Twin brothers and former NASA astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly have each flown four missions and were part of NASA’s twin study to research the impact of spaceflight on the human body.
Hours before Thursday’s SpaceX launch, they spoke to “CBS Mornings” about NASA cuts, the challenges of being at the International Space Station and the spaceflight.
NASA is set to lose 20% of its workforce as part of the president’s efforts to cut spending. Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democratic lawmaker from Arizona, said he’s been working with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about the path forward for NASA.
Duffy is also serving as the temporary NASA administrator after the White House pulled the nomination earlier this month for billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who was backed by Elon Musk.
“We always want to retain the best people. That’s critical to any program across government, but also in the private sector,” the senator said. “Often projects and programs and agencies have to undergo some change. I think this is a time with some change right now, but NASA is a resilient and innovative agency.”
Next year, the Artemis II mission is scheduled to take astronauts around the moon.
SpaceX Crew Dragon flight
NASA is launching a fresh crew to the International Space Station around 12:09 p.m. ET Thursday aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. That time is roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carries the Falcon 9 rocket into alignment with the space station’s orbit. The crew includes three fliers who were assigned to the flight after NASA ran into issues with Boeing’s troubled Starliner capsule last year.
Aboard Thursday’s SpaceX flight is Col. Michael Fincke, a former crewmate of Mark Kelly.
“Mike and my brother and I, we were all classmates. Got to NASA in 1996,” Mark Kelly said.
Fincke and Mark Kelly were both on the space shuttle Endeavour’s final mission.
“Now this is the next time he’s going back into space 14 years later. So I just had to be here, to be here for him and his family and watch him launch up to the space station just one more time,” Mark Kelly said.
He admitted laughingly that he is a little jealous, saying, “you go from zero to 17,500 miles per hour in about 8 minutes and then dock with this incredible space station on orbit. It is an experience like none other.”
There is currently no date scheduled for the SpaceX Dragon Crew to return.
Scott Kelly said the most challenging part of being at the ISS is being separated “from everything that Earth has to offer.”
“Earth’s an amazing planet and you are separated from the … weather, you are separated from your family. You are separated from all these things that you hold dear,” he said.
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