Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Nicole Stott on Back to Earth: Combining the Awe and Wonder of Space Exploration with the Healing Power of Art EP 131

Episode Date: May 3, 2022

Nicole Stott on back to earth: combining the awe and wonder of space exploration with the healing power of art. | Brought to you by Masterworks (https://www.masterworks.io/ code passion). Nicole is an astronaut, aquanaut, artist, mom, and now author of her first book "Back to Earth ~ What Life In Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet - And Our Mission To Protect It."  She creatively combines the awe and wonder of her spaceflight experience with her artwork to inspire everyone's appreciation of our role as crewmates here on Spaceship Earth. She is a veteran NASA Astronaut with two spaceflights and 104 days as a crew member on both the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle.  She is also a NASA Aquanaut. In preparation for spaceflight, she was a crew member on an 18-day saturation dive mission at the Aquarius undersea laboratory. Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet - Our Mission is to Protect it: https://amzn.to/38Aw5vh  Thank you Feedspot for selecting the Passion Struck as one of the world's most inspirational podcasts. Combining Space Exploration with Art Nicole believes that the international model of peaceful and successful cooperation we have experienced in the extreme environments of space and sea holds the key to the same kind of peaceful and successful cooperation for all of humanity here on Earth. On her post-NASA mission, Nicole is a co-founder of the Space for Art Foundation --- uniting a planetary community of children through the awe and wonder of space exploration and the healing power of art.  Episode Sponsor This episode of Passion Struck with John R. Miles is brought to you by Masterworks. Masterworks - 66% of Billionaires Collect Art, so Why Aren’t You? Low Minimums, Simple and Exciting. You Can Use Art as an Alternative Investment to Diversify Your Portfolio. Blue-Chip Artwork. Go to https://www.masterworks.io/ and use code passion to start. Our Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/passionstruck. ► Subscribe to My YouTube Channel Here: https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnRMiles Time Stamps: 0:00 Announcements and Introduction of Nicole Stott 5:06 How St. Pete College set Nicole up for success 8:54 Working at Kennedy Space Center and becoming an astronaut 12:12 Realizing the simplicity of life's decisions 15:47 The evolution of the impact of women at NASA 19:19 Permitting yourself to dream the dream 21:15 The Overview Effect - How it transforms an astronaut's perspective 27:57 Grounding also called earthing, electrically reconnects you to the earth. 29:34 What's it like to do a spacewalk? 34:38 Similarities between astronauts and aquanauts 38:03 National Geographic's "One Strange Rock" 40:10 Nicole Stott discusses why she wrote "Back to Earth" 45:32 How polar exploration is like space exploration 49:05 Space for Arts Foundation 55:43 Rapid round of questions 58:52 Wrap up and synthesis   Show Links Passion Struck interview with Astronaut Chris Cassidy: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/astronaut-chris-cassidy-on-the-importance-in-life/id1553279283?i=1000521263914 Passion Struck interview with Astronaut Wendy Lawrence: https://passionstruck.com/how-to-dream-the-dream-you-want/ Passion Struck interview with Astronaut Kayla Barron: https://youtu.be/AyiQz2C7UsA   *a Solo episode on work-life balance: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7AZksXySbYVoMPMuma5DpB?si=_VPv5sn3QBCq2pYVh-LXkg   * A solo episode on overcoming burnout: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5keAXxjRs3Q8NKZYWBlPXS?si=N-nf0iQjThSzgsCAutPVPA    *A Solo episode on how you stop living in fear: https://passionstruck.com/how-do-you-stop-living-in-fear/    Follow Nicole Stott *Website: https://www.npsdiscovery.com/ *Space For Art Foundation: https://www.spaceforartfoundation.org/ *Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astro_nicole/ *Twitter: https://twitter.com/Astro_Nicole *Follow Space for Art Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spaceforartfoundation  *Follow Space for Art Foundation on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpaceForArtFoundation  Follow John on the Socials: * Twitter: https://twitter.com/Milesjohnr * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnrmiles.c0m * Medium: https://medium.com/@JohnRMiles ​* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_r_miles * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milesjohn/ * Blog: https://passionstruck.com/blog/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_podcast/ * Gear: https://www.zazzle.com/store/passion_struck/   -- John R Miles is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO and founder of Passion Struck. This full-service media company helps people live intentionally by creating best-in-class educational and entertainment content. John is also a prolific public speaker, venture capitalist, and author named to the ComputerWorld Top 100 IT Leaders.  

Coming up next on the Passion Struck Podcast. I think all of my colleagues who are preparing to go to space, I think we have in our minds at this idea of how incredible it's going to be, how beautiful the planet's going to be, how eye-opening even this understanding of, oh my gosh, we live on a planet, is by seeing it from that perspective. But I hadn't really considered it from some of the very kind of deep and meaningful ways. I remember looking out the window, the word awesome, that we use a lot for a lot of things. I mean, just became real to me.

I mean, awe and wonder and really, and truly, oh my gosh, we live on a planet and we're all earthlings. Welcome to PassionStruck. Hi, I'm your host, John Armilesiles and on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on

Fridays. We have long-form interviews the rest of the week with guest-ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become PassionStruck. Hello, everyone everyone and welcome back to episode 131 of PassionStruck, one of the world's most popular podcasts on health and education. Thank you to all of you who come back weekly to listen and learn, had a live better, be better, and impact the world.

I wanted to give a shout out to our fan of the week from Australia, John Soe Alexander, who writes, excellent podcast. John is a very good host. He is authentic, knowledgeable, and shows his vulnerability in both the interviews and his solo episodes. He finds great guests that provide excellent advice.

