Astronaut Mike Massimino’s journey into space was far from smooth.
Three times NASA rejected him, but he never gave up and subsequently flew two shuttle missions to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
Astronaut, Mike Massamino Photo: NASA
Now he's on a mission to inspire future astronauts and engineers and to popularize science by becoming the first person to Tweet from space and with appearances on The Big Bang Theory.
His new book is called, Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe.
He says as a boy he ‘idolised’ the astronauts he saw on television.
“It caught me really deep in my soul, the whole idea of exploring space.”
Despite his deep desire to explore space Massimino has some inherent problems to overcome.
“I’m afraid of heights and I don’t like going fast I was riding a jet ski this weekend and even that’s kind of scary to me!”
He was rejected three times by NASA before finally being accepted as an astronaut.
“The third time I was rejected I was selected for an interview and I was a finalist, the first two times I was just outright rejected.”
His determination paid off and he says he forged some of the most intense relationships of his life with his fellow astronauts.
“I think it’s the greatest relationship in the world the best people I’ve ever met in my life are astronauts.”
