JIM KENNEDY: I'm Jim Kennedy, director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center.
Music.
My interest in space exploration probably dates back to maybe age four or five. In the early '50s,
my father moved our family down here when he graduated from the University of Maryland to be an
early pioneer in the space program. So I had it at home. I had it at school, because all of my friends had
parents who were part of the space program. And I would have to say that I also had it at church.
I had it at church, in part, because John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth,
was Presbyterian and attended my church, Riverside Presbyterian Church in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
So I was exposed to the space business morning, noon and night and again on Sundays,
and I just realized as a young child, I want to be a part of this. When I grow up, I want to be a part of this.
Did I ever think I would retire as the director of the Kennedy Space Center? In a word, no. Never dawned on me.
I, I started in the very same building I'm in now: the Headquarters Building of the Kennedy Space Center.
I started on the third floor as a part of the design engineering organization as a GS-3 co-op student,
just inspired to be a part of the Apollo Program. And no, it never occurred to me that
I'd retire on the fourth floor, just one flight of stairs up, but what an honor it is.
When I walk in the center director's office, I first of all feel such pride for having an
opportunity to have served our country in that position for a few years. I can't walk in and see the NASA logo on
the carpet or look out the panoramic view of those windows and see Launch Complex 39, the Vehicle Assembly Building,
Launch Complex Pad A, Pad B, you can't help but think about the history -- the history that Dr. Debus
served in that very office, and the telescope that he used is still there in my office, looking out the window.
And I love to reflect upon what Dr. Debus was doing back in the '60s,
watching the Apollo vehicles being built and launched from this very office and that very telescope.
I guess I stayed motivated for the last 35 years at NASA because of the mission. The mission is so exciting.
I mean, to explore the universe, whether it's robotic exploration or human exploration,
exploring the universe is something that is just profoundly inspirational to me,
and to be a part of it is something that I'm very excited about.
The other thing that kept me inspired for my career, I think, is the quality of the people.
The people at the Kennedy Space Center, the people across all of NASA, indeed, are somehow different.
They are somehow a cut above the average, as far as I'm concerned. They are people who feel a passion,
a commitment, a dedication to what they do, because every one of us knows that we have a small part to play
in exploring this great universe of ours. So, I think it's the
people and the mission that have kept me inspired for 35 years.
When I thought about some of my predecessors, I certainly felt intimidated and incompetent to become
the director of the Kennedy Space Center. But probably the best thing that could have happened to me is that
I confided in my friend Roy Bridges, my predecessor, about the fact that,
"I'm, I'm nervous, Roy. You know, I don't know that I can pull this off."
And his advice was, "Don't worry about not having been a general officer. Don't worry about not having been an astronaut."
He said, "You bring unique capabilities to this job that others have not brought."
So his advice was, "Be yourself and do the best you can do."
It was, I would say it was a real honor to be situated in the center director's office during the,
the effort for return to flight.
From the perspective of being a NASA employee, I was proud, because we saw this entire agency --
not just one or two centers, we saw the entire agency -- rally around a
dedicated effort to return the shuttle safely to flight.
It was declared the day after Columbia that we would find the problem,
we would fix the problem and we would fly again. Indeed, we did that,
and we did it with great competence and capability, and it makes me proud
to think about the men and the women at the Kennedy Space Center who made that happen.
I'm proud of this place...mighty proud of this place.