The NASA Meatball and Space Suit

Colonel Nicole Man is here to talk about her space suit, and she starts by explaining the significance of the NASA logo and patches on her suit. "The meatball is our logo," she says, "and then there's the 100 days patch for every 157 days I spent in space, and finally, the Mack 25 patch for when we return to Earth traveling at 25 times the speed of sound." She also mentions that she brought a crew five patch with her on board, which flew with her on the space station. "I wanted you to treasure this," she says.

The Path to Becoming an Astronaut

Colonel Nicole Man shares her personal story of how she became an astronaut. "Absolutely agree, these days there's so much pressure put on kids," she says. "For me, I didn't have it all figured out. I knew it was important to get a great education, and then by doing that, opportunities opened up, and you might go in a direction and be like, 'What's not for me?' And you might change direction." She notes that many people consider becoming astronauts in their late 20s, after trying different things in their early years.

The Importance of Passion

Colonel Nicole Man emphasizes the importance of passion in choosing a career path. "Whatever they did before they came became an astronaut," she says, referring to her previous job and passions. "Their previous job was absolutely loved it, and were passionate about it." This is a common trait among astronauts, according to Colonel Nicole Man.

The International Space Station

Colonel Nicole Man talks about the International Space Station (ISS), which is a remarkable piece of equipment that she calls home for six months while traveling through space at 17,500 miles per hour. "It's an enormous piece of equipment," she says. "You're living in it for 6 months, hurling through space." She also mentions the Koopa module, which is on the belly of the ISS and has seven windows facing the planet.

A Typical Day on the ISS

Colonel Nicole Man shares what a typical day looks like on the ISS. "For six months, the day is lined out in 5-minute increments," she says. "There's a time to go to bed, a time to start the workday, and everything is scheduled." She explains that meal times are also carefully planned, with lunch and dinner scheduled around her workday.

Personal Interactions on the ISS

Colonel Nicole Man notes that human interaction is crucial for astronauts on the ISS. "We usually come together to have dinner as a crew," she says. "We laugh and talk and make jokes." She also mentions playing with food and water, which are both fun experiences in space.

The Re-Entry Experience

When Colonel Nicole Man returned to Earth, she experienced a thrilling re-entry into the atmosphere at Mach 25, or 25 times the speed of sound. "It felt like somebody was standing on my chest," she says. She also had to use her hands to lift up her head because they were experiencing 2.5 G-forces. The capsule was filled with sparks and plasma as it descended through the atmosphere.

The Landing and Re-Entry Experience

After landing off the coast of Florida, Colonel Nicole Man was picked up by SpaceX and taken on a boat to be recovered. She then took a helicopter over to Florida and finally returned to Houston by jet, where her family was waiting for her. "It felt like joyous," she says of being reunited with her family.

Coming Back Home

When Colonel Nicole Man came back home, the first thing she noticed was the smell of steak cooking on the grill. Her husband had cooked dinner, and it was amazing. She also shared that she missed cooking and would love to learn how to make scallops better.

