Astronaut Scott Parazynski speaks at Performing Arts Center
Approximately 600 people of all ages filled Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center for the return of its distinguished lecture series on Oct. 12. The series has been renamed TuscTalks.
Astronaut and emergency room doctor Scott Parazynski kept the crowd engaged with a powerful presentation of his adventures as an astronaut and the first and only astronaut to have climbed Mt. Everest. Parazynski was selected to join NASA’s astronaut corps in 1992, a career he had dreamed of as a child when his father worked on the Apollo program.
Parazynski also spoke about the future of space travel. “It’s an exciting time in history to think how far the space program has come and where we are going,” he said. “The very first martians have been born, and they are walking the surface of the Earth right now. Maybe they are in this room.”
He also spoke about Mars. “It’s nice to see all the young people in the room because this will happen in your life time,” said Parazynski, who estimates it may take 20-40 years to colonize Mars, “but it will happen.”
Parazynski’s first attempt at scaling Mt. Everest in 2008 ended 24 hours short of the summit when he suffered a ruptured disk in his back. When he succeeded in 2009, he took a small sample of a moon rock with him. A successful summit requires two months of time to acclimate to the high altitude.
Colin Brown, 14, of New Philadelphia attended the event with his father Rob. “It was really interesting,” said Brown, who was most impressed with the fact Parazynski has been on five missions into space. “It’s not every day we get an astronaut to come and speak in New Philadelphia.”
Parazynski also completed seven space walks including the first joint U.S.-Russian spacewalk. “It’s the best job in the universe,” he said of the experience.
“I loved it,” 10-year-old Allison Carlisle of Dover said of the presentation. “It was very inspirational to kids who want to be an astronaut and go into space when they grow up.” Carlisle is very interested in becoming an astronaut.
Carlisle’s favorite part of the presentation was when Parazynski spoke about repairing the solar panels on the space station. The solar array repair on mission STS-120 is regarded as one of the most challenging and dangerous ever performed.
Of interest to many in the crowd was Parazynski’s work with astronaut and Senator John Glenn, his boyhood hero and the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. Glenn first learned to fly at Harry Clever field in New Philadelphia.
“It was incredible to get to fly into space with John Glenn,” he said. “He participated in every aspect of the mission. He even wanted to know how to clean the toilet because that is part of being in space.”
Parazynski was assigned to be Glenn’s personal physician on the STS-95 mission in 1998. Glenn was 77 at the time and part of a study on the effects of weightlessness on an older adult. Glenn often referred to Parazynski as “Count Parazynskula” because the doctor had to draw Glenn’s blood so often, and despite Glenn’s bravery in other areas, he did not like needles.
Parazynski backed up every story with photos displayed on a large screen behind him, allowing the audience to see his experiences.
Looking down at Earth from space is awe-inspiring. “It’s so beautiful and blue. It’s so brilliant that you can’t look away,” Parazynski said. “You don’t want to go to bed at night because you’ll be missing eight hours of looking at the Earth.”
The presenting sponsor for the event was Ferris Financial LLC; additional sponsors were Dover Chemical and Kennedy Insurance.