Yeah, We Had To Troubleshoot Problems Pretty Much Every Day.  So, We Have Our Tasks That We’re Doing

"So I think what we mean when we say a "gentle" black hole is probably that there's not a lot of hot gas, x-rays, gamma rays, relativistic jets around the black hole.  That makes it safe to go closer to.  In terms of that actually, the supermassive black hole in the center of our Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is a pretty gentle black hole.  But even so it still would be far too dangerous to get close to and survive."

Is there such thing as a ‘gentle black hole’ (as in Interstellar) that would one day be a candidate for sending probes? Or is it a lost cause?

So this was a really neat project.  This was a partnership with hospitals all around the world, and there are kids that are in the cancer units in these hospitals.  And as part of their care they do art therapy.  So they paint, they draw, and they get to express themselves.  

So part of the project was that each kid got a little patch, and they got to paint or draw or color whatever they wanted.  They then sewed all of these patches together to make this space suit, and we got to fly it to the space station.  So it was really neat--all these children got to see their work flown in space.  

But it's so colorful because each individual patch represents a little artist's contribution.  And so I got a chance to meet some of these kids and hang out and do some art with them and it was so incredible.  It was just really a joy to see.

Why's your suit so colorful?

“Black holes are just...pure gravity.”

Whats the best metaphor/ explanation of blackholes youve ever heard?

"So, the interesting answer is that there probably is a black hole near the earth.  But in space terms, when we say near the earth, we don't mean really that close to the earth.  Maybe about ten or twenty light years away.  Just like the nearest stars are about ten or twenty light years away.  So the difference is that that black hole today is just sitting there, not doing anything. 

The black holes we know about are much farther away, thousands of light years away.  And they're really really bright because they're sucking in gas which gets heated up to millions and billions of degrees and shines in really bright x-rays.  So if one of those really bright black holes were one of the close black holes, about twenty light years away, it would kill us all."

What would happen if a Black hole would be near the earth? What would be the consequences to humans?

We train a lot for space walks, so hundreds of hours underwater in the pool, and we spend a lot of time going over every detail of the space walk.  But one of the things you really can't train for is the feeling you're in an absolute vacuum.  So we do a few tests in the vacuum chamber, but when you first go outside the hatch and you see the total darkness or the brightness of the Earth, and you realize that there's no air molecules anywhere else around you - that's the biggest surprise.  

And then I think the second surprise is after an hour or two, getting comfortable working in an absolute vacuum, knowing that the suits are going to protect and you have a whole team of people on the ground taking care of every aspect of that spacewalk.  I think that was the thing that was the most surprising, was how alone and distant from the planet you can feel, yet totally supported by all the people working down in Mission Control.

I’m sure you’re trained so that nothing in space is really a surprise, but: was there anything about spacewalking that surprised you when you did it for the first time?

Yes, there’s several paths to get to where I am right now and where the other researcher pilots are here at NASA.  We have some that come up through civilian flying and they’re educated in different areas.  Typically most of us have engineering or STEM related degrees in college, and usually Masters degrees on top of that. 

The flying portion, most of us actually come from a military background because that’s the best way to get a lot of intense experience very quickly.  So most of us are retired military pilots from all different services, but then we do have several pilots who have grown up flying corporate jets, larger airplanes and became test pilots for companies like, say, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, things like that.  And then they get hired at NASA based on their depth and breadth of experience.

 So several paths to get there, but these are the most common.

I want to pursue a career in aeronautics and want to get into NASA. Any advice?

"Theoretical?  Yeah, I think so, I think we could do it.  Uh, technically there are still a lot of details that need to be worked out."

Could you theoretically time travel through a black hole or other object with such intense mass?

The CAPCOM is the person in mission control that talks to the crew.  They are responsible for translating all of the discussions and events that occur on the flight loop and mission control into actions and summaries that can be easily understood by the crew.

They are also there to be the advocate for the crew in those discussions in mission control, since the crew can't be there themselves.  So the CAPCOM is really a bridge between what we view as ground mission control and the crew on board.

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The flight director is the single authority in mission control.  That person is also responsible for the actions and activities that occur at all of the other mission control centers across the world in support of the International Space Station.  You always have to have one boss and that flight director in Houston is it.

We are responsible for the safety of the crew.  We are responsible for the integrity of the spacecraft.  And we are responsible for the successful execution of the mission.  So any decisions that need to be made in the real-time environment fall under the flight director's authority.

What responsibility and duties does your job include?

Yeah, that's a great question and that's exactly how it feels.  Once we get up about 13 miles above the earth, and get everything set up and start doing the science collection, every now and again you have to kind of stop and just take a minute to look around.  And it's a fascinating sight up there.  

On a normal clear day looking down at the earth, you can see the curvature of the earth out in front of you, and then the sky is just a really dark purple up there because you're above all the moisture in the air that causes the dark blue to turn to light blue down towards the earth's surface.  And it's such a different sight, it really makes you understand how small we really are.

What does it feel like to be up there and look down at the Earth? I've always imagined it would send me into a moment where I feel so small compared to the expanse and beauty of Earth.

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