NASA Astronaut Astronaut Cady Coleman on Mission, Motherhood & Lessons From Space

Cady Coleman is a NASA astronaut who retired as a colonel in the US Air Force, flew twice on the Space Shuttle Columbia, is a Chemist by trade. She departed the International Space Station in 2011 as a crew member of Expedition 27 after logging 159 days in space.

Her new book is called "SHARING SPACE: An astronauts guide to mission, wonder & making change." On today’s podcast, we are talking about fear, bravery and the courage it takes to leave your 10 year old child on earth…in order to fulfill a dream. When does a little girl’s fascination with astronauts transform into a mission to get off the planet? What has living in zero gravity taught Cady about control? And how did Cady manage to reach the height of a system that was not designed…literally or figuratively for her?

Well, if the space suit didn’t fit…Cady made it fit. If the mission was at stake…she found a way. And she's the first to say that the allies outnumbered anybody who ever tried to hold her back. In the end, she's one of a small handful of humanity who knows what it's like to wake up on the space station, and an even smaller portion that has the experience of startling awake because they heard someone up on the roof IN SPACE.

Ever wondered if the astronauts with delayed returns really consider themselves stranded? Ever imagined what’s the most disgusting thing about life in space? Ever thought about what it might be like to coparent when you're not even on the same planet?

You’ll have to listen to the end, to find out.

More on Cady Coleman, the book & the documentary: https://www.cadycoleman.com/film-space-the-longest-goodbye