When I was young, I wasn’t one to utter the sentence “When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut!” I was fascinated by other things—geography, maps, and languages—and studied foreign languages, oceanography, and geology in college and beyond. You might think that sounds like an odd background for an astronaut, but astronauts come from a wider range of professional experience than most people recognize. So, how exactly did I go from being a marine biologist by trade to joining the NASA Astronaut Corps?

In this episode, I outline my journey from earth science to space exploration and my secret sauce to getting accepted into NASA’s Astronaut Corps. You’ll learn what it takes for someone to get interviewed by NASA’s astronaut selection team. I explain how NASA’s astronaut selection team works and describe how competitive the application process is. You’ll hear about my interest in foreign languages and exploration as a child and how I became passionate about oceanography. I also underscore the importance of situational awareness skills and highlight the mindset and attitude critical to whatever you’re doing in life—whether it’s on Earth or in space.

“My secret sauce was that natural matter-of-fact, get-it-done, complete-the-mission attitude. My story spoke to an ability to be disciplined about carrying out a plan but alert to recognize when it’s not working—and then quick to adapt to the new circumstances.” - Kathy Sullivan

This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:

• NASA’s competitive astronaut selection process
• How the burgeoning commercial space industry may change astronaut selection
• The US/Soviet space race and the first human to orbit Earth
• How I became interested in oceanography, geology, and foreign languages as a child
• Transitioning from my marine geology career to NASA’s space exploration program
• How my ocean research expeditions may have helped my NASA astronaut application
• The two ways to screw up a procedure and the mindset critical to every astronaut

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “This is what astronaut training is about: honing your situational awareness skills and developing a deep understanding of the assumptions and circumstances that every plan and every procedure is based on.” - Kathy Sullivan
• “There are only two ways to screw up a procedure: one, is to fail to execute it exactly as written; the other is to execute it exactly as written, meaning that when some changes of circumstance have rendered your plan or procedure void, you can’t just carry it out originally the way you wrote it” - Kathy Sullivan

Spaceship Not Required

I’m Kathy Sullivan, the only person to have walked in space and gone to the deepest point in the ocean.

I’m an explorer, and that doesn’t always have to involve going to some remote or exotic place. It simply requires a commitment to put curiosity into action.

In this podcast, you can explore, reflecting on lessons learned from life so far and from my brilliant and ever-inquisitive guests. We explore together in this very moment from right where you are--spaceship not required.

Welcome to Kathy Sullivan Explores.

Visit my website at kathysullivanexplores.com to sign up for seven astronaut tips to improve your life on earth and be the first to discover future episodes and learn about more exciting adventures!

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