1. How many G's do you think
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2. the human being can survive?
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3. For reference,
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4. 1g is what you experience
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5. at sea level on Earth.
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6. A space shuttle at launch
and reentry has 3g's.
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7. Military jets max at 9 to 10.
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8. What do you think?
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9. The answer is...
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10. 46.2g's.
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11. In 1954,
John Stapp experienced 46.2g's
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12. and survived.
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13. He was participating
in an Air Force experiment
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14. and strapped himself
to a rocket sled
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15. in the Mojave Desert.
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16. No one has ever sat harder.
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17. On that particular run,
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18. Stapp went faster than expected,
and when he stopped,
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19. they were certain
they'd find him dead.
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20. But he was mostly okay.
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21. Every single blood vessel
in his eyes had burst,
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22. but incredibly
not the eyes themselves.
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23. And eventually,
he regained his sight
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24. and proof that humans
were more durable
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25. than previously thought.
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26. Fortunately, there is no one
on board
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27. Josh Melsky's drone
last Saturday,
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28. when I went with he and Mike
to fly it.
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29. They asked for a ride because
Mike can't drive right now.
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30. But also said they'd help
get an aerial photo
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31. of my grandmother's house
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32. for the real estate listing.
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33. This was the moment
when Mike told Josh
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34. he should try to fly the drone
into the Sun
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35. and Josh got pissed off.
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36. I won't give the play-by-play
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37. of my neighbors' argument,
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38. but they ended up going
for breakfast as a Kris Mart
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39. and letting me fly.
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40. Here's a question for you.
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41. Should I use the money
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42. from selling
my grandmother's house
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43. to buy a hot air balloon.
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44. Drift around on weekends.
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45. Yell your answer up to the sky,
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46. where I will be.
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47. I wish.
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48. A lot of people think
that "The Wizard of Oz"
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49. had a happy ending,
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50. but not me,
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51. because Dorothy missed out
on the opportunity
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52. to take a hot air balloon ride.
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53. "Willy Wonka" is a better film,
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54. 'cause they end up in the sky.
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55. That's how good fantasies go.
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56. Up to the sky.
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57. In all of the best dreams,
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58. we're able to leave the ground.
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59. Way back, there were dinosaurs
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60. who had this dream, as well.
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61. Instead of getting bigger
and more aggressive,
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62. they decided that the best way
to survive was to go up
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63. and figured out a way to jump
and not come down.
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64. And these became birds —
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65. mostly peaceful things
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66. with little brains
and beautiful songs.
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67. Not the flight made
all birds peaceful,
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68. but I think
the perspective helps.
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69. Plus, they know they can BM
on anything they'd like.
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70. I wonder what the world
would be like
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71. if everyone spent
two hours a day
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72. in a hot air balloon?
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73. Are you alright?
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74. Yeah.
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75. Just looking
through the footage
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76. we shot last weekend.
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77. Do you want to see?
I'll cue it up for you?
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78. Hold on. Just...
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79. You didn't hear anything
outside, did you?
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80. I don't think so.
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81. Okay.
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82. Yeah, I'll check
your video out in a few.
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83. Okay.
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84. Let me know.
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85. Sarah was overtaken
by another bad feeling
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86. and wanted to leave town again.
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87. But it was too cold to camp.
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88. So we did the only other thing
that would make her comfortable
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89. and locked ourselves in
down here in her basement.
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90. I figured showing her
this footage
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91. may help alleviate some worry.
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92. If you want to fly yourself,
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93. K. I. Sawyer Airport
is 20 minutes away in Gwinn.
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94. It's a regular airport now,
but for many years,
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95. there was an Air Force base
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96. that housed jets
to intercept Soviet bombers
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97. we feared would fly over Canada
to attack us.
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98. It was also home
to Strategic Air Command,
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99. which kept B-52 bombers
in the air at all times
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100. in case we needed to fly
over Canada to attack them.
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101. Wild that atom bombs were
coming and going regularly
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102. just 20 minutes from my house
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103. and disappointing to learn
that to build the runways,
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104. they paved over one
of the best blueberry patches
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105. in the state.
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106. Shit.
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107. In a twist of irony,
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108. an old Soviet tanker was forced
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109. to land at the airport in 2009
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110. and has been
parked there ever since.
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111. A story for another time.
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112. But if you're into stuff
like that,
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113. Sarah found that to the East,
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114. there's a large
concrete triangle
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115. in the middle of
Hiawatha National Forest.
