEM FROM THE ROBOTIC ARM
THAT WAS HOLDING THEM FROM THE SPACE SHUTTLE AND
MOVE THEM ON TO THE SPACE STATION.
THIS HAD NOT BEEN DONE BEFORE SO IT WAS VERY THRILLING.
THE LONG DURATION MISSION IS QUITE A BIT DIFFERENT
FROM THE SHUTTLE MISSION.
YOU REALLY FEEL LIKE YOU'VE BECOME A RESIDENT
OF SPACE, A RESIDENT OF ZERO-G.
AND YOU START TO FEEL
LIKE YOU'RE GETTING THE IDEA OF HOW THIS WORKS.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD MORE TO FLYING WITH
THREE PEOPLE THAT HAVEN'T FLOWN IN SPACE BEFORE.
THIS IS A VERY UNIQUE CREW, THEY ARE INCREDIBLY
OPERATIONALLY SAVVY ALREADY. I IMAGINE FROM THEIR PRIOR
JOBS AT ESA, AND IN THE MILITARY.
I KNOW THEY CAN DO THE JOB THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT.
ONE OF THE GREAT LEGACIES OF THE
SPACE STATION IS NOT JUST GOING TO BE
THE SCIENCE,
BUT VERY IMPORTANTLY THE INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION. IT'S NOT FOR SURVIVAL,
IT'S NOT FOR COMPETITION IN THE MARKETPLACE,
IT IS FOR JUST EXPLORATION.
AND IT'S JUST A VIBRANT WONDERFUL PLACE
WHERE GREAT SCIENCE IS HAPPENING.
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