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Final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour

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    Former Astronaut Tom Jones on past, present and future of space program

  • Duration 3:24
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Thank you let's bring in a former astronaut who flew the thing or we wanted anyway well with Tom Jones flew on the -- endeavor not once but twice Tom it's great to see it.

Good to see -- how you feel about this.

While it's good to see my first patient this is -- the -- the ship that took me into space and they know it's great to see its career being highlighted here and I think they outpouring that a sentiment people coming out to -- -- -- Shows the depth of interest in space exploration and I think people are.

You know quietly yearning for something to take its place.

25 missions a 123 million miles those numbers are special day.

It's -- as -- I lived aboard endeavor for three weeks on my two -- it was my home in space that the ship that.

Took me into space and fulfilled my personal dream and the dream of so many other astronauts over -- 150.

And then it brought me home safely again in my family so there's a great sentimental time for me.

To us he -- coming to California and I think it's a great.

Thing for either the West Coast to have one of the touchdowns of America's exploration.

There -- visible -- you can get up close to him and take a new generation of exports to see.

You know that -- and why it's confusing these days and -- a lot of people are wanting there to be less government in more private enterprise.

What we've done with this program is taking -- sort of in many ways from the government and and said free market -- they'll take care of this and SpaceX is one of them and there are a lot of others and I wonder what you think of that transition.

Well I still think there's -- via combination a partnership between government efforts that are more ambitious than the commercial companies.

They're just gonna provide transport taxi service to the space station.

And that's a good thing to turn that over to them but we just cannot give away the ability to to put the United States on the front here.

Out -- the vicinity of the moon to the nearby asteroids and I think we have to make that happen sooner rather than later I think that's the only can they can keep up this interest that we're seeing.

Visible today and that Southern California and did the training stop you from being creeped out by that small small space -- just those few people for all those weeks that's the thing that I think -- never going to be able to figure out.

Well you over the course of your training you develop very strong friendships with your crews and I -- with.

A total of eleven other astronauts on endeavor and so those people control your life they they can save your life -- you are very very very close to them.

Those friendships will last a lifetime and if you ever get claustrophobic -- you just look out the window and you can see a thousand miles so it's it's easy to expand your mind out there in the states.

An astronaut who asked me not to not not to be attributed to him once said to me your entire.

-- perspective on life changes.

When you see the earth as that big of a window.

Did you -- that a lot of -- 120 miles up.

And it does make a huge impact on you when you first see your first sunrise in orbit.

Seeing this dark planet of ours and in the sun come breaking through the Verizon.

And lighting up the cabin lighting up your mind it is truly.

Human experience that can't be equal and I would urge everybody who can be a space tourist in the future I think that's coming should take advantage of that opportunity.

And it is it's like changing in the sense that you have never seen our home planet.

And our human race and the things that we build on the earth from that perspective what a privilege it was for me oh man.

Congratulations and thanks for being here you gonna be here with the through the hour to watch this thing land right.

I -- to stay with -- -- I hope you will thank you sir appreciate it.

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