I highly recommend this show. Thank you so much, Johnso, for taking the time to write that review. You don't realize how much they mean to us. And if you missed last week's episodes, I interviewed New York Times best-selling author, Liz Fosslin, who is part of the duo behind the very popular Liz and Molly Instagram page. We did the release of their new book, Big Feelings, How to Be Okay, When Things Are Not Okay. I also interviewed Lori Singer, who specializes in behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. We discussed her new book, You're Not Crazy,

Living With Anxiety, Obsessions, and Fetishes. My solo episode last week was on a very important topic of fear, but more importantly, the science behind why we form fears and also the science behind how you can unlearn fears. Go check all three of those episodes out if you missed them. Now let me tell you about today's very special guest. Nicole Stott has explored from the heights of outer space to the deaths of our oceans. A veteran NASA astronaut, Nicole's experience includes two space flights and 104 days living and working in space on both the space shuttle and the International Space Station. Nicole is also a NASA Aquinot. I don't even know if there was such a thing as that. Who lived and worked during an 18-day and long as saturation mission to date on the Aquarius undersea habitat, which is off the Florida Keys.

She performed one spacewalk. She was the last crew member to fly to and from the International Space Station on the Space Shuttle, and a member of the final crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133. A personal highlight of Nicole's spaceflight was painting the first watercolor in space. Now Nicole is dedicating her life to sharing her space flight experience and the beauty of Earth to others. In our interview, we discuss her unique path to joining NASA and eventually becoming an astronaut. Why she believes that sharing the orbital and inner space perspectives has the power to increase everyone's appreciation of an obligation to take care of our home planet as well as each other. How she combines her artwork and space flight experience to inspire creative thinking about

solutions to our planetary challenges. Nicole talks about how she wants to raise awareness of the surprising interplay that exists between science and art and to promote the amazing work being done every day in space to improve life right here on earth. She does that through the Space for Arts Foundation, which goes to help and inspire sick children all around the world. And lastly, we discuss her experience as both an astronaut and an aqua-not, as well as just recently becoming a polar explorer. Thank you for choosing

PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life now. Let that journey begin. begin. I am so excited to welcome Nicole Stott to the Passion Start podcast. Welcome Nicole. Thank you John, nice to be here. Well as we discussed before the show, not only do we live in the same town, but we've got some common friends, a couple of which I had on the podcast last year, astronauts Wendy Lawrence and Chris Cassidy, who just recently retired. So glad to have my fourth astronaut on the show

and can't wait to hear what is similar from all of your experiences and what was unique about yours as well. And speaking of unique, I think your story of how you became an astronaut is a really unique one compared to other astronauts at that time when you were selected in 2000. So your journey started in clear water, Florida, right up the road from us here in St. Petersburg. You went to clear water high school if I have that right. And then upon graduation.

Oh, I know, by the way. Yeah. Once you left high school, you took the step of going to St. Pete College. And so to me, that's a little bit different. So I was hoping you could talk about that and kind of would inspire this journey. Well, I do think it's a little different.

It's funny though, because I thought it was really, really different. When I ultimately ended up in the astronaut office and then I discovered at least two people in my astronaut class had taken kind of this community college path as well, which was, I enjoyed hearing that because I think that's, it's a really great message to be able to share with kids who are maybe not exactly

sure what they wanna do, or for whatever reason, want to pursue something at their local community or junior college. And for me, it really came down to, I knew I was going to go do the aeronautical engineering thing. I had discovered somewhere along the way, late in high school, that that's what you do if you want to know how airplanes fly. And that was really where I was at. I wanted to fly myself, but I also just really wanted to know how airplanes fly. And honestly, when I was getting ready

to graduate from high school, I didn't even know if I was gonna go to college, but I knew that that's what I was interested in. I wanted to know how things fly. And I wanted to fly myself. So, Saint Pete Junior College at the time had this amazing program called Aviation Administration. And it had built into it the private pilot curriculum,

both the flying set up with Saint Pete Clearwater Airport down the road here, as well as all of the ground school curriculum. So very structured, I knew that that would probably be my best way to, you know, start and finish something like that. And then in parallel, I could start doing some of the prerequisite classes that I knew I'd have for engineering. And it was awesome because I could see that in the academic classwork that I can handle this. I'm all right with thinking about continuing into the engineering program.

And I was earning my private pilot's license. I mean, I didn't think it could get any better. And I really do believe that as far as my school went, it was, I don't know how it would have gone differently if I hadn't done that, but I really feel like it was kind of this anchor to helping me really push out into the university setting, both from a maturity standpoint I'd have to say, as well as just knowing that the curriculum would be something that I could continue with. Yeah. So then you left college and then you started at NASA and for many years you were an

engineer if I have that correctly at the Kennedy Space Station. Yeah so after moving on from St. Pete Junior College I went off to across the state to Daytona Beach to Emory Rittle Aeronautical University did my engineering degree there. Again, I think another key kind of stepping stone in all of this because of the way the people, the faculty and the teachers were, and the size of classes, and we had these small classes. It was very hands-on driven, which I loved,

being able to work with the hardware and understand how what I was studying in school was going to really play out in real life. And while I was there in Daytona Beach, which is just up the road from the Kennedy Space Center, I started thinking, man, if you want to know how airplanes fly, why would you not want to know how rocket ships fly? And that's what led to just even thinking about really, really seriously thinking about working for NASA.

I had thought about it all along, but it kind of seemed out there like, oh, it's maybe something I could think about, but probably won't happen. And it became real. I was able to work at Kennedy Space Center for, gosh, it was about 11 years. And what we call shuttle processing,

space shuttle processing, which sounds a little weird, but it basically was, how do you get a space shuttle from the landing site, back to the launch site, to fly and cycle that through that whole process. And got to see pretty much everything. There is about how the vehicles work, how the crew members interface with them, and how the launch control teams deal with launch and landing. And it was there that And it was there that, and it took me a while.

