Space Shuttle PILOT Gets Candid About Launch & Flight

[@AirplaneAcademy]

Hey guys - as mentioned in the video, you can join my new Insiders Newsletter at airplaneacademy.com/insiders for a once per week email with an important aviation lesson I've learned and how it can help you, links to my latest content, and behind the scenes!

[@sbkarajan]

If you look at Chinese and Russian astronauts, when they return to Earth after 5-15 day mission, they cannot stand or walk. If you look at US astronauts, space shuttle especially, after 15 day mission, they march out by themselves. Chinese or Russians cannot even get out of the reentry capsule by themselves, and carried by some medics. Americans jump out of the capsules, run out of Space Shuttle. Can you explain what the hell is going on?

[@MikeSealguitar]

What a legend. Great questions from the interviewer and inspiring answers from the interviewee.

[@markusburkhard5712]

Thought the same thing, the questions were extremely well thought out, and the answers with shiny eyes made it extremely pleasent to listen to and watch.

[@lewisndlovu7686]

It's enlightening to have pathfinders like these still alive.I call them 'our treasure '.Wonderfull interview!Thanks.

[@gcorriveau6864]

This is one of the best interviews of an astronaut I've seen because you are asking questions as a pilot; one pilot to another. Tom compared the shuttle landing to a dive bomb run - but I have no context for that. However, as an airline pilot I used to figure it seemed like doing an Emergency Descent maneuver right down to landing - without being allowed to touch the thrust levers!. Great interview. Thanks for posting.

[@gtm624]

Wow! This was insane! Thank you both!!! Loved this!!! Can’t wait for part 2! That last bit was 1000% spot on.

[@BrokenhornKT]

a Great Interview!!! the Good Sir gave so much Info about Space and being Human, Bravo !

[@jameshoopes6467]

Things I liked: 1. The woodpecker story. I never heard about that. 2. The dreams of being on earth. I always wondered about that. Great interview.

[@TimothyOBrien1958]

Years ago, because my Earth Science teacher in HS worked for NASA from the beginning to Apollo 15, we got to go into mockups of the Gemini. A few years ago, when Jim Lovell used to reply to emails, I asked him how he doffed the suit on Gemini 7. I was only 14 when I was in the mockup, and it was so freaking tight. He said that in zero-g, you floated and you could get out easier than in one-g.

[@user-cr6cy9fj7i]

This is truly the greatest interview I’ve ever seen on KZbin

[@haxi52]

I love that last comment. I really wish people could have a bigger picture of reality beyond their own backyard and realize we are all on the same spaceship.

[@Triple_J.1]

but the them, their god created the spaceship and he demands his peasants to conquer it by brute force and hatred of others.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Unfortunately, even though we are on the same spaceship, some people want more than others, so there will always be wars.

[@charlesblithfield6182]

What a great interview. The questions were just the ones I’d ask and the answers were extremely interesting. I’m checking out part 2.

[@rdaxthedog]

Fascinating interview with a charming guest. Well done on the sensible and interesting questions.

[@gunther4024]

Great job by the interviewer. He asked every question I was hoping he would ask, and his follow up questions were intuitive and smart. If he’s not currently doing this for a living, he should.

[@jeffherald8542]

Very good interview! I appreciate your questions, as well as his answers.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Awesome interview and what a privilege. For a guy who started a KZbin channel because he loves flying and aeroplanes, who's put in a lot of time and effort creating everything he has, it must still have been amazing, and humbling, to talk with an Astronaut of his calibre.

[@glennwatson]

Nice interview Charlie, so far so good.

[@constantinepapas6333]

Great interview! Nice to see an astronaut so eagerly answer questions in all honesty! Well done!

[@HaysClark]

If you are in Seattle you can experience just how small the Space Shuttle crew quarter is in person in the retired NASA trainer at the Museum of Flight.

[@MikeTheSeeker1961]

Just awesome to hear it all from someone who has seen it all and done it all

[@jcbattistoni]

What an absolutely outstanding video! Great questions, and great answers. Wonderful insights from the interviewer, which brought out fun, interesting, and insightful answers from Tom Hendricks. Just a truly wonderful interview! Ok, cutting this off, because part 2 is already out! Clicking now!

