“Black Holes Are Just...pure Gravity.”

"We could definitely send a drone to a black hole, collect data, send it back, and study it.  But once it goes inside, once it crosses the event horizon, we're not going to get anything back.  So it would be impossible to know what's inside, but we could learn a lot about what's just outside of the black hole. 

Is it possible?  Sure.  I mean a hundred years ago did anyone think we would be landing rovers on Mars or Titan?  A hundred years from now?  Definitely."

Is it at all possible to send a drone into a black hole and collect the data of what it’s like inside? If not, how close do you we are to possibly achieving that?

"So most of the descriptions that I've seen about black holes in science fiction get it pretty close to reality outside of the event horizon.  Inside the event horizon we don't really know what's going to happen, so a lot of science fiction writers also kind of have fun with it and do whatever they want.  

In terms of outside of the event horizon, I think the most striking effect is that of time dilation, how time slows down as you get closer and closer, but still on our side of the event horizon.  And this was of course one of the major plot drivers of the movie Interstellar, so I thought that was really cool."

Out of all the theories and fantasies created around blackholes, which of them, in your opinion, do you think could come closest to reality?

The first time I saw Earth from space I couldn't even talk; I was absolutely speechless, as were my crewmates.  The three of us were just silent it seemed like for thirty seconds, it was such a beautiful sight.  And one of the things that was really interesting to me was how different it was seeing it out the window with your own eyes versus seeing the picture.  

I think I had this idea in my head that I knew what Earth looked like because you've seen so many videos, but they're all photographic images, so the dynamic color spectrum is a little bit dulled.  When you see it with your own eyes, it's so much brighter.  It's so much more vivid than I could have imagined.  It's just this beautiful blue planet.

What was your first thought when you first saw earth from space? And what realizations did you have?

"Short answer: No.  Long answer: Definitely no."

Science fiction sometimes makes it seem like it’s possible to live in a black hole. What is the truth behind this?

Yeah, that's a wonderful thing.  And whether you're flying low level, over the earth's surface, or way up high in the earth's atmosphere like with the ER-2, there's different sights.  

One thing I like about flying low level is the vegetation, the hills, the mountains, the water - where you see details in the waves and the trees up close that are just absolutely beautiful.  Conversely, when you're way up high  you see everything.  And that's where you realize how many different pieces of the earth's surface come together, between the oceans, the big lakes, the mountains and everything, and the colors are so different that all they just paint an incredible picture from 13 miles above the earth.  

And when you look from the surface up through the beautiful atmosphere that we have from where the sky moves from a light blue color and then gradually gets dark blue and then purple and even starts to turn black way up high, that's just an incredible sight that I feel real privileged to see every time I go up there.  It's a privilege, it's just amazing.

What's the most beautiful natural scene uou've ever seen personally, as in Aurora Borealis, volcanic eruption, or something that made you seem like the Earth should be treasured?

Over my 28 years here, I've had the opportunity to work a number of different critical missions at NASA, particularly as a flight director.  And each one of those missions has been an amazing honor to have the public's trust put in my hands.  

But one of the aspects I like the most about it, which is also the scariest, is the fact that people's lives are in my hands.  Decisions that I make can impact the lives of the crew members, the integrity of the vehicle, and the success of the mission, and I liked having that responsibility.  I was honored to have that responsibility.

And I think if you are a flight director and you ever lose track of that, then it's time to stop being a flight director.

Before my question I would like to congratulate you on your career at Nasa, it must be amazing to work there even if you didn’t achieve your dream of being an astronaut, you can still lead missions from the ground. (Sorry if my punctuation is a bit off) as for my question, what has it been like to work at nasa all of these years and get to help with so many missions? Do you ever get nervous for the people who’s lives are in your hands? Signed ~ Phillip

In my 28 years here, I've been able to participate in a lot of exciting missions, but out of all of the future missions we have planned the one I'm looking forward to the most is being a part of boots on the moon in 2024.

What future missions are you looking forward to the most?

I think some of the greatest things that we can take a look at what we're currently doing in space and see that future generations are really going to appreciate is all of the science that we're doing on board the International Space Station. So I was lucky enough to participate in just a few of those science experiments.  We did about a hundred different science experiments that I actively participated in on board, two hundred total.  

And I think that's just adding to the knowledge about how the human body works in microgravity, and also how we're going to explore, both in lower orbit and then beyond deep space exploration.  So all of these little bits of scientific inquiry add up to really a big body of knowledge, and I hope that's the legacy of the International Space Station and NASA's work in space.

Hii! I'm unsure if you've been asked this before, but I'd like to give it a shot anyway. What's the greatest legacy you hope to leave to the future generations? Whether it's one of the things you've accomplished already or are hoping to accomplish yet. Thank you very much!

I remember my first day on console as the first non-astronaut CapCom, and the very first time the crew called down. I was getting ready to key my mike and speak back up and they asked me a question, and I looked at the Flight Director beside me, he gave me a go, and I answered.  And there was a pause.  

And it was Frank Culbertson, and he called down and he was like, "Ginger!  Is it really you? Oh my gosh, it's so awesome to hear your voice!"  

So that kind of eased my tension.  The reality was the first set of crews that I wound up working with I had trained alongside for four years.  SO it was a treat to be able to be in a position where I could talk to my friends.  But I understood what they'd gone through, I understood Mission Control, and I could be their advocate in Mission Control.  And I could tell from day one that they trusted me and they were happy that I was there.

How did the crews react to you being the first non-astronaut CapCom? I understand it was quite an important thing to people that the CapCom could empathise with their experiences.

“So, if the sun were just an isolated black hole with nothing around it, we would see nothing.  If we knew exactly where to look–which we would, because we’re pretty good astronomers–and we could map out the solar system, we’d know there’s something in the middle of the solar system that’s causing all of the gravity and the orbits of the planets.  If we looked right at that, we’d actually see some really cool gravitational lensing effects, and you’d see these arcs of light around the invisible black hole called the Einstein ring.”

What do *you* think is inside a black hole? Or If they sun was a black hole what would we see in the sky? Thanks!