It was probably eight into the 10 years where I started thinking, man, you know, I'm watching these astronauts come through, I'm seeing how we get the vehicles ready for them and what they're gonna do. And it became clear to me that like 99.9% of an astronaut's job is not flying in space. It's here on Earth. And as best I could tell, at least 80%

of it was very much alike what I was already doing as an engineer. And that gave me, I don't know, courage is the word, but it gave me the inspiration, I think, to finally consider this astronaut job, to at least think about it. And because up until then, I always thought, oh, that's something other special people get to do. Why would they ever pick me? And I don't think without the encouragement of mentors, of people that I consider to be mentors, that I ever would have even picked up the pen

and filled out the application. And that was the conversation with three of these people, really all three of them ended up coming back at me with the same piece of advice, which was Nicole, you just need to pick up the pen and fill out the application. They were giving me permission to do the one thing in the whole process that I have control of, which is fill in out the application. And I can tell you, John, I don't think I really don't think I would have picked up that pen without them just saying those words to me.

Yes, well, when I interviewed Kayla, it has some very strong similarities because she had met one of a previous Naval Academy astronaut at a football game and they got to talking and then she started thinking about it and went to the superintendent vice admiral Ted Carter and said, you know, I'm a recorder. I think I might want to be an astronaut, but I don't even know how to become one if he goes Kayla, you apply. It's amazing how underlying a lot of what I've learned in life is the simplicity of it almost like there's still a lot of complexity that goes on with it right the whole process after that but there are these simple things that we just have to do for ourselves to make really wonderful opportunities available to us and and I mean I remember listening to Kayla's conversation and that coming up and it made me smile to think

that other people were out there sharing those words of wisdom with somebody else because it's huge and it's like liberating. And really, I think puts you in this place where you feel like you have the freedom to take that step that you really have total control of anyway. And it's kind of cool to just put yourself out there. You know, even if it's in the back of your mind, you're thinking,

okay, still, this will never happen. And which I was thinking, I'm like, you know, there's no way. And when I went to the interview and you go with a group of like 20 people from all over the country and different experiences, and they're all go into medical exams and evaluations and you know one by one we go to our one hour interview and I'm looking at round man I'm thinking okay. Just enjoy this you don't stand a chance these are really awesome individuals like the cutting edge of science or really incredible military experience and leadership roles that they've already had and just enjoy meeting them. So who knows how the ultimate choice is actually made, even having been on the other side, I'm not sure I understand it, but it's true. I mean, we have to do those things that we have control of even if we are doubting ourselves the whole way. I think that's a great message.

And hopefully with more of the privatization that's happening, more people will get to experience spaceflight. I was amazed when I did the math around Kayla's episode in her class selection how selective it is to become an astronaut. You think about getting into MIT or Oxford or one of those things. And then I looked at it from the perspective of the odds of becoming a four-star Marine Corps general are like 0.1%. The chances of being selected, I think there were 18,000 applicants, 8 for six or 8 spots. It's like a quarter of that.

So it is good to see that they are that selective about the quality of the individuals that they're bringing into the program. But we're gonna need a lot more going forward. Yeah, I think so. I think that's good too. And the criteria, I think we'll start to open up more too for who they'll consider qualified.

Because right now, you look at 18,000 applications coming in and you've got eight or 10 slots that you need to fill. You have to limit that yourself in some way too by the degree programs that you allow or different medical things. Whereas it so open up more, I think that will increase the numbers in a different way and the demographic will change and it'll be it's going to be interesting to see how that works over time. Yeah, so one of the things I got to watch before this was you did a TEDx talk a number of years ago that was called the Glass floor Reach for the Stars.

And when I started watching it, I really liked how you opened it up with all of these trailblazers who were women pioneers, both astronauts and people just supporting the program from all different walks of life. How have you seen the program from that point in time that you joined NASA to now retiring a few years ago? How has the role of women in NASA altered over that period?

I think it's changed really significantly. If you just use the timeframe of the 50 years since the Apollo missions. In fact, then, if you just looked in mission control and the launch control center, at mission control, there were no women in the front room at all working on those flights. There was one woman popping Northcut in the back room, cranking away the numbers they needed to get there and be safe. At launch control in Florida Kennedy Space Center,

there was one woman in the front room, Joanne Morgan. And now, both of those facilities, the launch control center and the mission control center are run by incredible women. And when you look across the mix of humanity in the control centers themselves, it's just that. It's this just mix of people. And you're not looking like who wears Joanne, in this picture to try to find that one person who's representing women there. I think NASA actually is a really wonderful example

for how this blend of experiences and different kinds of people are really coming together beautifully to solve some of the most challenging problems we have. And you talked about Kaelin when she was selected and how 18,000 down to 8 or 10, I can't remember how many were in their class. But in the astronaut office right now, I think there's roughly 40 active astronauts, almost 40% are women. That's huge when you think about. That's a dramatic change. It's really, really.

And that's happening across not just the astronaut office, but across the engineering areas and mission control, like I said, and the design and training people. It's just, I don't know if it's happening naturally, or if it's being, you know, if there was some forcing of it along the way that's allowed it to evolve naturally now. But whatever is happening, it is. And I think the challenge now is more about the pool of people available to come in, because at most universities, engineering, for example,

because at most universities, engineering, for example, they struggle to enroll and maintain an enrollment of 20, 25% women in those programs. And so until we can start, like getting them when they're in middle school and really keeping, keeping a hold on them so that they get through, college and are there like available to be hired. It's, I think that's where the kind of the block is now. It's not that there's not a desire to bring women into these fields. And the rocket ship doesn't care if you're a boy or girl, right?

