C-SPAN Interview with Charles Bolden
“Charles Bolden talked about his experiences as an astronaut and his current duties as NASA administrator.?He discussed some of the more than 100 missions he flew over North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during his career as a Marine pilot flying the A-6 Intruder.?He recounted the improbability of an African American being accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy in a time of racial segregation in his home state of South Carolina.?He spoke about his final mission into space and the unlikely friendships that he developed with the two Russian astronauts who flew with him.?Other topics included the NASA budget, the space shuttle program, and the international space station.”
Dear Mr. Bolden,
Sir, first and foremost, your interview fascinated me from beginning to end as there is nothing more thought provoking than space exploration.
You alluded briefly to upcoming missions to Jupiter and Pluto. In particular, I am intrigued by the Mission New Horizons in that it will enable us to observe first-hand the Kuiper Belt object with which we are most familiar. The mission is long overdue; what a pity this destination was not integrated into one of the Voyager missions.
Based on a number of significant recent discoveries regarding the Pluto-Charon system, I have read that the presence of additional satellites gives rise to much speculation about the likely presence of potentially hazardous debris around the system.
At this time, do you have some basic idea about the degree to which probe trajectory will have to be altered in order to avoid a collision with said debris? If so, how will the new adjusted approach affect mission objectives overall?
Thank you for your attention and the insightful interview!
Best regards,
Richard Fitzpatrick
Spanish Lecturer,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville