1 00:00:01,201 --> 00:00:04,504 Human beings, part of our nature, part of who we are, 2 00:00:04,971 --> 00:00:07,640 our identity, is explorers. 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:12,545 Because every time we explore, we improve our lives and our situations. 4 00:00:12,545 --> 00:00:13,947 It's just natural. 5 00:00:13,947 --> 00:00:16,950 My name is Mike Fincke, and I'm the pilot for NASA's SpaceX 6 00:00:17,417 --> 00:00:20,420 crew 11 mission to the International Space Station. 7 00:00:20,720 --> 00:00:24,791 I grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home of the mighty Steelers. 8 00:00:25,725 --> 00:00:28,161 And it was a great time to grow up. 9 00:00:28,161 --> 00:00:30,964 Lots of great educational opportunities. 10 00:00:30,964 --> 00:00:33,433 A time that was tough economically, 11 00:00:33,433 --> 00:00:36,336 but, a place where we knew that dreams could come true. 12 00:00:36,336 --> 00:00:40,273 When I was, like, two and three years old, my parents would wake me up 13 00:00:40,607 --> 00:00:43,710 from whatever nap I was taking to watch moon landings. 14 00:00:43,843 --> 00:00:45,412 We did many moon landings 15 00:00:45,412 --> 00:00:49,215 back in the late 60s and early 70s, and that made a big impression on me. 16 00:00:49,416 --> 00:00:52,218 So I knew that back then, even when I was, like, three 17 00:00:52,218 --> 00:00:53,586 that I wanted to be an astronaut. 18 00:00:53,586 --> 00:00:55,188 I wanted to go walk on the moon. 19 00:00:55,188 --> 00:00:57,123 I wanted to go explore space. 20 00:00:57,123 --> 00:00:59,926 So I learned to read so I could read more about space. 21 00:00:59,926 --> 00:01:01,995 And the more I read, the more excited I became. 22 00:01:01,995 --> 00:01:04,798 When I was in high school, I didn't know what engineering was. 23 00:01:04,798 --> 00:01:06,866 I knew what math and science were. Physics. 24 00:01:06,866 --> 00:01:08,234 I was kind of good at that. Math. 25 00:01:08,234 --> 00:01:12,272 I took a leap of faith and went to an engineering program 26 00:01:12,272 --> 00:01:15,275 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. 27 00:01:15,875 --> 00:01:18,445 Thankfully paid for by an Air Force ROTC 28 00:01:18,445 --> 00:01:21,948 scholarship and then hustling with side gigs on the weekends. 29 00:01:22,148 --> 00:01:26,453 And I got to study airplanes and rockets, two of my favorite things. 30 00:01:26,586 --> 00:01:29,789 So I was able to graduate from MIT with two degrees. 31 00:01:29,789 --> 00:01:32,392 And then, the summer after graduation, 32 00:01:32,392 --> 00:01:36,329 I had a really wonderful opportunity to study in Soviet Union. 33 00:01:36,396 --> 00:01:40,166 Fortunately, I'd studied Russian language, so I knew enough Russian, 34 00:01:40,266 --> 00:01:41,434 to go with some colleagues. 35 00:01:41,434 --> 00:01:45,405 And we spent the summer at Moscow Aviation Institute studying cosmonautics, 36 00:01:45,505 --> 00:01:46,873 And then I spent, the next year 37 00:01:46,873 --> 00:01:50,977 at Stanford University getting a Master's in Aeronautics and Astronautics. 38 00:01:51,277 --> 00:01:53,446 I love the space station. I helped build it. 39 00:01:53,446 --> 00:01:57,784 I helped the first modules get ready here on planet Earth and have had the 40 00:01:57,851 --> 00:02:01,454 the joy of living aboard the space station for two long duration missions so far. 41 00:02:01,754 --> 00:02:05,959 We've learned from the International Space Station that space is a great place 42 00:02:06,126 --> 00:02:09,129 to really understand more about the universe. 43 00:02:09,195 --> 00:02:12,132 When we are aboard the International Space Station, 44 00:02:12,132 --> 00:02:16,369 we’re still gravitationally connected to planet Earth, but we're freefalling. 45 00:02:16,369 --> 00:02:20,373 So like, we're in microgravity. So you take that Big G out of the equation 46 00:02:20,373 --> 00:02:23,276 and then you can find out what's really going on physically. 47 00:02:23,276 --> 00:02:24,878 We're also outside the atmosphere. 48 00:02:24,878 --> 00:02:28,848 So we can look to the universe beyond us without atmospheric interference. 49 00:02:29,282 --> 00:02:30,717 When I'm on a spacewalk, 50 00:02:30,717 --> 00:02:34,454 I can look out to the whole universe, and I can see how small our planet is 51 00:02:34,754 --> 00:02:37,657 and how big and wonderful the rest of the universe is. 52 00:02:37,657 --> 00:02:38,925 And it's calling to us. 53 00:02:38,925 --> 00:02:39,993 We need to explore 54 00:02:39,993 --> 00:02:42,162 and go see the whole universe that's out there. 55 00:02:42,162 --> 00:02:45,899 Space exploration is something that really speaks to me as a person, right? 56 00:02:45,932 --> 00:02:48,635 We all kind of have our passions. 57 00:02:48,635 --> 00:02:51,404 And for me, since I was like 2 or 3 years old, 58 00:02:51,404 --> 00:02:54,107 I wanted to go to space. Explore space. 59 00:02:54,107 --> 00:02:55,708 And I've had a chance to do that. 60 00:02:55,708 --> 00:03:01,214 Half my life I've been an astronaut. I've really, really enjoyed exploring space.