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116. If you look on the website
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117. Abandoned and Little
Known Airfields,
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118. you'll find out
that it's an airfield built
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119. to protect Great Lake shipping
during World War II.
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120. Out of use now, it's just
another interesting thing
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121. you would never notice
from the ground.
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122. I wonder if the higher up we go,
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123. the calmer we will feel.
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124. What do you think?
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125. I've never been on an airplane,
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126. so I can't say for sure.
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127. But the other day,
Gene was telling me
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128. about the overview effect,
which might support that.
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129. The overview effect
is a term they give
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130. to a shift in awareness
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131. astronauts described after
feeling Earth from space.
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132. Hard to put to words,
but generally,
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133. they say a greater understanding
of our planet
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134. as a fragile ball of life
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135. and appreciation
for how precious things are,
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136. and also that borders
are chowder brained.
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137. I've been thinking,
the more people
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138. we can get to experience
the overview effect, the better.
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139. It makes it more likely
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140. that we can avoid
the dystopian future depicted
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141. in Ridley Scott's "Alien"
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142. or Ridley Scott's
"Blade Runner."
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143. By the way, Joe,
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144. I can't wait to show you
what had been working on.
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145. It's not quite finished,
but should be soon.
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146. How's your chair coming?
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147. Still figuring it out.
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148. There are a lot of aspects
to consider.
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149. You'll find a way.
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150. Hey, Sarah.
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151. Yeah.
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152. You want to watch
the footage now?
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153. Joe, I'm sorry.
I'm not in the mood?
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154. It's okay.
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155. Um, can you, at least,
help me do a ham radio call.
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156. Alright.
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157. What's the call sign?
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158. A...
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159. R-I-S-S.
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160. Come on.
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161. I'm serious.
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162. There's no way
you're getting in touch
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163. with the International
Space Station.
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164. It'll be fun to try.
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165. Okay.
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166. Can we try this one?
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167. I-A-3-R-1-W.
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168. Who is that?
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169. Lance Bass from NSYNC.
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170. I'm just kidding,
but he is a ham radio user.
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171. Oh, who is this?
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172. Hello? Hello?
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173. Hello.
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174. Is this Italian astronaut
Major Paolo Nespoli?
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175. Speaking.
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176. This is Italian astronaut
Paolo Nespoli,
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177. from Houston.
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178. Hello, Paolo.
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179. This is Joel
from the U.P.
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180. I'm in my girlfriend,
Sarah's, basement,
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181. and she's here too.
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182. Hi, Joe. Hi, Sarah.
It's nice talking to you.
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183. If you have some questions,
of course, about space,
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184. because that's all I know,
go ahead and shoot them?
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185. What is the most amount of G's
you've experienced?
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186. Well, I have experienced
8g's in the centrifuge.
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187. Well,
what did that feel like?
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188. Well, it's pretty hard.
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189. You're a pretty tall guy.
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190. What is that like
as an astronaut?
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191. Well, yes,
I had the record
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192. of being the tallest guy
ever flew on theSoyuz.
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193. And you get taller
once you go to space.
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194. You get taller.
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195. I was about almost
3 inches taller.
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196. Yes, because the spine
elongates, and you grow.
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197. Alright. I'm 5'2".
Would that be good astronaut?
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198. Or what's the best size
for an astronaut?
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199. Well, I've thought
about it several times
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200. and it's kind of strange
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201. because if you
take the ideal astronaut,
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202. you need to find a person
without legs,
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203. because
you're not using it.
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204. Did you have any trouble
sleeping in space?
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205. Actually, space was probably
the time when I slept the best
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206. because no kids around,
no lights, no noises.
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207. Everybody is sleeping
and so nothing to disturb you.
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208. So I slept like a baby.
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209. Was there anything
you did to relax
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210. while on
the space station?
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211. But actually, you know,
I am kind of a strange guy.
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212. In my house,
I don't have a TV.
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213. So when I start the flight,
I felt the need to relax,
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214. and everybody was talking
about these shows
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215. that I never really saw it.
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216. And in space,
there's a very good library
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217. and there were all
the seasons of this TV show.
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218. So I started looking at that.
I think that relaxed me.
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219. I got into it,
and I really like.
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220. That's what I did
on my last mission.
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221. If you don't mind me asking,
which show was it?
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222. "Game of Thrones."
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