Charlie Camarda: NASA astronaut and engineer (Space Shuttle mission STS-114)

Charles "Charlie" Camarda is an American engineer and NASA astronaut who flew into space aboard the Space Shuttle mission STS-114. He served as Senior Advisor for Engineering Development at NASA Langley Research Center and was a Senior Advisor for Innovation in the office of Chief Engineer at Johnson Space Center. In this episode, Charlie talks about the importance of high performing teams to solve complex challenges and we find out if Charlie really is afraid of heights (and enclosed spaces)! *Unfortunately the audio quality is not as good as we would like on this episode (and we're sorry), we are working on improving it!* 00:20 Intro to episode – it's astronaut time! 01:40 Welcome Charlie 02:20 How travel restrictions have effected the last year? 03:24 Charlie's story 06:15 Finding your passions & the power of internships 08:20 Ben waffles on for a bit 09:05 How confident was Charlie in astronaut application 11:30 What did Charlie's daughter say when daddy said he wanted to be an astronaut? 13:06 Claustrophobia AND afraid of heights? 14:55 What kept Charlie going through hard times 17:00 What was it like on the Shuttle? 19:43 Launch time – what's actually involved? 24:00 docking with the ISS 25:40 An EVA first 26:41 Did Charlie manage to sleep in space? 27:10 How did going to space change your perspective? 31:15 Importance of diversity in space industry 34:50 Would Charlie go to space again? 36:45 What was the landing really like? 38:50 The power of teams! 39:30 Outro 41:05 The intro music – Shout out to Clauss! You can download the track here https://cremeorganization.bandcamp.com/album/transit-creme-12-99 Social Media www.charliecamarda.com Twitter @charliecamarda Instagram @astrocharliecamarda Stay connected with us! Use #Astroben across various social media platforms to engage with us! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrobenpodcast/ Website (coming soon): www.astroben.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/gambleonit?lang=en Please subscribe and rate - Ad Astra!