That's, you know, I mean, that's something really to think about as, and we do these things to ourselves. It's not the job itself. It's just the way we allow things to happen. Well, that's why I thank your message to anyone who's listening or watching this. And it's similar to Ask Not When He Loans is, is you got to give yourself permission to dream the dream that you want for your life. And so often we we meet hardships, or we look at the end destination and can't figure out how to get there.

And I firmly believe if you want something bad enough, the universe is going to open the doors to provide that path to you, you just have to be intentional about going after it and trying to be the best that you can be. Not sure if you're about something. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I love Wendy's words about that.

Sometimes the dream even more so long the way, right? Depending on the experiences that open up as you're pursuing that one that is that's kind of in the distance, right? What, that these new opportunities happen? You get a little uncomfortable sometimes and learn something new about yourself. As you move along the way, you need to be, I think putting yourself in a position to really be enjoying, you're not always like having fun, but feeling like what you're doing is worthwhile, that you're adding value in some way through the work that you're doing, that it's meaningful, and that you're happy there. I think that's a big deal. I've met so many people that are so focused

on that one milestone at the end, that they're forgetting to live and enjoy along the way to getting there. And I can tell you, when you sit on the opposite side of the table to the people that are interviewing, you want to know that they're enjoying what they're doing right now and that they see opportunity in that if they were to continue doing it too, not just that if they don't get disaster, not job life is over. Right. Well, I wanted to take this to a little bit of your time and space and

I wanted to take this to a little bit of your time and space. And I have been reading a lot about Maslow and C.G. Young and currently I'm reading The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. And in that book, at the beginning of it, the person who's there with him, Bill Moriardi, and the introduction, I thought it had a direct relation to you because you're trying to bring together a combination of arts and sciences. And Joseph Campbell, in the last years of his life, was striving for a new synthesis of science and spirit. And he called it a shift from geocentric to heliocentric worldview.

And he got that by watching the astronauts land on the moon and wondering what this new horizon would be like for them and for all mankind. Frank White described this phenomenon as the overview effect. And I always like to ask anyone I bring on, what your experience was like before going up and how has it altered your life and your perception of how we fit into humanity afterwards. Yeah, and thanks for mentioning Frank too. A dear friend who I think just really has,

friend who I think just really has, I don't know, there's something so thoughtful and humble about him and the way he presents himself. I didn't know Frank before I flew. I met him afterwards and I didn't know the words overview effect before I flew, but I think all of my colleagues who are preparing to go to space, I think we have in our minds and this idea of how incredible it's going to be, how beautiful the planet's going to be, I think we have in our minds at this idea of how incredible it's gonna be, how beautiful the planet's gonna be, how eye-opening even this understanding of, oh my gosh, we live on a planet,

is by seeing it from that perspective, but I hadn't really considered it from some of the very kind of deep and meaningful ways that Frank had before flying, before flying. And then after flying, even again, before meeting Frank and reading of his philosophy on this and stuff, I think it really gelled with me. And then again, it's the simplicity in it, right?

I mean, and maybe I'm just simple minded, I don't know, but I mean, I remember looking out the window, the word awesome that we use a lot for a lot of things. I mean, just became real to me. I mean, awe and wonder. And really, and truly, oh my gosh, we live on a planet. And we're all earthlings looking at the just this thin veil

of blue that wraps our planet and thinking, oh, that's the only board of that matters there. I mean, these things that just come to mind that aren't necessarily with us every day in our daily lives and there's not a day goes by now that those three ideas aren't at the front of my brain and everything. I'm looking out in my backyard and that's what I'm thinking about is I'm looking at the grass or the water. Wow, I live on a planet and trying to take that into consideration. I think it's a big deal. I do feel like life changed. Not like there was this flash of light. Nicole was this person before she flew.

She's this person afterwards. But I think you can't leave an experience like that. And not be impacted by it in a way that influences the choices you make. The way you live your life. And. But I also don't think you have to go to space to. And I think that's what I'm going to say. impacted by it in a way that influences the choices you make, the way you live your life. And, but I also don't think you have to go space to understand those things, to have that kind of experience and appreciate it. We'll be right back to our episode with Nicole Stott. Oprah Winfrey,

she's living breathing proof of the power of passion, running away from home at age 13, starting a media empire, and now worth $2.6 billion. All to say that, when she makes a big move, you can learn a lot by watching. And after she made $60 million in one fell swoop, I did some research on how. And my eyes were open to a market out there that's worth an amazing $1.7 billion. That for the first time we can all be part of. No Oprah level billions needed. How? There's a startup that's blowing the whole thing wide open called masterworks powered by passion, like all good startups are, and eager to change the world. To learn more, go to masterworks.io and use promo code passion.

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and make it possible. Now back to my interview with Nicole Stott. I would agree with you. I mean, obviously I've never been to space. I wish there was a way I could get up there. I can't do it. I mean, or I could. I have been fortunate enough to go to about 50 different

countries, and I've been on almost every continent, but the one you recently visited. I think it would be so good for the world if more people, regardless of where they live, got to tour around to see other places because it's eye-opening, just how magical a place we live in, and how incredible people are. I've had some of the best experiences in my life meeting foreigners in their own country and the openness of how they welcome you into their culture and everything else. And it's something more people need to see.

