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Hank Talks to NASA About the Space Shuttle

2011-07-11 · collab / interview · Hank, Charles Bolden, Robert D. Braun, Mike Massimino, Lori Garver · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, guest or collab

Hank likens the end of the Space Shuttle program to the end of Seinfeld, relays NASA officials on Soyuz launches, commercial crew vehicles and deep-space goals, and argues that human space exploration is a generations-long endeavour that may be his generation's great legacy.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Asked how he feels about the end of the shuttle, Hank compares it to the end of Seinfeld; what is the next 30 Rock? He introduces his NASA interviews

  • ★★★ Asked how he feels about the end of crewed space exploration with the final shuttle launch, Hank compares it to Seinfeld ending: maybe the best program of its time. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Hank says that as new sitcoms such as 30 Rock, The Office and Parks and Rec replaced Seinfeld, the shuttle's time is done; the question is what replaces it ('what is our 30 Rock'). — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says he got to ask questions via video of people at NASA, including administrator Charlie Bolden. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — NASA officials answer: Soyuz from Baikonur, US commercial vehicles in a race, deep space next, faster rockets; Mike Massimino at VidCon

  • ★★ Charles Bolden: A NASA voice (apparently Bolden) says astronauts will reach the space station as almost entirely since the Columbia accident: on Soyuz from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. — 00:00:58
  • ★ Hank calls relying on Soyuz not ideal and asks what comes next, given Soyuz will be used for the foreseeable future. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Robert D. Braun: Bobby Braun says a whole host of American vehicles, being designed now by competing US companies, will carry American crews; he cannot say which will fly. — 00:01:28
  • ★★★ Robert D. Braun: A NASA voice (apparently Braun) says NASA will turn its attention to deep space, places not visited before, while low orbit remains a fantastic laboratory. — 00:01:57
  • ★★ Mike Massimino says the first thing he wants is faster rockets with more powerful engines to get beyond low orbit and further into the solar system. — 00:02:26
  • ★ Hank notes, playfully stressing the coincidence, that Massimino is speaking at VidCon about social media and outer space. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:26 · VidCon

00:02:55 — Hank on why exploration excites him: built for Earth but built to explore, a generations-long legacy; Lori Garver's final word

  • ★★★ Hank struggles to explain his excitement: humans, created by and built for Earth, are just poking their noses out of the pond, drawn out by an instinct for awesome. — 00:02:55 · curiosity
  • ★★★ Hank says solar-system exploration is measured in decades or generations, not fiscal quarters, and is not done just for us, which he finds beautiful. — 00:02:55

  • ★★★ Hank says the science needed is massive, but we undertake it because, though built for Earth, we were also built to explore. — 00:03:24 · curiosity

    “We're a slave to the awesome.”

  • ★★★ Hank says NASA's crewed exploration program might become one of his generation's most significant legacies for humankind. (hedged) — 00:03:24

  • ★ Lori Garver gives the final word: NASA is excited about the future and is all about increasing the awesome. (playful) — 00:03:24

00:03:54 — Garver's punchline 'the awesome' and sign-off

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank says he grew up in Orlando regularly watching the shuttle take off, and it had a huge effect on him. — video description
  • ★★ Hank says NASA has clearly embraced the spirit of Nerdfighteria, which means a great deal to him; he thanks NASA for understanding the community and Nerdfighteria for being awesome, noting that Charlie Bolden's boss is Barack Obama. — video description · Nerdfighteria, Barack Obama

Threads in this video

  • restate · Is space exploration worth the cost? — Hank argues crewed space exploration is a generations-long human endeavour that might be one of his generation's most significant legacies. (00:03:24)
  • milestone · VidCon 2011 edition — Hank notes that astronaut Mike Massimino is speaking at VidCon 2011 about social media and outer space. (00:02:26)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: NASA · Space Shuttle program

Also: People: Charles Bolden · Lori Garver · Mike Massimino · Robert D. Braun

Projects: VidCon

Works: 30 Rock · Parks and Recreation · Seinfeld · The Office (American TV series)

Concepts: curiosity

Places: Baikonur Cosmodrome · International Space Station · Kazakhstan · Russia

Events: Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

Products: Soyuz (spacecraft) · Space Shuttle

Only in the description or credits: Barack Obama · Conan (talk show) · Orlando, Florida

Also centred on NASA: NASA: Increasing Awesome · It's HANKO DE MAYO!!!!!

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