After Return to Earth, NASA Astronaut Makes Return to USD
Last weekend, visitors for Grandparents and Family Spring Weekend were treated to a special appearance by USD alum and NASA astronaut, Matthew Dominick '05 (BS/BA). He was being recognized as part of Alumni Honors, for all that he's accomplished since graduating. But Dominick spent the night providing a glimpse into something only a handful of people have ever experienced -- going into space.
While aboard the International Space Station, Dominick, a photography enthusiast, snapped hundreds of thousands of awe-inspiring photos. His bedroom window was a porthole that looked out onto Earth, a one-of-a-kind view. He said he made it his mission to try to document the experience and share with the world what he had the privilege to see every day.
Friday, he walked hundreds of attendees through some of the photos he captured, and answered audience questions. Below is a selection of insights he shared.
on returning to his alma mater:
"It's so great to be back at USD. Driving up the road today and looking up at the hill at this shiny little campus that I loved. I have so many memories from here, friends who I went to school with are here tonight. But tonight’s about – I feel this really deep responsibility to share what I've seen. I've been super lucky in my life to have experienced a bunch of crazy things, since I graduated."
On traveling into outer space:
"We launched from Florida. Hit (orbit) about nine minutes later. Then the rocket engines come off and you're in zero-g. All of that's going on. You've been hyper-focused for years training. You're out of your seat, and then you look out the window ... and you see Earth."
Getting right to work aboard the space station:
"As soon as we're docked to the space station, my job is now to be, what I would call, a laboratory technician. Scientists around the world design experiments, put those together, and they launch to the space station. And then it's our job to be their eyes, ears and executor. I've got a scientist in my ear, on the ground. They've been working for years with this experiment, and they get two hours of my time to execute their experiment. ... So you just get these really detailed procedures."
On the collective effort to reach space:
"I talked about Isaac Newton and 'standing on the shoulders of giants.' I got to ride the rocket, but that's built upon the efforts of so many other people. I have such respect for the engineers who design spacecraft that carry humans, because that's an insane responsibility."
Perspective gained from going to space:
"No matter what religion you are, it deepened my love of people. what matters is people and human connections. I'm active duty U.S. Navy. My crew mate was active duty Russia Air Force. We were well aware of what was going on (in the world), and it didn't matter in this case. ... Space should tell all of us that we should love each other more, and that we can move beyond all that and do great things as a civilization."