It's almost like we were born to be in space

What inspired you to become an astronaut, and what was the turning point in your life when you knew this was the path you wanted to pursue?

Joseph Acaba: It was a very long journey for me to become an astronaut. I think the first inspiration came when my grandfather would show me old films of the astronauts as part of the Apollo programme, walking on the moon.

And I thought, wow. You know, that's that's very interesting. And then I really loved to read, a lot of science fiction type books. That kind of got my imagination, building and thinking about going in this space. But life takes you on different paths. And before I became an astronaut, I was working as a schoolteacher, teaching the middle school children math and science.

And at that point, NASA was looking to hire some educators to become a full time astronaut. So there wasn't one turning point that I said, hey, I'm going to go do this. But more of a journey. The different jobs that I had, the education that I had, and then having this great opportunity to, to go from being an educator to becoming an astronaut. So I've been very lucky.

You were selected as a NASA astronaut in 2004. What was the most challenging part of the selection process, and how did you prepare yourself?

Joseph Acaba: It is very difficult to become an astronaut because there are so many people that apply to become an astronaut, and very few are hired.

I think the most difficult part is trying to show how your experience might play, or might assist NASA, with you becoming an astronaut. The most challenging part was trying to show the experience that I had so that I could compete with everybody else that was applying. And, you know, it's a long process.

There are interviews. And then if you get lucky, they actually select you. And for me, I went from being a school teacher to becoming an astronaut, which means that now I'm a student again, because you have to learn everything that there is about becoming an astronaut.

What types of training do you undergo to prepare yourself for NASA space mission?

Joseph Acaba: To prepare yourself for NASA's space mission, the training is very difficult. When you are first hired, you are called an astronaut candidate. And so you get ready to be able to go to space. And that training is about two years long, and you learn basic skills and you learn how to do a spacewalk.

You learn how to fly the robotic arm. We have to learn how to fly in a high performance jet, because that gives us some of the skills that we need to be an astronaut. The communication, making decisions in a very short period of time. And so you do that for two years, and then after that, they can then assign you to a spaceflight mission, and then that training is another 18 months.

And so it's almost four years of training for you to be ready to go on your your first spaceflight mission.

You’ve had multiple space missions—306 days in space on three missions—including two space shuttle missions and a staying aboard the International Space Station (ISS). What were the most memorable moments during your time in space?

Joseph Acaba: Going to space is wonderful. And I have a lot of memorable moments. One of my favourite was on my very first flight on the space shuttle. You leave Earth, the space shuttle is vibrating. You know, you've trained for it. You were in simulators, but now you're living it for real.

And so that was a great moment. And then you get to space 8.5 minutes later. The first time that I saw the space station, this huge laboratory home that we have built in space was absolutely incredible. So that's probably one of my first memories of being in space. Floating in space is amazing.

Looking out the window at our beautiful planet, those are all memories that I will never forget. Was I frightened? I was definitely excited. Especially during launch. It's a very exciting time. It's probably the the riskiest part of our mission. And so I'm sure my heart rate was a little bit high.

Were you afraid?

Joseph Acaba: It's not really fear. It's more of excitement. You had all of the training. And so you're ready to conduct the mission. The first spacewalk, I will admit, when I went out the door to go from the space station out into space, there was a little bit of fear for the first minute or so.

And then your training begins and everything that you learned, and then you just go and do the job. So it's more of an excitement than fear.

During your missions, what were the most challenging aspects of spacewalks, your experiences and feelings?

Joseph Acaba: So in Houston, Texas and the United States, we have a really, really big swimming pool. And in that swimming pool, we have a model of the space station. It has all of the same handrails that we hold on to, all of the equipment that we are going to, interact with And so you train over and over, with that prior to doing this spacewalk.

So that is very helpful. But it is it's difficult. We train we go underwater at around nine in the morning. And then we come back up at three in the afternoon. So you're underwater for about six hours, without any food. You have a little bit of water. And then when you do, a real spacewalk, the hardest thing is that you have to focus on everything you do for those 6 or 7 hours that you do a spacewalk.

And it's, a lot of preparation. But that preparation makes you successful when you have to conduct one.

What kind of experiments or research were you involved with during your time on the International Space Station?

Joseph Acaba: Part of that science is to do activities that make life on Earth better. So we do a lot of experiments working with scientists on the ground to come up with new technologies, that we can use here on Earth. And the other part is to learn how can we explore more? How can how can we learn to go to the moon, to go on to Mars?

And so for me, one of my most memorable experiments was growing plants in space. That was fun. You take the seed and then you water it, and you document its growth. And we were actually able to grow, three different types of lettuce. We were able to harvest that and then eat that food.

But that's super important when we want to go back to the moon, if we want to go to Mars, we're going to have to learn how to grow our own food. So that was a really important experiment. But we are doing a lot, learning about the human body, working at the cellular level to make new medicines that we can use here on Earth.

So there's just a lot of great science that for us as astronauts, that's our primary job. You know, we are the the ears, the eyes and the hands of the scientists that are back here on Earth.

Sitting on the International Space Station and researching. How did you felt?

