071 | A Home out of This World with Susan Helms
Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms is Commander, 14th Air Force, Air Force Space Command and a NASA astronaut. Gen. Helms was selected by NASA in 1990, became an astronaut in 1991, and became NASA’s first US military woman in space when she joined the Space Shuttle Endeavour crew in 1993. Other missions she participated in include STS-64 in 1994, STS-78 in1996, and STS-101 in 2000. In 2001, Gen. Helms served as a crew member of the ISS Expedition 2 and relocated to the International Space Station to live and work for over five months. While participating in the expedition, Gen. Helms, along with fellow flight engineer James Voss, conducted a spacewalk that lasted for eight hours and 56 minutes—the longest on record.
Susan joins me today to share the details of living in the International Space Station—250 miles above the planet—and her experience being one of the first women to graduate from the United States Air Force Academy. She explains why engineering is a wonderful blend of creativity and math. You’ll also learn the principles of character and leadership that helped her rise to the rank of three-star general in the United States Air Force.
“It was absolutely freeing knowing that I didn’t have anything to worry about on Earth and could mentally move to space. The space station became my home.”
- Susan Helms
This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:
● The life of young Susan Helms
● The relationship between math and music
● How Gen. Helms became interested in becoming a US Air Force officer
● Preparing for the physical fitness test for the US Air Force Academy
● The male warrior culture and Gen. Helms’s first year at the US Air Force Academy
● Leadership insights Gen. Helms gained from her first year at the academy
● What led Gen. Helms to apply for NASA’s astronaut selection program
● Meeting astronauts Sally Ride and Richard Covey
● Gen. Helms’s impressions of NASA culture and office
● Her assignment at the International Space Station
● Her return to parent service after the International Space Station flight
● The power of asking questions
● Cultivating competence and how to handle the naysayers
Our Favorite Quotes:
● “Being someone of character even on bad days is the essence of leadership.” - Susan Helms
● “Always ask questions. Sometimes when they get above a certain rank, leaders don’t want to be viewed as someone who doesn’t have all the answers.” - Susan Helms
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.