So this morning as I was listening to one of your podcasts, I heard you make the statement that once you came back down to earth, you started thinking more about the planet and doing things such as taking your shoes off and just walking barefoot on On the earth and I actually was 5.30 in the morning and yeah, I kind of called this morning But I actually took my shoes off took the headsets off and just sat there for like four or five minutes and just listen to the quietness of the morning and the birds and everything else. I think We don't spend enough time like that and everything else. I think we don't spend enough time like that being not only within ourselves, but with the planet around us. I think that's why when people get to go to the mountains or they do

nature hides, it just unleashes such a vibrance inside of you and feeling more connected. Yeah, I think there's something so powerful in it. And again, it just seems so simple to go stand in the dirt or something. But I mean, if you do that and actually, I mean, I discovered this when I was doing some research for my book, but it was like this whole idea of earthing. I mean, they call it that, earthing and how grounded it really does make you. And from an electrical standpoint too, I guess there's like a passage of charred between the earth and our bodies that kind of balances out, grounds us in that.

But I'm so glad you did that this morning because I think it's pretty cool to go outside. And purposefully, remind yourself that your feet are connected to a planet and that if you really think about it, it's like, yeah,, I'm spinning on this planet about a thousand miles an hour and my planet's going around the sun, it's about 67,000 miles an hour and like at the same time it becomes like totally mind-boggling and then it's this reality of wow.

This must be where I'm supposed to be. Like there's a reason why I'm here and you can go in all kinds of directions with that thought, but but just the the simplest of, okay, here's who I am and where I am in the universe if you want to think about it that way and in this in this one place and and then I think that really does help us open up our minds, our, our hearts to to the on wonder that's around us, looking at the high-biscuits plant a little bit differently than you might have before and appreciating it in a new way. And I think that does good things for us. Yeah, I would agree. It must have been amazing looking out of the Kupalot on the earth, but you also did two spacewalks. When you walked out of the ISS, what was that first experience when you realized you're outside of the space

ground? I think there's a, well surreal certainly is a word that comes to mind when you think about spaceflight in any way, but to go out in your own little personal spaceship and the suit out out the hatch and crawl onto the outside of the space station with the earth about 300 miles below you rotating. Now, you know, on the one side, there's this deliberateness, this diligence, this respect for where you are, this knowing the responsibility you have to take care of. All those kind of work-y sides of it, what you have to take care of you. All those kind of working sides of it, the what you have to do to stay alive while you're out there side. And then there's just this world, this color that opens up in front of you

when once you get your head out the out the hatch that is just like the first view out the window of the spaceship. It's just like overwhelming and gorgeous and translucent and all those things, all the colors work to be, but just like it's just yours there. It's like you and it, and it's a pretty mind blowing thing. And I think I was a little surprised how limited my view was though, because you know, you look at these spacesuits and the helmets look ginormous and the visor looks like it's really big and it's got that bubble thing on it.

But it really is kind of a, I mean, it kind of limits your view, especially immediately in front of you. Now when you got the Earth below you, I mean, you can still see the whole thing, but it's, which is really super impressive. But I expected everything to just be open all around me. And it was kind of like, oh man, if I want to look to the left,

I got to turn my whole body. Because if you just turn your head, you're just seeing the inside of your space suit, you know? But I don't think anything prepares you for how you're going to feel when that experience happens. We do all this training in the big pool, we do all this training in like virtual reality, which is amazing preparation for what you're about to do, but as human beings, I think the experience of it compared to what you expected it to be just the sensation just visually, but what you're feeling inside the suit, the comfort of it, just the home of the fan, the sound of your crewmates, voices, the lighting, all of it just is this very, I don't know, stimulating kind of experience. And then you got to remind yourself that you're supposed to be out there working. So,

I've experienced a little bit of that. When I was younger in my career, my office was at point, of that. When I was younger in my career, my office was at point, a Loma in San Diego and during periods of the year, you could just see the Humback whales. And it was so hard not to just want to sit there and watch them all day. So, you should just sit there and watch that all day. If that's true. Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell you. That's very comparable to being on a spaceship with a window there. You, I mean, I had to set my alarm on my watch during the, I went to the window during the day, during, I mean, during the work day, I had to set my watch to remind myself to

go back to work because it was just like this, you just got sucked into this work tech of the beauty of it and the contemplation of it. I was very, I know there's like a transcendence to it. It's kind of like standing with your feet in the dirt. If you really let yourself experience that and you're looking up at this blue that seems to go on forever and really doesn't, I mean, there's all these things you can think about and get caught up in and then you get the call from mission control telling you to go back to work. then you get the call from Mission Control telling you to go back to work. Well, that's something Chris told me, and I'm not sure if it was in the episode or afterwards, as he was like, you have no idea how much they programmed your time when you're up there.

Because I was thinking like, what are you doing? He's like, you don't have time to think. It's like, you are on task. You're either doing experiments or maintenance items or like you are on task, you're either doing experiments or maintenance items or or other things. You said the really the only time you get to yourself is Sunday, where they give you some free time. Yeah, I may go like before bed, after dinner before bed or something. But yeah, I think people get this idea. It's just kind of this leisure life. It's really cranking. And there's so much going on. And every day is different.

