046 | At the Oscars with George Lucas
I never missed an episode of Star Trek when I was young. I grew up watching Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the Starship Enterprise while they explored the universe and defended the Federation. I also loved the Star Wars films and distinctly remember watching the starfighter combat and how Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star with photon torpedoes. But never had I imagined while watching them that I would someday fly in space, much less that one of my missions would involve photon torpedoes and presenting an Oscar to George Lucas himself.
Well, not really photon torpedoes, of course, but something close enough—if not more fascinating.
In this episode, you’ll hear about my Oscar turn with George Lucas and some of my most treasured memories from my third mission in space. I explain how we prepared to present an Oscar to George Lucas while in orbit. I also reveal why sentences ending in “that” are forbidden in spaceflight and share the beauty of experiencing science.
“You can’t help but think of Star Wars when you get to present an Oscar to George Lucas, and we were definitely thinking of it when the time came to power up our electron beam experiment.” - Kathy Sullivan
This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:
● Stowing George Lucas’s Oscar aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis
● Our electron beam experiment and one of the most sacred rules of spaceflight
● Maxwell’s equation and the beauty of experiencing science
Our Favorite Quotes:
● “Understanding an equation intellectually is one thing; seeing the behavior with your own eyes as you soar hundreds of miles above a planet at 17,500 miles an hour—that’s quite another thing.” - Kathy Sullivan
● “One of the most sacred rules of spaceflight: there shall be no sentences ending in the word ‘that.’ Such a sentence is guaranteed to give a heart attack to every crewmember who can’t see whatever portents of impending doom triggered your outburst.” - Kathy Sullivan
Steven Spielberg and the crew of presenting George Lucas with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 64th Academy Awards® in 1992.
From National Space Society: https://space.nss.org/space-shuttle-flight-46-sts-45-post-flight-presentation-video/
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.