[@Fleetwoodjohn]

Totally fascinating 😎 Thanks for sharing your stories sir! 🚀🇺🇸

[@jmtaviation1975]

Wow, that was one of the best interviews I’ve watched, great questions and a cool dude answering 👍

[@chriswalker6396]

Thanks for this interview!

[@rvhorizons2528]

Cool! I went to the same high school as he did, he was 3 years ahead of me. I even worked with his sister at the Post Office. Thank you for your service Tom.

[@Matt-Holdren]

Phenomenal interview. I could listen to this forever. Great job.

[@hanswurst2490]

Extremely interesting. Extremely well story teller. Thank so much🖐️

[@marklottero5345]

That was a wonderful interview, i enjoyed his perspective very much 🎉

[@JeffR-sw1nt]

This was a fantastic and interesting video. Thank you for this. Looking forward to the next part

[@pmh1nic]

Wonderful interview!

[@TastyBusiness]

Fantastic interview, great insights to space flight from a seasoned astronaut.

[@brianthomas9254]

What a great interview! Thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you

[@MissilemanIII]

Great interview. Thanks to both of you.

[@chap666ish]

Damn, that was an interesting interview. I've been following the "space race" since the late '60s and yet I still heard a new perspective on being an astronaut. Thank you.

[@wonderdrummer]

Great interview! Looking forward to part 2

[@KevinSmithAviation]

Excellent interview Charlie. Keep up the excellent work. Safe skies my friend 🇺🇸🛩️

[@Ryan-mq2mi]

This is awesome. Thank you both for doing it. I know it's not possible now, but I was hoping you would talk about the living quarters. You talked about sleep and the bathroom which is great, but it's just so unique - especially these days, to have 7 people all living in that cabin for what was at least 18 days in one of his missions that he mentioned. I take the ISS for granted in that regard and while it's no Hilton and has space limitations, it's not anywhere near the shuttle cabin with 7 even up to 8 people. It's also tough to imagine getting work done, science experiments etc. I know there was 2 decks/levels to it, but the top deck was mainly just like a cockpit in an airplane IIRC so while there's two seats there, and I'm sure they were used, it really was all about the lower deck and the crew cabin. You look at something like Soyuz and when they get 3 in there it just looks miserable. Of course, you can get through a launch but I cant imagine them staying in space for any extended period of time. It makes me think 7 people is just too many and I don't see an advantage, EXCEPT if they essentially do what truckers do now, one drives one sleeps. So if they had 3-4 crew sleeping and they'd be nice and tucked away and 3-4 working, you're really only sharing space with a few others. I'm wondering if that's how they ran things. The Shuttle is an absolutely amazing machine and to put up to 8 people on any one rocket was totally unprecedented. It was it's own mini space station. EDIT: Actually, I wrote this a little premature> I was only half way through the video lol (I thought you had covered that topic and were moving on to others), but you just asked about claustrophobia - and that's essentially what I was looking for! Excellent job on this Interview, dude.

[@lght5548]

Such a great interview! 😃👍

[@davecondreay]

Absolutely awesome interview!

[@michaelmoore479]

I know landing at all of the airports in Texas is on your bucket list. When you fly to Rick Husband International Airport in Amarillo, go to the Flight Museum there. They have the Shuttle Trainer Rick Husband (Commander of Columbia STS-107) flew and will give you a tour of it. It’s pretty amazing to see the shuttle controls on one side and the normal aircraft controls on the other.

[@garyimmelman7059]

Great interview, I learned a lot!

[@cheeseman350]

Awesome interview. This was great.

[@merrittorius]

Incredible interview. Perfect questions.

[@darylseward573]

Awesome interview, thank you!

[@aliceklein9209]

What an excellent interview

[@dougstitt1652]

Great listen !

[@VictoriaAerial]

Nice thanks. Great to meet him.

[@Herman-zc7te]

I really enjoyed this episode 👏

[@mrjaycam18]

This was fantastic. Thanks so much.

