 Victor thank you so much for joining us today we are so excited to have you on the show. Molly it's great to be here thank you very much. So right now in the competition our student teams are operating their unique technology and they're demonstrating drilling through our simulated lunar and Martian surface and they're trying to access the water ice that's hidden beneath. I'm curious for you as an end user that might benefit from technology like this what value do you see in competitions like this? You know first of all I have to really just appreciate that statement you know as a potential end user of this technology that it's amazing that we're going back to the moon with Artemis and the goals of the Artemis program and so it's it's actually amazing that our generation is going to to have a moon mission a moon program that's going to send us back and I'm really excited about that effort and so for these students to be working on technology for us to get access to ice which is a valuable resource you know because we can you need it for life but you also need it for propulsion it's it's a great component in rocket fuel and so this technology is going to enable us to to find new ways and new ideas for extracting this valuable resource from these sources that we've actually recently discovered on the moon. I'd like to focus a little bit on water component of that because it for you when you've been in space water is such a limited resource I imagine you have to treat it with a lot of care what what does water signify for you I assume it's different than what it signifies for me here on earth. Well you know it's interesting living in space helps you to appreciate the things that we take for granted or at least really just expect to be there like water you know in space we have to reclaim water we actually take you know that I heard someone say once I believe it was Mike Fossum we turned yesterday's coffee into tomorrow's coffee it's because we take the water out of everything if I run on the treadmill and sweat into a wet my face with a towel I hang that towel up in the air conditioning system will will dry it out and pull that moisture out of the air and our air conditioner will separate it take the moisture out put it in our water system that purifies it and turns it into drinking water water is extremely valuable and so it represents life to me I think it's that's the most exciting part the ability to get access to that that resource that is already up there on the moon is is a critical capability a very very neat thing to be able to do and this technology that these students are working on the ingenuity the new idea is I mean they're not all going to take the same approach and that's one of the things I think is really exciting about this type of competition how do you think as an astronaut technology that's derived from competitions like this one the moon to Mars ice and prospecting challenge could directly impact you and other future astronauts as you explore the moon as you explore Mars you know knowing that these these students are creating something that might be the a tool that we use in space one day is actually quite motivating and inspiring and to see some of the ideas they come up with but more importantly I think the ideas they come up with are great but then to see the physical competition where they show their hardware they have a design some of they've had to code for and they they put all of that together hardware and software and they put it out there and then they run it they have to come up with procedures they have to communicate work together as a team and and move this material from one place to another it's so amazing to actually see that idea become a reality and so this type of competition I think is so important to inspire those students to to to dream and create but also for us to to learn about what what ideas are out there because NASA has some very good things that we've done for a long time that are working and they work well but that might not be the best or most efficient way to do things right now as we speak NASA is actively preparing to send humans to the moon as part of the Artemis program so what is Artemis and is it essentially the next Apollo you know I think that's an easy way to describe it but but it's not the next Apollo it's our generation's moon program it is Artemis but but if you're familiar with Apollo it is a similar concept we are building a very large rocket SLS which stands for the Space Launch System it's going to be a very powerful very big rocket that's capable of getting a spacecraft Orion to lunar orbit which will enable us to get humans there and to a gateway which would be like a space station that's orbiting around the moon we'd be able to get humans to the gateway or to a human lander system that then could get human beings to the surface of the moon and then one other very exciting component is Artemis astronauts and so we're starting to identify folks that are going to be a part of it and we call it team Artemis and so we're going to start hopefully in the very near future actually naming folks from team Artemis but also the the greater astronaut office as well as our international partners to these missions specifically and those will be the actual Artemis lunar astronauts that's very exciting very exciting how would it feel to be the next person to walk on the moon what would that mean to you you know I I really I have no idea I mean I just I thought going into space and living on the space station was going to feel a certain way and it did but also so much more than that it blew away my expectations and so I could only imagine not even going to the surface of the moon but actually being in orbit around the moon like or you know before you go down to the surface orbiting the moon and being able to just look out the window and see earth rise I mean think about that that picture that that Bill Anders took you know changed the way people saw themselves and when they see our planet and so for me to be able to witness that with my own eyes or even to be in mission control as the communicator as the Capcom speaking to crew members my colleagues my friends while they're experiencing that it would be unreal and so I really couldn't tell you how it would feel but I would love to go and have that experience and and then come back and describe it to you you know one of the things I love about being a part of competitions like this is you see people come together as the human race and you see all these different walks of life people from different backgrounds they speak different languages and make cases and you really get to see this beautiful