The astronaut plans a renewed interest in NASA

When Apollo 11 landed on the moon in 1969, he captured the collective imagination of an entire generation. But since then, NASA has promoted a less dramatic public image, continuing its research on exploration. But he is perhaps preparing to invade the general public.

"Human spaceflight has become calmer over the past decade, less visible to the human audience. But we are at a very exciting time, "said Scott Tingle, astronaut, about Agency in brief: NASA. "The sales team is coming, we have [the International Space Station] it will continue to work, which we must continue to do. We build Gateway. We need this to continue. We will start exploring the moon and more places than the few places we have already seen. And we will use the gateway to launch new vehicles on Mars and explore the deep space. There are so many exciting things.

Tingle said he had seen a decline in interest in NASA and the space program among older Americans, which he said had more pressing priorities for the government. But he said he found constant enthusiasm around the agency and its programs in schools. Children always have an interest in space.

And Tingle was no different. As a child, he remembers seeing Neil Armstrong's moonwalk. From there, he was hooked. He's interested in engineering, science and flying while tracing his way to space.

"For me, the ultimate goal was still the body of astronauts," Tingle said. Federal Drive with Tom Temin. "Every decision I made was taken at that time, that this short-term path was going to be very rewarding for me, whether I got to the end state or not. But I did it keeping in mind the final state.

For example, it was difficult for him to decide whether to get his doctorate or become a marine pilot. But in the end, the Navy offered him more opportunities to pursue his ultimate goal.

On the one hand, he had few resources when he was young. Despite his two jobs in high school, his savings were not enough to allow him to continue his studies. Joining the reserves at age 18 helped him pay for his college and higher education. Then, after working a few years as an engineer, he decided to go on active service and fly planes. From there, he was able to enter the body of astronauts.

But the Navy has provided Tingle more than just a path to becoming an astronaut.

"The experiences have been phenomenal, not only from the technical point of view or from the systems point of view, but from the operational point of view, having to work with various teams and many people," he said. "Sometimes you do not have all the data. We like to work in the known box, where decisions are easy because you know somehow what is the right answer. But sometimes, the known unknown, you are more interested in management, you have to think a little, but it's still quite easy. In aviation, we often work in an unknown box and we have to be very comfortable saying, "I do not know if it's right or left, but I'm fine and we will see what happens. "And you make a decision."

In a strange way, he also prepared Tingle to experience returning to Earth after spending a lot of time in space. Astronauts face many conditions as soon as they return to Earth. He said that the inner ear is not aligned, that the spine is lengthened and that the big muscles are working, but that the fine motor control makers are suffering. It takes a certain type of concentration for your body to work, he said.

"I equated that with flying planes aboard aircraft carriers at night," said Tingle. "Sometimes you do not know what end is in place. You're in the clouds, all you can see is a light floating in the middle of the ocean, and you're supposed to land on it. You really have to concentrate. And if your middle ear tells you that you are on the side but your instruments tell you that you are straight, which is exactly how you feel when you get out of the capsule, you have to disconnect your inner ear and start believing the funerals. "

Another example of readjustment that he had to do is the fall of objects. The natural instinct, when someone drops something, is to bend down and try to catch it before it touches the ground. But in space, when you drop something, it does not fall. It takes time to overcome this stalling instinct. Then, after returning to Earth, you must remember that gravity is under control again.

But overall, he said, it's easier to return to Earth. These instincts already exist, so resurrecting them is much easier than creating new ones from scratch.