[@timka018]

An AMAZING channel, I liked every second in this interview, all your questions it's just cleverly asked/prepared. Please more of this and wish ya all the luck.

[@AirplaneAcademy]

Thank you!!

[@GusHeck]

Nice interview!

[@craigw.scribner6490]

Great interview--thanks!

[@im_agine852]

That was a great video.👍

[@trevors6379]

I'm the guy who could totally back out on launch day, on the launch pad, while strapped in with the timer counting down. I mean, in reality, I'd never make it that far in the first place, but IF I did, then trust me, "well we've come this far.." is so not an argument that works on me lol Woodpeckers.. I cannot even begin to tell you how mad I would be to blow up because of some fucking woodpeckers..

[@maccamacca7762]

Great interview 👍

[@thevictoryoverhimself7298]

The naming of astronauts is super funny. The actual pilot is the "Commander". But if you've reached the elite level of pilots that makes you an astronaut, you dont want to be insulted with the title "Co-pilot". So you're "Pilot", despite not actually being tasked with piloting the vessel. "Payload specialist" you might think means "Specialist of the payload" but is just really a specialist who is payload.

[@jwflyaway]

Great video many thanks

[@LTV_inc]

Excellent! 😊

[@jamessimon3433]

This is insanely good

[@adamcorby804]

Nice looking Citation! Is that your dad’s?

[@machinesoftime3224]

"Every leader in the world should go to space." Wow. That's gold dust.

[@MikeyBoy9891]

Thanks for the insight on ancient technology

[@jonshellmusic]

I may have watched him land. My family and I watched the first mission after Challenger land at Edwards. Probably my earliest memory.

[@scottabelli3406]

I heard some astronaut said his biggest fear of going into space was hoping he did not screw up

[@tedthurgate]

The modified Gulfstream he mention was modified so they could use the thrust reversers in flight. To make the glide match the shuttle, it didn't glide with no engines. It glid with the the engines in reverse.

[@karlhungus1569]

So an Italian, a Spaniard, and a Frenchman walk into a space shuttle…

[@Saltfly]

They look at each other and decide to leave the Canadian out of the joke

[@ShadwTrooper]

😂

[@highflyerl23]

It's really like a mind meld Avatar style

[@francisbeaudry8598]

frome quebec justs amazing tanks so mutch

[@Uncleron1988]

After watching Mr Henricks interview just reassured me that we live in the greatest country in the world . Him and all the other pioneers in space are a true asset to all of us.

[@Ceusky]

Awesome

[@adventureairinc7355]

go out, fly and land a Lake Amphibian with no engine power and let me know if the approach is similar ;) thank you

[@Dr_GraysGhost_420]

Goes around the world in 90 minutes Wow! 😂

[@larrybremer4930]

All of these guys were braver than brave. He talked about 1 launch in 3 being on time but glossed over the 1 launch on 100 ending in disaster. How many people would go to work with a roughly 1% chance of not coming home. There were also many phases of launch where the abort modes were dubious at best until you reached a once around or abort to orbit. It was certainly time to retire the shuttle because the vehicles today have much better margins of safety.

[@okankyoto]

A good comparison is the official safety numbers for ascent and STS was around 1/90, mitigated by QC. The modern spacecraft numbers for ascent are Orion (1/300), Crew Dragon (1/270) and Starliner (1/290). The requirements have been 1/250 and all modern capsules have exceeded this thankfully! Apollo was figured as 1/25 using modern analysis.

[@larrybremer4930]

@@okankyoto I am shocked Apollo's numbers were even that high and I would really hate to contemplate Mercury and Geminis' odds of an LOCV accident.

[@markwentz8332]

Iwas watching a Hubble repair mission video a while ago and Story put it like this about the shuttle and it's stayed with me ever since! "It's like a butterfly bolted to a bullet"

[@Michael-rk8cl]

Good day sir, can anyone obtain a 'private pilot' license to fly or do I need to fulfill specific requirements?

[@haxi52]

KZbin doesn't like posting links, sorry. But you can search for "faa student pilot requirements" and get loads of information. Almost too much. You can also look for an online ground school for private pilots, most list the requirements for receiving your PPL. Good luck.