picture of our world and of our planet does having a view of our planet like that that you've been able to have has it changed your perspective on what life is like here you know going to space one of the things that it makes you do I believe it would do this for all people is it makes you appreciate life right there on the surface you don't get to see you see the entire oceans you see these countries without borders you see entire continents you it's amazing that perspective and if you're familiar with the overview effect I've got the book sitting right here on my bookshelf if you're familiar with the overview effect I would say this the overview effect in seeing the world without borders and seeing you know what what this planet is really liking its resilience and fragility at the same time I don't I thought while I was in space that it was changing me that that was something profound and new and different now that I've been back for a few months I'm realizing after having time to reflect on that that it really was accelerating some things that were already there my love for human beings my love for our planet it really accelerated the growth and heightened my sensitivity to those things and and that perspective of seeing it from far away 260 miles away all the time really made me want to be back there to do more to take care of it and to take care of us humanity and so I do think that you know that aspect of flying in space is one of the things I love I want to share with people but I also want to share the connection to that you know one of my favorite things to see in orbit was sunrise and sunset and we had the privilege of seeing it 16 times a day from the ISS from the space station and I still will stop and stare at sunrise or sunset here on earth uh because it's still just as special and so my mission now that I've been able to live in space I've had that privilege of living there is to try and share those connections with people so that they can find their own connection to the overview effect because it shouldn't just be the purview of those of us who have the privilege of living in orbit or beyond it's something all people can share and like you said these competitions doing any of these amazing science and technology things like living in space putting humans in space requires us to do our best in just about every science and technology endeavor that we've had life support medical health radiation protection water reclamation waste management and and all of those things drive us to be our best selves and they remind us that we need the best from everyone and that's what's great about these competitions seeing these students from all over the country from all these universities especially my alma mater Cal Poly go Mustangs learn by doing it's great to see all the walks of life all the all the ideas in the ingenuity that comes with all of us doing our best together that's true yeah I like I like thinking about this is more than a competition and it's it's really fascinating like you said to see all these technologies come together a lot of these teams have spent years perfecting them and getting them to this point and then you put them in a really high stress high pressure situation um to perform which you you've trained for this your whole career military to mount an astronaut I'm curious if you have any girls yeah let's talk about that good grief um do you have any mantras or any you know any council that you could provide especially for young people we've been through a lot for the past couple of years I think a lot of folks deal with things that you're in stress how do you cope with it is there any advice you you operate under yeah Molly thanks for bringing that up I think this is such an important topic right now um this this past year and a half has been an interesting time and and for our family it's been interesting in having to train go to space come home and reintegrate and and so some things that that really worked for me and my family I think they worked for us it was keeping it simple keeping things simple you know starting off with trying to be good to yourself so keeping things simple uh and and then knowing that you're going to have to adapt though and just knowing up front we're going to have to be adaptable and flexible uh because we're not going to be able to control every situation whether we're going back to school in person or or whether we're going to school online or whether we're doing some hybrid a mixture of both uh and we just have to be ready to roll with the punches and then I think those two things if you keep things simple if you keep some flexibility those things can contribute to you having low stress and those were my three goals for my mission in space as well my mission my 168 days in space I wanted to keep it simple I wanted to stay flexible and keep things low stress and I think we were able to do that something else that I would share with my kids all the time when we live in Texas and when Texas first opened up after the pandemic you know a couple of waves and then businesses started to open back up I told my kids you know I'm a test pilot my job is to analyze situations look at risk and make risk informed decisions and something I've learned throughout my life as a professional tester is don't rush in or rush out you know test pilots can often be known for doing a thing first but you can best believe they didn't just rush in and go do it they spent time studying everything that there is to know because they're going to then take this thing that no one's ever done this with it before and they're going to fly an airplane first or fly this weapon system fly this new sensor fly this new spacecraft first and so they are going to learn everything they can about the environment before they go do this first you know uh novel thing and so I told my kids over and over you know hey their friends are going back to the movies and socializing and hanging out don't rush in don't rush out let's ease into these things and and that's the best way to to protect ourselves and then I guess I I could talk about this for hours because it's so important to have some some resilience and that's one of the missions or one of the the mantras I try to encourage young folks but I think us older folks need to to remember that too how important it is not just to get through challenging times but to find ways to grow in those challenging times that's resilience you know I used to say be gritty and I've changed it to be resilient because it's not just about gritting your teeth and burying it I think there's more to it if you learn if you get to the other side and look back