STS-114: Crew Interviews 1. Andy Thomas 2. Steve Robinson

STS-114 Mission Specialists, Andy Thomas and Steve Robinson, are seen in this pre-flight interview. Andy Thomas begins by talking about his interest in spaceflight as a young boy growing up in Australia. He expresses that the chances of an Australian boy studying to eventually become an astronaut was very remote. His Mechanical Engineering Degree in Australia and a Doctorate enabled him to acquire unique skills to come to the United States to work for Lockheed Martin. On the topic of return to flight, he reflects on experiences that he had working with the Michael Anderson and Kalpana Chawla of the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia. He also talks about the safety of the Space Shuttle Discovery and repairs to its Thermal Protection system. He explains in detail the Logistics Flight (LF) 1, spacewalks, Multipurpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and the External Stowage Platform (ESP)-2. Steve Robinson expresses that he had many interests as a child and becoming an astronaut was one of them. He was fascinated with things that fly and wanted to find out how they flew. He also designed hang gliders as a teenager. He expresses how his family feels about the risky business of spaceflight. He talks about how the space shuttle discovery crew will remember the Columbia crew by including seven stars on their patch so that they can bring them into orbit and then back home. Robinson also talks about his primary job, and the spacewalks that he and Soichi Noguchi will be performing.