SAN ANTONIO – After spending a year in space, retired astronaut Scott Kelly made a stop in San Antonio Thursday to share his experience.
From his year in space to his first meal back on Earth and the future of space exploration, Kelly touched on several topics.
He grew an inch-and-a-half and said he still has some residual issues including pain in his feet.
In the six months since his return from space, Kelly described how his life and outlook have changed.
“Looking at the earth from space for a long period of time, you see areas of the plant that are not being taken care of very well,” he said.
After seeing the deforestation in parts of the world he said he is hoping to possibly get involved with an environmental group in the future and find ways to better conserve the planet. A task he said we need to do a better job of now.
Kelly spoke positively of the nation’s future in space.
“I think there, we have a long way to go. There is no end point. We are explorers by nature. Our society gets a lot out of the hardest thing there is,” he said before delving into the benefits space exploration has on the economy. “All that money spent on space exploration is spent right here on earth. I spent 500 days on that Space Station (and) I did not see any money up there.”
He also said we need to make sure students in grade school are better prepared for the rigors of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs.
“I think we got a bright future. We have to put a lot of attention on that, and make sure we get kids that are prepared to be scientist and engineers because those things are very important to our economy,” he said.
While on Earth a lot of time is spent talking about international relations between America and Russia, or lack thereof. Kelly said not only did those conflicts not matter in space; he said he made lifelong friends with his Russian counterparts.
“It was almost like opinion-less. It was almost like we were talking about something that was happening between two other nations than the U.S. and Russia. The reason being, when you are in space they are your crew mates. They rely on us for their lives and we rely on them for our lives. That is the most important thing,” he said.
Not wanting to bring down the energy in the room, Kelly also shared a lighthearted description of his return to earth. “When you are coming back to earth it is the least routine thing you can do. It is like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel while you are on fire,” he said.
Kelly said he knows he will never go to space again, but he’d jump at the chance. He said it was time for a younger group of astronauts to experience life in space.
He is now in the process of writing a book about his year in space.
Kelly’s speech at Trinity was open to the public and part of the fall 2016 Trinity University Distinguished Lecture Series.