Astronaut Life Hacks

Colonel Nicole Man jokingly asked if anyone could teach her how to make scallops. It's clear that astronaut life is not without its challenges, but Colonel Nicole Man is eager to share more about her experiences and lessons learned from her time in space.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI'm here with Colonel Nicole man and I have so much to ask you about but first tell me about your space suit uh so of course we first we have the NASA meatball the meatball the meatball is our logo and then the 100 days patch you have a milestone for every 100 days in space and I spent 157 days in space and then the mack 25 patch so when we return to Earth we're traveling at 25 times the speed of sound unbelievable and I'm glad you asked because why I brought you something a crew five patch so that flew with me in space and I wanted you I treasure thank you absolutely most people think that um when you're five you decide you want to be an astronaut and you don't really find your passion when you're five or it's very rare if you do absolutely agree and I I think you know these days there's so much pressure put on kids and for me I didn't have it all figured out I knew it was important to get a great education um and then by doing that these opportunities you know open up and you might go a direction and be like you know what that's not for me and and you might change direction so yeah it was later on in life my late 20s when I when I first you know considered really being an astronaut and that's actually when a lot of people do it because you try different things in your 20s yeah and you've had those life experiences and that's the one thing that I found that all astronauts have in common is whatever they did before they came became an astronaut their their previous job they absolutely loved it and were passionate about it so so tell me about the International Space Station what little I know is it's an enormous piece of equipment that you're living in for 6 months hurling through space at 17,500 M an hour what does that feel like are you aware of the movement um you when you go into the Koopa which is the module that's on the belly of the space station there's seven windows and that normally faces the planet that's the most incredible view to see the planet from space and so then you're very aware and because you're going around every 90 minutes you get a sunrise and a Sunset about every 45 minutes what an incredible experience what's a typical day in the space station is there a typical day I know we are on the tightest schedule that you can imagine really yes for six months for six months the day is lined out in in 5 minute increments so there's a time to go to bed a time to start the work day and everything is scheduled for you how do you organize meal times how does that work well your lunches is scheduled the work day is is 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and so before that you have breakfast and and dinner and we usually come together to have dinner as a crew and we laugh and and we talk and we make jokes and we talk about the day because it's important to have that human interaction what's fun to do on a space station that you can't do on earth oh my gosh everything water is fun um because you can put it on your hands it's like a gel or a goo or you can smash your face into it which is really fun to do um it's fun to play with food food and space I tell kids all the time okay it's the one place where you're allowed to play with your food and my sister um they have some visiting cargo vehicles and they can send some special food for you as a treat she surprised me and sent all the fixings for a Sherie board and we put that on our board and I used honey to try to make everything kind of stay down because as you move around it wants to float away it was so special it was really fun you did two space walks while you're on the space station tell me about them you know that first space walk we actually had a problem we had some mechanical interference with one of the struts and we couldn't get that installed and my husband and son were in mission control and they said no kidding it was like an Apollo 13 Moment Like Engineers were coming in with all the actual hardware and dumping on a table and be like okay we've got to figure this out you know and we came back in the door without completing the mission and it it was a horrible feeling to be honest it was been devastating one of the worst feelings you know and you because you think you start to doubt yourself like okay what could I've done better could I've been more efficient what could I've done differently two weeks later we went out the door with all these troubleshooting techniques and we eventually were successful in getting this Hardware and I mean we were cheering in space it was really really special we've all seen the capsule coming back to Earth coming through the atmosphere but what is it actually like when you're in that capsule you are literally a ball of Fire coming back to the planet we're moving at Mach 25 so 25 times faster than the speed of sound it feels like somebody's like standing on your chest oh I just got chills it's just so much pressure I had to use my hands to lift up my head cuz we're at 2 and 1/2 G's to look out the window and now it's just on fire with all these different colors and Sparks of plasma flying past you it's just incredible so we land off the coast of Florida yeah SpaceX picks the whole capsule up and puts it on a boat and then they pull everybody out we helicoptered over to Florida and then we took a jet back to Houston and your family's there waiting for you what what did it feel like to be home it must have been just joyous they let your family come on board so you can have kind of that first special moment together and your big hugs together and my son uh he was 10 when I launched and turned while I was on board and I told him okay you can't grow up while I'm gone I still want you to be a sweet little boy and be snuggly when I get back and he was that's just wonderful what was the first meal you had when you came back to Earth uh so my husband cooked steak just fill on the grill and broccolini and it was amazing and just the smell of the steak on the grill oh was incredible I love roasted broccolini roasted the best delicious little bit of lemon juice when it comes off perfect and one thing you didn't get to do a lot there is cooking I understand you'd like to learn how to make scallops better am I right oh my goodness absolutely scallops are so challenging you can I would love it I can't fly to space but I can show you make scallop I'll take it\n"