![\"Bob](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/bobhines-fon-52257560772-244c61aeef-k.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cI have been interested in aviation for as long as I can remember. There are pictures of me at two years old and younger with my face pinned against the window, watching airplanes taxi around the airport. I had never not known that I wanted to be a pilot. The amazing engineering that goes into [airplanes], but certainly the freedom of flight is just spectacular. Being able to see the world from a different perspective is incredible, and getting to fly in space was the culmination of that, seeing the world from an entirely new vantage point.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that surprised me was how emotional the launch piece is, especially for a first-time flier. One, it\u2019s the culmination of these lifehood dreams where it\u2019s taken so long to get here, and you\u2019re finally getting to launch to space, which so few people have the privilege to do. Then, for a long-duration mission, you\u2019re leaving your family and kids behind, and there\u2019s that emotion as well. So, all those things piled up, it just makes for an incredibly special experience, and it\u2019s amazing because eight and a half minutes later, after that engine lights, you\u2019re in space, and you look back on it.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 Bob Hines, Astronaut, NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center<\/p>\n
Image Credit: NASA \/ Kjell Lindgren Check out some of our other Faces of NASA.<\/a><\/p>\n Powered by WPeMatico<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n Get The Details…<\/a> \u201cI have been interested in aviation for as long as I can remember. There are pictures of me at two years old and younger with my face pinned against the window, watching airplanes taxi around the airport. I had never not known that I wanted to be a pilot. The amazing engineering that goes into [\u2026] Continue reading
Interviewer: NASA \/ Tahira Allen<\/em><\/p>\n
\nMichelle Zajac <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"