2024-ENG-I3-Magazine_ISSUU

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A Live Torero Greeting from Outer Space April 19, 2024 D rifting weightless amid a backdrop of machinery inside the Columbus module aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick gives an affirmation to mission control team members down on Earth. “Houston, this is Station. Ready. Let’s do this!” a smiling Dominick says enthusiastically, while his microphone floats slowly mid-air between his hands in preparation for a live interview with his alma mater, seven weeks into his mission. “We are crushing through experiments, which is most of what we do all day,” says Dominick. “Really, this is an orbiting laboratory … We are always in training, but it gets stepped up as you increase your tempo from doing ground jobs to [focusing] on executing the mission.” Adapting to life in orbit is no different than acclimating to any major life event, believes Dominick. It’s all about establishing routines and comfort. Still, daily life aboard the ISS is far from average, and no two days are alike. “We have an incredible group of folks on the ground and around the world that plan out our days for us — it’s super convenient. You wake up and there’s a computer screen that tells you what to do down to the minute. Most days, I’m a laboratory technician setting up experiments for primary investigators who are coming up with things for us to do.” Along with a multitude of experiments, the core focus of

research is on the astronauts themselves, says Dominick. “We are the experiment. The more people we can get into space, the bigger the sample size we can get to understand what happens to humans when they go into space.” The mission successfully launched on Sunday, March 3, 2024, following two postpone ments due to inclement weather. Strapped into his seat in the flight deck of the Dragon spacecraft, Dominick and the crew prepared for launch while mission control created by Hollywood, but one that only a handful of humans have experienced. Dominick described the moment as a “bimodal distribution of emotions.” “Managing your emotions in an operational environment has always been fascinating,” he says. “That countdown is exhilarating and you are thinking ‘OK, I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life’ so you are focused on seeing things around you and feeling them, but also hyperfocused on the task at-hand and remembering your procedures and comms calls so you can execute safely.” As mission commander, Dominick is responsible for the safe execution of getting to the ISS. It’s a role taken seriously while also acknowledging that it takes a huge team to get a small capsule off Earth, accelerate it to 17,500 miles-an-hour and rendezvous with the ISS. “Each of us has rules and responsibilities,” he says. “Mission Control Houston and Mission Control SpaceX both work really hard to get us up here. began the countdown from 10. It’s a movie scene often

PHOTO BY NASA

A Hero’s Return to Earth D ominick has a lot of appreciation for his friends and family, who he says have made the sacrifices and contributions so that he had the opportunity to become an astronaut. When he returns to Earth, he hopes to pay some of that love forward. Orbiting the Earth 16 times per day certainly heightens one’s perspective of humanity. “Seeing the Earth from [the International Space Station], you realize how thin the atmosphere is and what little separation humans have from space and the fragility of our civilizations, so I want to give back and I want to go see [more of] the world. We [orbited] over parts of the Earth that are absolutely inspirational.” To Toreros everywhere, Dominick shares a simple, yet powerful message that he lives by: “Go do what you are passionate about and then it will never, ever in your life feel like work. You’ll also be much better at the things you love because you will work harder at them.”

PHOTO BY NASA