Like this different mix of science and fix in the toilet or building something or communicating with folks on the ground and things. And that's a really nice aspect of it. That as an astronaut right now, you really are kind of the jack of all traits. You know, you're the plumber, you're the electrician, you're the scientist and the communicator. It's a very nice experience in a really, really extraordinary place. Yes, well, I just saw Caleb in one of her posts is actually building cubicle satellites, which are low-cost satellites that they're going to experiment with. So,

you never know what you're going to get to walk into it any day. No. Well, DNA and satellites, it's kind of cool. So, you are one of the few people who has had the experience of both being an astronaut and an aquanaut. And I have to tell you when I started reading about your experience of being an aqua not, I didn't realize we had this undersea laboratory that it's off the coast of Key West, which I lived there while it was there I wish I would have known more about it, but you were down there for 18 or so days. I was wondering how much of a similarity was it being down there, then kind of being on the ISS? Yeah, and I hadn't, that was before my first flight. So I hadn't flown in space shit. But I just always say,

it absolutely was the best analog to what it was like to live on the space station. And that's everything from the fact that you are at 60 feet underwater in this habitat that's like the size of a school bus that sits on the seafloor in a real extreme environment, right? You get down there and after you're at 60 feet underwater for an hour, you can't just swim safely to the surface to escape any problems that are happening. So as a crew, we have to work in that place when things don't go as planned. Same thing is true in space. Can't just hop in a spaceship and come home anytime we want. We have to know how to deal with

home anytime we want. We have to know how to deal with emergency situations and things that aren't going as planned there in that place. And can't just go out the door without special equipment on, space suits, scuba gear, all of the kinds of work that we were doing on the Aquarius undersea habitat were parallel kinds of activities to what, very similar to what we would be doing during our space mission. I think there's nothing better than living underwater like that. And to be able to be in the habitat itself, the size of a school bus was very much like the size of one of the modules on the space station. And to be in that close proximity with your five crewmates and facilitating the work and the kind of the existence there over that time frame was, yeah, there's nothing better. And I highly recommend it. I mean, I highly recommend space, but absolutely, if you ever get the chance to just even visit the habitat,

it's just so awesome. And the idea, like you said, not knowing that, that that's like in our backyard, right? That the only one on the planet right now, like it, that exists, that not just NASA, but other the Navy and other organizations use it, their research and their crew development, and schools have been able to start doing more there as well.

And in support of the Navy NASA missions, but also independent research too, it's just a wonderful facility that I hope, I hope, my fingers are always crossed that it stays maintained down there. Because I saw articles even in 2012 that were questioning whether the funding was going to be there today. It sits under NOAA. So hopefully the funding will continue. I did want to ask you, did both of those experience influence the way that you responded

when you were on national geographic one-screen drop or did it come mostly from the space experience? Oh, I think both definitely because I think any of us who've done this undersea and outer space thing undersea and outer space thing. Look at it, kind of like, okay, we got on the Aquarius missions, we experienced Earth like it was wrapped around us, right? Like we were in inner space and really getting to know this planet that we live on from a very different perspective. We kind of like felt like we were the ones in the fishbowl, right? The big group who would come by the window and look like,

oh, who's in there now, kind of thing. Whereas we always feel like we're the ones in the fishbowl, right? The big grouper would come by the window and look like, oh, who's in there now? Kind of thing. Whereas we always feel like we're the ones observing, right? And then in space, you're at this totally new vantage point above looking down. It's almost like you're wrapping around the planet in an outer space looking at Earth. And it's all, I think, just relative to who

and where we are with respect to the planet. And in one strange rock, I think its whole motivation was to get us to know Earth better as our planet and our home. And to, I don't know, just to recognize that there's a lot of otherworldly places that are right here on Earth that if we don't pay attention, we might not even know exist here. You might think when you're looking at pictures,

that it's Mars, when it's actually some desert in Australia. And that's pretty cool to consider, I think, not to mention how we even theorize that we might have gotten here. I like recommend it. As I do with your book, we've talked about a lot of the things that you approach in the book, and obviously I don't want to give everything away

with it. But can you tell the audience a little bit about it and just self-promote yourself? Sure, yeah. As I've told you, it's not fun to do that. But I love that you've asked about the book. I really am proud of the way that it turned out. It's not a memoir. It's called Back to Earth. And it's really meant to be a story of how, and I think you've probably heard this through your conversation with Chris and Wendy and Kayla, even before she flew,

like this idea of how we've built this mechanical life support system in space, right? This space station to mimic what Earth does for us naturally. And we know that we have to have these things in place on a spaceship just so we can survive there. Before we can do any of the science that we want to do there, we have to have these basics of life support in place for us. Same thing on a submarine or on that Aquarius habitat, or just that the reality is we're not meant to be in those places, right? So we have to put the things in place for us to survive.

And somehow for over 20 years now, with representatives from over 15 different countries, we've managed to peacefully and successfully work in that place and acknowledge the needs of human life there, like every day need to be aware of how much CO2 is in our atmosphere and how much cream drinking water we have. And the integrity of our thin metal hull and health and well-being of all of our crewmates. And just in my work with NASA and my time and space, it became clear to me that that is just a really wonderful example for how we should be living like crew down here on Spaceship Earth.

And so that's what I try to bring out in the book. The chapters are broken out by like these ways of living, kinds of things we learn, and that we live by as crewmates on this spaceship, and how we can do those same things together here on Earth. And it also showcases a lot of the science that's happening on the space station, but also work of really wonderful people down here on Earth that are already behaving like crewmates. There's so many, but you know things that are going on that are like like our work in space ultimately all about improving life honor. Well that's great and I think you recently wearing Glasgow if I have that correct for the climate change conference and I was hoping you might share because what a incredible experience that must be to be part of that.