Joseph Acaba: It's great to be up at the space station conducting science. Knowing that, you know, you're a small part of a big team that is really making advancements in technology, in medicine. And, as a previous schoolteacher, we do a lot of interactions with students, to inspire students. And so, you know, as a person, it is an honour to be up there and to be part of what we are doing on the space station, knowing that what we learn there is going to help everybody back here on Earth, and it's going to help us explore more.

What was it like to experience weightlessness for the first time, and how did it feel when you adjusted to living and working in microgravity?

Joseph Acaba: Going to space is one of the most incredible things. When you launch from Earth, you push off Earth with the rockets, and it only takes 8.5 minutes, and you go from being on Earth with gravity to now you're in space and you're going around the Earth.

You feel like you're weightless. And that's what we call the microgravity environment on the space shuttle. It's fairly small. And so once you get there, you have your seat belt on. The first time you let it go and you start to float. It's just, absolutely amazing. And then when you get to the space station, that is a very, very big laboratory.

Now you can just float across entire modules. You almost feel like a superhero because you can it's like you can fly. And I was talking to students today and they're all, yeah, we love Spiderman. And when you're in space, you know, you can just jump off of the floor. You can hang on to the wall, you can jump up to the ceiling.

And it all feels very normal. So the adaptation, it takes about a day for your body to go. This is different than being on Earth and within a matter of a day or two. It's almost like we were born to be in space. You just learn how to move your body. You know how to float around. It has challenges working with tools, but that adaptation, it's fairly quick and your body has to adjust.

But, we do a really good job as human beings, living and working in space.

NASA is working on plans for Mars exploration. How do you think we will overcome the challenges of long-duration space travel?

Joseph Acaba: I think we will overcome the challenges of a long duration space struggle. Long duration space travel definitely is going to have some challenges. As part of the Artemis programme, we're working on going back to the moon so that ultimately we can get to Mars.

And there are quite a few challenges. The life support systems we need to ensure those are going to work. And the journey to get to Mars is going to be about a six month journey. Or like I told you, when we go to the space station, eight minutes, you get to space within a day, you're on the space station.

If we're going to go to the moon, that's maybe, three days to get there. But now when we go to Mars, that's so much farther. One of the big challenges is going to be radiation and how we protect the human body. So I think we we still have some work to do there. And it is it is going to be very, very difficult.

But we are working together with many different countries. We are bringing different dots together. And I think together, you know, as humanity, we will be able to overcome those challenges. But it is going to be difficult. But I know we are going to get there.

Do you have any changes in yourself returning to earth from space?

Joseph Acaba: Yeah. Returning to Earth can be, challenging. And while we're living in space, we workout, we do exercises for about two hours every day. We have what's called a resistive exercise device, and it feels like you are lifting weights. And so we do that for about an hour every day, which is really good. And so that helps with our muscles to keep our muscles strong while we are floating in space.

We also have a treadmill, which is interesting, running in space where you have, bungee cords that will hold you to the treadmill so we can run. And we also have a stationary bicycle. And that helps our cardiovascular system. It helps with our bone density. And so when you come back from space, if you don't exercise, it will impact your muscle strength and your bone density.

When you first come back and you feel gravity for the first time in six months, your head feels very heavy. Just lifting your arms, is difficult. And you think to yourself, how do human beings live on Earth? And so there is a period of adaptation. And so for the first couple of days it's somewhat difficult.

And we do exercises, rehabilitation for the first 45 days to help us get back to, living on earth.

Looking back at your career, what advice would you give to young people who aspire to become astronauts or pursue careers in space exploration?

Joseph Acaba: When I talk to students, my biggest recommendation for them is to find a career that you really love, that you are very passionate about, and then work really hard.

And when you love your career, when you're passionate about it, it's almost like it's not work and you are doing something that you feel good about, and it's almost like you're not working. So I tell them, find that career as astronauts. My background's in geology. We have geologists, we have medical doctors, we have physicist engineers, we have pilots.

So we have a range of people and when we explore space, you need to have a very diverse team. And so there's not one career that is more important than another. So be passionate about what you do, work really hard and make sure you have fun along the way. And there are lots of opportunity, if you know, it could be going to space.

But, you know, it's the engineers, it's the scientists, it's everybody, and it's together that we go to explore.

Is there any opportunity for non-US citizens to become a NASA astronaut? If so, how could a Bangladeshi work with NASA?

Joseph Acaba: There are lots of opportunities for non-US citizens to work with NASA. To be a NASA astronaut, you do have to be a US citizen.

But there are other jobs at NASA in which we do hire people that are not US citizens. So lots of opportunities there, to be involved, but they're also becoming more opportunities for private astronauts and for other countries that are working towards having their citizens go up to space.

And so for NASA, to be a NASA astronaut, it is a US citizen. But I believe there are going to be a lot more opportunities. And if there are students here in Bangladesh that want to become an astronaut, this is an exciting time. And, you know, again, do something that you love and you never know, when these opportunities will arise.

Would you explain opportunities for you being an astronaut?

Joseph Acaba: In Bangladesh I've been working with some of my other colleagues that are here working with students that are involved with NASA challenges, and they are participating with students around the world. They're doing very well. They're winning prizes. But when you look at all of the work that NASA does, there are many opportunities.

And, you know, I do hope that your country can become a partner with NASA and others and become part of the Artemis programme as a whole. And together, I'm hoping there will be more opportunities for your students.