[@Michael-rk8cl]

@@haxi52 Thanks, buddy

[@glennwatson]

@@Michael-rk8cl not everyone can but a lot of people can. Way more than it first seems. Worth chatting to a flight school. Go up for a discovery flight. Explore getting your medical after that.

[@therandomytchannel4318]

I'm here after the Mike Finke and his Russian Soyuz spacecraft experience 😎

[@mikelastname]

A skydiving astronaut - that's optimism for ya!

[@markwebster8371]

"Every world leader should go to space...." Earth shaking, world changing advice.

[@MarvelousLXVII]

It's funny what he said about sleeping. Michael Collins, in his book, said he slept like a baby.

[@Ryan-mq2mi]

I'm curious if he flew with, or knew any of the 14 crew members from both disasters.

[@Saltfly]

We just went to Kennedy space center, and after going and seeing some of those rockets, and the Atlantis shuttle, I realized why the cram the astronauts way up in the very tip of the rocket. So there’s room in the back for the balls.

[@Ryan-mq2mi]

Pretty nerve racking that there were no "go around's" in this thing either. You had one chance and one chance only to stick the landing. You had to get there too - without any propulsion, essentially parachuting down because it basically got enough life to be able to come down softly, but it was always falling, there was never really any gliding lol

[@Howdy76]

IT'S All good until the thing flies apart. I was at the Cape when Challenger shelled out, and my second cousin lost his life in the Columbia disaster. I wish it was not so.

[@battz99]

I thought this was going to be all about Howard Wolowitz. I have to say I was a tad disappointed 😯

[@Craiglife777]

Fast forward 2024 and how we've digressed, NASA has gone from the Space Shuttle, to an $8 billion dollar piece of junk that is now stuck in space, that we can't even bring home. What an embracement.

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

Looks like Tom Poston.

[@RERE-pj3qw]

🤩😍🥰

[@senseisecurityschool9337]

Laying on my side in bed, wishing I could remove my shoulder, sleeping while floating sounds like it would be amazing.

[@aetherguy881]

Great political prospective! I approve!

[@Kevin-c2f]

Why was the wearing gloves during launch?

[@williamcase426]

U gotta go 2 space

[@obp6891]

Wonder what what kind of sleeping aids they took

[@conquestmedia2490]

Hectic

[@Hiram1000]

In space no-one can hear you Dream.

[@billyponsonby]

Ewoks rule, ok?

[@tonyb7748]

We should absolutely be teaching political borders. Our neighbors didn't fund his trips to space and us tax payers fund the FAA for commercial and private aviation. This guy is an absolute goat for NASA and the dreamy eyed left.

[@ericdavis1660]

Like political boarders, spacecraft are also man-made, and both serve important purposes which are by no measure, artificial.

[@Paul1958R]

NASA: No taxpayer dollar left unwasted. NASA: A taxpayer funded gravy train for NASA managers and contractors. Taxpayer screwed.

[@cdimmm]

there is no space shuttle.

[@slugmaster64]

You’re so brave

[@rohingosling]

A bit like how there's no brain in your skull.

[@cdimmm]

@@rohingosling there is a clown shuttle, that i know.

[@James-zp5po]

Space shuttles have never been to space and they are not gliders they have two jet engines at the tail to land with

[@scottabelli3406]

So you are an aeronautical engineer?

[@James-zp5po]

@@scottabelli3406 let's say I was an aeronautical engineer ok it's the aeronautical engineers that tell us that space shuttles go to space and space shuttles are a glider so I am definitely a giant leap above an aeronautical engineer you see space starts at 62 miles high and nothing has ever been to space because rockets can not produce thrust in a vacuum so the rocket just falls back down and you can see and hear the jet engines on the shuttles

[@Chatta-Ortega]

Keerist, another ridiculous conspiracy nutter.

[@pjmlegrande]

@@James-zp5poyou win! 100% wrong.

[@howardcroft3748]

You may be thinking of the Russian shuttle. It only flew once without a crew. It did have jets for assistance in landing.

[@jimmie999999999]

can you end up upside down in space, making the blood rush to your head?