What was your experience like with that and do you think having attended it that there is really this growing coming together of people that we have to do something quicker about it. I think there's certainly an urgency felt about it. I was kind of on the perimeter. I wasn't in the middle of all the leader meetings going on, but I'll tell you everybody that I was with, young, old, and everything in between are motivated. They, even without going to space, understand the sense of interconnectivity of all of us here on Earth and how all life that we share the planet with is dependent on how we behave really and truly and are in every way they can taking action and trying to encourage action. And here's something I could do either in my neighborhood or more globally that allows them to empower themselves

to be part of the solution. And so I can't really speak. I don't think the leaders and how they came together, but I can tell you every second I was there, I was thinking, man, I really wish they were all together floating with their heads bouncing off each other in the cupola of the space station. Having their meeting there, taking into consideration all that they need to

is they are trying to come together. But from that vantage point versus a sterile conference room, wherever you are, you know, in the dirt somewhere. Go do the dirt, the earth thing thing. Stand in the dirt while you're doing your climate change conference meetings. And I think that would open up a whole new urgency for them as well. And-

Yes, it'd be nice to get our world leaders up there. I think every astronaut, I don't know if you've spoken to the others about this, but we amongst ourselves, I can tell you floating around the dinner table in space are commenting on that kind of thing. I'm like, man, is my president and your president could be up here talking to each other about all these problems while they're looking out the window? They might come to different conclusions and want to take action a little differently too. Yeah, so it was so much truth on that. After you left Glasgow, you took a side excursion to the one continent I haven't been to, the South Pole.

I have heard so much about it. I had a friend who flew C-130s down there. And then I had a guest on the podcast, Victoria Humphreys, who said, her polar exploration really changed her life and just seeing the world in a different way. So I wanted to understand your experiences from it. Yeah, and we, I mean, when we went down on this trip, the idea was that we were gonna be experiencing

the total solar eclipse that was happening there in early December. And as it sometimes happens, the weather was the worst it's been in a really long time. So there was no there was no view in of the eclipse, but that left us even more time to explore Antarctica, to really get in and see and experience that anardic peninsula and the coastal continental area there. We didn't make it down to the South Pole, which needs to still happen, I think, I think. But I'll tell you, my husband was with me and every day since then we still are talking about it, reflecting on it in some way. I think we realized that we haven't fully processed

the experience. So different to our day-to-day lives. We were down there on a relatively small ship and got there that was early in the season. We never saw another person. Another, and there was one ship that went early in the season. We never saw another person. Another, and there was one ship that went by in the night that, I mean, you didn't really see it, but any of the excursions we were on,

there was no one else down there. There were penguins, there were seals, there were whales, but like just this stark white, I mean, glorious, actually, against the blue, but just that seemed to go on forever and colors just like looking from space, where you look at the blues of the ocean and the reef structures and stuff,

and you're like, man, I don't think I've ever seen that blue before down when I was down on earth. And I was seeing some of those blues in the water with the icebergs and things. And being in a remote place like that, where you really are dependent on the boat you are dependent on the people that you're with you're dependent on the nice and you won't survive. And so there's that going on, which is similar to being in space as well. But this reliance that we have on technology in some way,

I guess, to be able to survive in places like that, but also to be able to experience them in a way that doesn't hopefully we left no trace, you know, of ourselves, or two, maybe some footprints in the snow, but very deliberate about not, you know, not leaving memories of ourselves that way. Yes, well, I think it's a great experience and I would love to get down there myself sometime. Yes, do. because it must just give you a completely different way of observing things. So I did want to get to your art.

And so the way I was introduced to you is surprising because it wasn't through these other astronaut friends. It was actually through a mutual friend of ours, Christina Sparks, who was a guest on the show, and she owns a brand called Sogani Activewear, and you did a partnership with her to, you know, display your artwork on her athletic year, which I thought was pretty incredible. You have a whole foundation that I was trying to bring together this art and science mix. Yeah, and thanks for asking.

It's called the Space Bar Art Foundation. And it really got its start. I mean, I had the chance to paint while I was in space. I brought a watercolor kit with me. It, painted while I was on the space station, which even then, and I could say in hindsight, was really a personal highlight of the experience being able to do something I love, you know, down here on Earth that's not really thought of as too spacey, kind of bringing the human to human space flight.

And there's so much of that that goes on with the crew members up there, whether it's art or music or poetry happening. Since the beginning of spaceflight really, and when I was considering retiring from NASA, and two of those three colleagues that you spoke to, one is right in the midst of flying right now, so she's not thinking about retiring. I think all of us want to share the space light experience in a meaningful way. And I just kept coming back to art as like wow that could be, hit people kind of brought into this story of what we're doing in space that's all about improving life on earth. And trying to make a long story short, I am doing my own art to do that to share the experience. I got invited to participate in an art project with an artist who had started the art medicine program with the kids at MD Anderson in Houston at the pediatric cancer center and he wanted to do something spacey. So we came up with spacesuits as the idea for that.

All of his projects, his name is Ian Sion, a credible artist. All of his projects had always been the kids would create one little individual piece of art. And then he would build it all out into some large scale art piece, like a big dragon, where every scale was a kid's piece of art, or big murals, or wrapping buses, and things like that. So the kids got to see their art come together that way. And so we did spacesuits.

And while working with the kids one day at MD Anderson, I really think that it became clear to me what my next mission in life needed to be. And that it was going to really beautifully pull together. Everything I loved about space and art and working with these kids. And it came to me because I was talking to a little girl who was there for cancer treatment. And I'm painting with her. And I think she was painting a piece to go on this this suit that, you know, I know on on radio or on podcast, you might not be able to see it by the colorful space suit. And she just started talking to me about how

what she was going through as a seven-year-old and cancer treatment at the hospital must be a lot like what it is to be an astronaut in space. And I have to tell you, John, that I get goosebumps every time I think about it. Like completely stopped me in my tracks and I'm like, okay, I just kept smiling. I'm like, what do you mean? You go to space and you don't get to see your mom and daddy the same way or your friends.

