WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.000 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:20.000 Music 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.000 (slate: When did you want to be an astronaut?) 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:25.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: Well, for me, I was one of those kids that wanted to do it from a 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:30.000 pretty young age. I had that goal. I'm not sure exactly where it was, somewhere in grade 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.000 school. And at that time, it was really one of probably many, you know, career 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:40.000 aspirations. Along with playing in the NBA, or something like that, which didn't work out 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:48.000 at 5-foot-9. But, about junior high school, I started to get a little more serious about the 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:53.000 idea. Had a librarian from my middle school who on the career day helped me to look up 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:58.000 NASA's address and write to NASA asking about how to become an astronaut. And I got 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:03.000 a brochure back from them telling me that, you know, you need to study math, science or 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:07.000 engineering. And talked about the requirements for a pilot astronaut, which is what 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.000 appealed to me the most. And, so, that's when I really started to set my sights on one of 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.000 the service academies and just kind of took it step by step from there. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.000 (slate: Is there a difference between landing the shuttle and the training aircraft?) 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: Well, the little bit that I got to fly the shuttle, which was just about 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:28.000 30 seconds flying around the heading alignment coming prior to rolling out on final, it 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:34.000 flew almost exactly like the STA. Just felt like I was back in that airplane. You're partly 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:38.000 so focused on the task, that by the time we were wheels down, I sort of went, 'I can't 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:44.000 believe we just did all that for real.' But at the same time, I remember as we were coming 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:48.000 around, looking down toward the, we had some clouds down below and toward the 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:51.000 Vehicle Assembly Building, and trying to pick out the runway and just thinking, 'I can't 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:55.000 believe this is like the real one,' because I had seen that picture so many times from the 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:56.000 shuttle trainer. 00:01:56.000 --> 00:02:00.000 (slate: What was launch like?) 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:06.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: As far as the actual launch, a couple things surprised me. One was 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:10.000 the engine start. I thought it seemed a little bit more chaotic in the vehicle in terms of the 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:15.000 vibration when the engines started than I remembered from our sim (simulator). So, that 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:21.000 initial startup from to 100 percent on the engines is about six seconds prior to launch, and 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.000 so I remember noticing that. The vehicle just shook in a different way than I had 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:29.000 expected. And then when the solid rocket boosters lit, it felt like a bomb had gone off 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.000 under your seat, you know. And basically, that's what happened, 6 million pounds of 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:38.000 thrust, you know, instantly it's an immediate hit. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.000 (slate: Describe the solid rocket boosters dropping away.) 00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:46.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: They're small jets that fire as the SRBs come off, but also, we have 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.000 forward jets that fire to protect our windows from any debris coming off the solid rocket 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:56.000 boosters. So, you see this big flash out the front windows once they come off and then it 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:02.000 gets really smooth. It's pretty rumbly inside the vehicle while you're on the solids, and 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:08.000 then once you get off them, you're sort of on railroad tracks. It's quite a ride, the 3 g's, 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.000 you weigh three times what you normally weigh. Then, of course, you've got the suit on 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:16.000 with different valves and things, so stuff's poking into you. It's really not bad, but you're 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:21.000 aware that you're heavy. And then you go instantly from weighing three times your 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:26.000 normal weight to weighing nothing. And floating up in your seat, and straps and all kind 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:32.000 of stuff, you know, books floating up and dust comes up. So, it's really neat how quick 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:33.000 that happens. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:36.000 (slate: Did living in space meet your expectations?) 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:40.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: Well, I had high expectations and they were all exceeded. They 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:47.000 really were. There's very little that I felt really surprised by. I think the veterans on our 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:53.000 crew made a real effort to every time we were in the simulator talk about what's going to 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:57.000 be like living up there, what it's like operating in zero-g, things that surprised them on 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:01.000 their flights. So, we were, I think, really well prepared by those folks. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:05.000 (slate: Describe re-entry.) 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:08.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: And then we were fortunate enough on our return, we came back 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:13.000 over the U.S. for our landing. So, we hit sunrise on orbit somewhere around the West 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:18.000 Coast, but we really couldn't see the ground because it was still dark on the ground. And, 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:23.000 about the time we were over Wyoming, we picked up the sunrise on the ground looking 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:28.000 right down on the Rockies. It was absolutely gorgeous and we were at 40-miles-high. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:32.000 We'd been at 200 miles for 16 days, so it looked really low and fast at 40-miles-high, 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 which was kind of funny. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.000 (slate: Take nothing for granted.) 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:43.000 James P. Dutton Jr.: I mean, it's very fulfilling to have been blessed to go up and fulfill 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:47.000 that dream. You know, to have experience what I had hoped to experience all these years, 00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:52.000 knowing that each step of the way, you're just very fortunate to make it to the next gate. 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:58.000 You know, there's health issues, there's professional career things that can come up that 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:02.000 can divert you. So, I just sort of marveled. I mean, even to the last minute, I knew that 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:29.000 anything can happen and it was nothing to take for granted. So I felt very, very thankful.