WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 JIM KENNEDY: I'm Jim Kennedy, director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center. 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:22.000 Music. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:31.000 My interest in space exploration probably dates back to maybe age four or five. In the early '50s, 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.000 my father moved our family down here when he graduated from the University of Maryland to be an 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:44.000 early pioneer in the space program. So I had it at home. I had it at school, because all of my friends had 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:50.000 parents who were part of the space program. And I would have to say that I also had it at church. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:56.000 I had it at church, in part, because John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:02.000 was Presbyterian and attended my church, Riverside Presbyterian Church in Cocoa Beach, Fla. 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.000 So I was exposed to the space business morning, noon and night and again on Sundays, 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:16.000 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. 00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:24.000 Did I ever think I would retire as the director of the Kennedy Space Center? In a word, no. Never dawned on me. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:31.000 I, I started in the very same building I'm in now: the Headquarters Building of the Kennedy Space Center. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:38.000 I started on the third floor as a part of the design engineering organization as a GS-3 co-op student, 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:43.000 just inspired to be a part of the Apollo Program. And no, it never occurred to me that 00:01:43.000 --> 00:01:53.000 I'd retire on the fourth floor, just one flight of stairs up, but what an honor it is. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:58.000 When I walk in the center director's office, I first of all feel such pride for having an 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:06.000 opportunity to have served our country in that position for a few years. I can't walk in and see the NASA logo on 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:15.000 the carpet or look out the panoramic view of those windows and see Launch Complex 39, the Vehicle Assembly Building, 00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:22.000 Launch Complex Pad A, Pad B, you can't help but think about the history -- the history that Dr. Debus 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:30.000 served in that very office, and the telescope that he used is still there in my office, looking out the window. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:35.000 And I love to reflect upon what Dr. Debus was doing back in the '60s, 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:47.000 watching the Apollo vehicles being built and launched from this very office and that very telescope. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:55.000 I guess I stayed motivated for the last 35 years at NASA because of the mission. The mission is so exciting. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:01.000 I mean, to explore the universe, whether it's robotic exploration or human exploration, 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:07.000 exploring the universe is something that is just profoundly inspirational to me, 00:03:07.000 --> 00:03:11.000 and to be a part of it is something that I'm very excited about. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:18.000 The other thing that kept me inspired for my career, I think, is the quality of the people. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:25.000 The people at the Kennedy Space Center, the people across all of NASA, indeed, are somehow different. 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:32.000 They are somehow a cut above the average, as far as I'm concerned. They are people who feel a passion, 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:40.000 a commitment, a dedication to what they do, because every one of us knows that we have a small part to play 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.000 in exploring this great universe of ours. So, I think it's the 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:52.000 people and the mission that have kept me inspired for 35 years. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:59.000 When I thought about some of my predecessors, I certainly felt intimidated and incompetent to become 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:04.000 the director of the Kennedy Space Center. But probably the best thing that could have happened to me is that 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:09.000 I confided in my friend Roy Bridges, my predecessor, about the fact that, 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.000 "I'm, I'm nervous, Roy. You know, I don't know that I can pull this off." 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:19.000 And his advice was, "Don't worry about not having been a general officer. Don't worry about not having been an astronaut." 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:24.000 He said, "You bring unique capabilities to this job that others have not brought." 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:30.000 So his advice was, "Be yourself and do the best you can do." 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:37.000 It was, I would say it was a real honor to be situated in the center director's office during the, 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:40.000 the effort for return to flight. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:46.000 From the perspective of being a NASA employee, I was proud, because we saw this entire agency -- 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:52.000 not just one or two centers, we saw the entire agency -- rally around a 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.000 dedicated effort to return the shuttle safely to flight. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:01.000 It was declared the day after Columbia that we would find the problem, 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.000 we would fix the problem and we would fly again. Indeed, we did that, 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.000 and we did it with great competence and capability, and it makes me proud 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:16.000 to think about the men and the women at the Kennedy Space Center who made that happen. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:30.000 I'm proud of this place...mighty proud of this place. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.000