You can't just go outside anytime you want. You have to eat all different kinds of foods and your body is changing and they're doing all kinds of tests on you. I think you have radiation that you have to, I'm like, oh my gosh, like talk about beyond her years wisdom, like just coming out effortlessly, just like it was just matter of fact, which I guess it is. And I just found it to be so true and compelling and in this place where we had brought space, exploration as the inspiration,

to kids who are going through what you hope is the worst thing they ever have to deal with in their life, they're sitting up straighter, they're feeling better, they're transcending it in some way, that allows them to think about their future. And that just was like, okay, I went to space, so I can work with these kids. And the Space for Art Foundation grew out of that. Our mission is to unite a planetary community of children through the onwonder of space

exploration and healing power of art. And what started in one hospital in Texas has now spread to And what started in one hospital in Texas has now spread to on our last suit that we did, we have artwork from one child and at least one piece of artwork from, at least one child at every country on the planet. And so thankful to our partners, you know, dies like Chris Cassidy and you know, your friend Wendy Lawrence

who have participated in one way or another with these kids along the way other astronauts and cosmonauts and and folks like I'll see over the space suit company that makes our real spacesuits for doing spacewalks that have very generously volunteered to quilt these kids artwork together. Some of which have made it to the space station as well. Well that's an incredible story and I know firsthand how much it means to these kids. Luckily, my kids haven't been faced in that situation, but earlier in life, I had a fiance who got a rare form of cancer when she was about 19 and so she was getting her treatments in the children's center instead of the adults. A lot of these kids who did have cancer really lucked up to her and she started bonding with them through arts and crafts. She would help them make gift baskets for people who spent time with them as a way of saying

thanks. And just the way it gave them an outlet from what they're going through and a way to express themselves. I think it's such a magical thing that you're doing. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, it's, I'm very thankful for it to have been introduced to this one. The people that we started with have stuck with us throughout it all.

And so I think there's more to come. I'm very excited about it. Well, I'm going to give you the opportunity to tell the audience how they can learn more about you. And then after that, I've got two quick questions and then we're going to round up. So go ahead. Well, I mean, I'm on all the social media stuff. At Astro underscore Nicole is where you can usually find me. My website is Nicole's dot com and then I encourage you to check out the space for art foundation also on social media at space for art foundation and space for art foundation. Foundation dot org on the web. Yeah, and then go to your local bookseller to find back to earth. There's a link to that as well.

I will make sure it's in the show notes and on my webpage, we'll have a big picture of it. That all they have to do is click on it and it'll send them directly to it. So the last two questions. And you've heard the podcast. So one of them is one I love to ask us, but especially astronauts. And that is, if you were selected to go on a mission to a new planet, and you were given the ability to put one rule or law into place for that new civilization, what would it be? Wow, I think, it's for me, it's hard to, I think, put it into rule words, but because I think

it's the basis of what I learned from going to space is that we have to behave like crewmates. And I know that's not a rule. Yes. But it could be, I suppose, I think all the structure that goes around it. You know, and it comes down to respect and relationship. And that's a big deal no matter where we are. Okay. In your book and this is the only spoiler I'll give to it, in your acknowledgements

you reference Star Trek and I was kind of I wanted to hear that story, but also why Star Trek and not Star Wars. I grew up with Star Trek in my home as a kid, like every day coming home from school on the one of three channels that we had, you know, it was going to play in the afternoon. And I think the difference is that it's very much about a positive future, right? It's looking at a way that we can live like crew, even with, you know, with, with, beings that aren't from our own, our own home. And, and it gives us that there's hope, there's hope in it in the way that it presents that future. And I honestly believe, you know,

the way that we work together as crewmates on a space station, if we start doing that together down here on earth, I mean, we create, we really can't create a future for ourselves. That's as beautiful as it looks from space. Yeah, well, that's a great answer. I, again, as I was reading this power of myth, this power of meth. Joseph Campbell and George Lucas developed this tight bond and Campbell was asked, why does he like the story so much? And he said it's because Luke found within himself the resources of character to meet his destiny. And I thought that was a really profound statement that we can all take away with. Because I think in many ways, that's what the writers of Star Trek were trying to do

as well in the way that they were telling stories is to be better than better versions of even Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock and everyone else on that show. Well, Nicole, thank you so much for joining us today on the Passion Start podcast. What a wonderful episode. My pleasure, John. Thank you so much.

And I hope that we cross paths on the streets of St. Petersburg sometime too. That would be awesome. What incredible interview that was with Nicole Stott. And I just wanted to bring up some of the past episodes that we talked about and mentioned on today's show. One of them was episode 26 with my good friend, Armor Navy Seal, and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. We also talked about my episode with my other friend, Wendy Lawrence,

another NASA astronaut, and that was episode 62. And then lastly, we also mentioned my episode 64 with Caleb Aaron, who is currently on the ISS as I record this, but we'll be coming back at the end of April, early May. And lastly, we also talked about my episode with Victoria Humphries, who herself is a polar explorer. I'd highly encourage you to check out all four of those episodes if you haven't had a chance to listen to them yet.

And we have some amazing interviews coming up over the next few weeks, including my interview with Jordan Harbinger, Trisha Manning, Dr. David Yaden, Kathy Heller, Admiral Stavridas, Admiral Danielle Barrett, and so many other incredible guests. And if you're new to the show or you would just like to introduce it to a friend or family member, we now have episode starter packs, which are collections of your favorite episodes that we Organized by topic on both Spotify and our website. This gives any new listener a great way to get acquainted to everything We do here on the show. Just go to passionstruck.com slash starter packs to get started and if you'd like to see me Interview a specific guest. You can always reach out to me on Instagram,

at John Armiles, or on LinkedIn, at John Miles, and the same thing goes for a solo episode that you want to hear me talk about. Thank you again for choosing the show. Now, go out there and live life, passion struck. Thank you so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make passion go viral. And we do that by sharing with you the knowledge and skills that you need to unlock your hidden potential.

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