on the challenging times that you've been through you can find something in it to appreciate and that's what I think is is all of us have been through something that we can look back on and and if nothing else it's to say we got through it so the next time I face a challenge I know I can get through that because I've done that before I've proven it to myself and the second one is to be a lifelong learner and I think those go hand in hand as well but to be a lifelong learner to learn both the formal inside the classroom as well as on the track in the laboratory in the warehouse demonstrating your challenge hardware and software you know life teaches you lessons constantly and being able to integrate that formal and informal education really gives us a strong basis for handling the uncertainties of life and the last one is to be a good teammate there's so many things trying to divide us in the world right now that for us to take time to recognize how important it is for us to be together is is we can do that the world is going to be in a much better place and that's a challenging one though because at the end of the day you're not the one who gets to grade you on how good a teammate you're being but it's still important for us to put in that effort to take care of those on our left right in front and behind and so be in resilient be a lifelong learner and be a good teammate and I think those will pay us dividends whether we're in a pandemic or dealing with social emotional issues that are society is facing those things are going to help us to get through successfully and come out of the other side not just making it but thriving or in this case drilling through simulated reckless I love that I love that I've been trying to think this year of you know how is this negative situation or that I'm viewing negatively how is it actually serving me and I think that's really helped and it echoes a lot of what you're saying so I think that's going to be really really helpful for young people yeah and there's another and you know we don't have to go down this rabbit hole but there's also another aspect of this that I think it's given us all an opportunity to walk around in other people's shoes it's taken a lot of us from whatever our life paradigm worldview is and put us in a situation where we have had to appreciate somebody else's perspective and I think that's a healthy thing for humanity to do in previous episodes we've talked about how astronauts maintain physical health and space but what do you do specifically to exercise your mental health and space which is an environment that maybe all of us wouldn't perform our best in well it is a challenging environment molly great and that's a great question because the physical piece is so important exercising our muscles and that helps to keep our bones healthy it's also a great motivation for being in space and so it is one of the things that I think is a part of at least my mental health and well-being on the space station is the physical activity but you know the the resources that NASA provides to us while we're on the space station the ability to to call our family we have an internet-based phone and we had satellite coverage through the TDRS network almost constantly that's the same network that we use to get video and commands and communication to the space station so being able to call home almost any time of day every day of the week is great that is so comforting to keep that connection we also have a video conference very much like what you and I are doing right now and I can see my wife and kids faces once a week in addition they give us special ones on their birthdays or any major holidays and that was always a treat and we used ours to play games we would play games my favorite was charades and being in weightlessness allows you to do some really amazing things in the game of charades I won some our team won some some really close games that was awesome but you know there's also just a piece yeah very it's weightless charades awesome games in space in general this is an area I think we need to put more thought into you know really when you live somewhere you bring aspects of your culture music art and I think games is a part of our culture a part of our society that that needs its time and and in loreth orbit we could really do some things in terms of games we make up a lot of things but that's a different show too I think and what I see think this last part is just I whatever it is that you like to do on earth it's going to be changed when you get to space so the ways that you relax recuperate re-energize they might also change and so I think one of the most important aspects of maintaining a healthy mindset in space is to have a whole host a toolbox full of different tools to help yourself in space to help your resilience because it there's lots of research that NASA has sponsored or been a part of about the isolated confined and extreme environment of living in space and we've got years of research and also we work with DOD to see people that you know live in submarines and on aircraft carriers it's similar and it's about having a suite of tools some people like to read they like quiet times some people need to interact with other human beings and on the space station most of what you do is very controlled and very scripted but on earth we're used to bumping into people in the hallway and having random people call us and being able to call random people and there's an aspect of that in our lives that that we like sometimes and if you if you feed off of that you have to think about how you're going to replace it because it's in space there's no random bumping into anybody really everything is very intentional and so it's important to have all these tools because for me when I got to space I would have told you on day one I am an extrovert I love talking to people I love being in a group in a room with lots of people listening to the conversations people watching in space I wanted to be by myself when I had a chance I needed to to be alone and to read and to just you know take my mental journey somewhere else and then come back and go to work because on the space station we worked very hard and so I think the balance of going really hard and being really focused meant you had to really take your downtime and recuperate rest rejuvenate and so for me that was a lot of alone time I spent a lot of time journaling and reading well thank you so much for your time we are so appreciative of having you on the show Molly thank you for the time it was great to be here great talking with you and good luck to all the students and advisors in the competition