When You First Get Into The Capsule Sitting On Top Of The Rocket, It Actually Feels Incredibly Familiar.

Human space flight is very stressful, and particularly as a flight director with the responsibility for the safety of the crew and the integrity of the vehicle and the execution of the mission, I was very stressed during those years.

One of the things I love to do to de-stress is to run.  So during the Expedition 14 mission, which was seven months long, I was very stressed.  And I figured, hey, why not train for a marathon?  So after training for several months, I actually ran a marathon.  

And this is a picture of me [shows laptop screen] talking to the commander of the International Space Station, Mike E.L.A.  He called my friend while I was at mile 23.  Mile 23!  I'm supposed to be focused!  But she hands me the phone and he says, "Hey, I've had people posting at all the different mile markers and you are looking great out there, so..."

And I said, "Well, can I-can you call me back in like--mmm--thirty minutes because I might be across the finish line by then, and right now I'm kind of busy." ________________

Transciber note: She pronounces name of the commander of the ISS as “Mike Elay”, but a quick google shows that Michael E. Lopez-Alegria was the commander of Expedition 14.  In case you were wondering about the three initials.

What do you do to relax in stressing situations?

Working at NASA has been an extraordinary experience and I have a lot of memories I can tell you are my favorite.  But there's one in particular that stands out above the rest.  

I was a new flight director, only been in the office for two years, and we were executing the STS-120 mission, where we were taking these solar arrays that are in blankets, and you put them up on board the space station and you unfold them like an accordion.  

As we were unfolding one of them, we saw it rip.  And by the time that the power discipline expert could make the array stop, we had a huge tear inside the solar array.  After several meetings, it became clear that we were not going to be able to undock the shuttle in that configuration and we had to figure out a way to fix the solar array.

At that time I was working at what we called a team four.  So three teams used to support the shuttle mission, but we always had a fourth team waiting in the background for something to go wrong.  So at that point we called together a meeting and a young engineer showed up who was about 24/25 years old.  And [he] said "Flight!  I have a solution!"

So he walks into my meeting with this. [holds up object] And I said, "what is that?"  

And he says, "It's a cufflink, Flight, and I made it out of spare parts that are available to the astronauts on the space station. And if you take this and you weave it through some of the holes and you pull it tight, we'll be able to secure the solar array."

And so sure enough, we were able to take this cufflink and a couple more like it, and put one of our tallest crew members on board a stacked set of robotic arms and he installed a cufflink.  And that cufflink is there today and keeps the space station solar array structurally sound.  So best moment ever.  You never know what a 24/25 year old can accomplish.

What has been the best memory you have so far at NASA?

So when I was inside the space station, one of my favorite things to do was go in the Cupola, which is an area that has a whole bunch of windows.  You can actually get your whole body into the Cupola and just see the Milky Way and the universe from the Cupola.  And that was amazing.  

It was, um–you know terrifying is almost a good word because it was so awe-inspiring to just be in the universe and see the stars–but it was one of the most interesting things to do because it was always changing.  Your view was changing as you go around the planet; even at nighttime you can see different aspects of the planet at night as well. 

And so whenever I could, I would spend a few minutes when we were in a dark orbit and just try to poke my head into the Cupola and see the stars. It never got old.

What is like to be surrounded by the stars and darkness? Is it terrifying or calming?

“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!

"So a black hole is just pure gravity.  In technical terms, that means that Einstein taught us that gravity is energy.  Energy is mass (E = mc2) .

Mass creates more gravity, so you get this essentially runaway effect where gravity is causing energy is causing mass is causing more gravity.

And it just pulls itself in on itself more and more and more, and you get this runaway called a singularity surrounded by an event horizon, which is the black hole."

uhmm, can you tell me what exactly a black hole is? or what iy does? thanks, just really confused and curious on how it actually works.

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.

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

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

Yeah, flying's great.  It's a completely different sensation.  You know, you can compare parts of it to things like riding a bicycle, skateboarding, surfing, things like that - even skydiving.  It's a real feeling of freedom when you're actually controlling *makes wing gestures* the aircraft flying through the air - a little bit like a bird. 

And that's an amazing privilege to have, and it's really a nice opportunity to get up there and maneuver in three dimensions - really four dimensions if you consider speed - through the earth's atmosphere.  I absolutely love it.

How does flying feel?

"The answer is both.  You will disappear forever, but you will still exist inside of the black hole.  So how does that work?  

Well, you disappear forever from the point of view of everbody outside of the black hole.  As you get closer and closer to the event horizon you get what we call redshifted.  You get kind of faded away darker and darker and darker until you just disappear.  That's what it looks like from the outside.

From the inside--from your point of view--everything goes pretty well at least for the next five or six milliseconds, before you get crushed to death."

What would happen if I go into a black hole? Do you think I would disappear forever or would I still exist inside the black hole?

Being a flight director was such an honor.  I was only able to do it for eight years, but I loved every minute of it.  My favorite part about that is being able to lead such talented teams.  

I had a different team with me every day, different teams on different missions I supported, but the one consistent thing is that they are all dedicated to flying these vehicles safely, to protecting the crew, to executing the mission.  

And it was just an honor to be able to lead them. I considered it a successful day if I didn't have to step in and I could just sit back and watch the team do their thing, and they are beautiful.

What was your favorite part of being a Flight Director?