Kylie & Astronaut Christina on Flying To The Moon, Life On Other Planets & Cat in Kelce House | Ep. 68

Summary

Podcast Summary: Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce

Episode 68: Kylie & Astronaut Christina on Flying To The Moon, Life On Other Planets & Cat in Kelce House
Release Date: May 21, 2026
Host: Kylie Kelce
Special Guest: NASA Astronaut Christina Koch

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Main Episode Theme

This episode features Kylie Kelce in an unfiltered, characteristically playful conversation with Christina Koch, the first woman to fly around the Moon as part of NASA's Artemis 2 mission. They explore Christina’s lunar journey, the challenges of space travel and adaptation, life on other planets, women in STEM, and the human side of historic milestones. The show maintains Kylie’s signature mix of family anecdotes, pop culture, and Philly sports energy, connecting personal stories to cosmic achievements.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kylie’s Life Updates and Show Segments (00:30–25:03)

• Personal Stories: Kylie shares family news (kindergarten graduation, water table antics, Jersey Shore food favorites, and her emotional struggles with how fast her children are growing).
• Running Gags: Hilarious behind-the-scenes as Kylie reveals a cat is in her house without her husband Jason’s knowledge.
• Doom Scroll of the Week (08:15):
  • Funniest pregnancy announcement reactions and memories of telling her own parents about her pregnancies.
  • The emotional impact of social media trends around milestones and growing children.
• Adoptable Rescue Animals Segment (16:20):
  • Highlights three adoptable pets (“Effie,” “Bright Eyes” the pitbulls, and “Star” the 17-year-old cat) from PSPCA, weaving in advocacy for supporting animal rescues.

2. Introducing Astronaut Christina Koch (26:20)

• Historic Achievements:
  • First woman in history to fly around the Moon (Artemis 2).
  • Holds record for longest single spaceflight by a woman—328 days.
  • Celebrated Philly sports fan.
• Kylie’s Family Perspective:
  • “As a house of four girls, we have to chit chat about it…I cannot thank you enough for that.” (27:08)

3. Recovering from the Artemis 2 Mission (27:52–30:08)

• Adjusting to Earth:
  • Christina describes feeling “buzzed” (29:13) for two weeks after landing and recounts how intense socialization felt after long isolation in space.
  • “For a while, it's kind of a link reminding you that your body went through something and you went through something.” (29:08)
• Physical vs Psychological Changes:
  • Dizziness, readjustment to gravity, and adapting to the public’s response to her achievement.

4. What Astronauts Miss Most About Earth (30:08–31:05)

• Top Miss: Seeing loved ones, “Loved ones are 1000% the most important thing to every human being.” (30:17)
• Underrated Miss: “Blue sky”—after 11 months in space, the absence of a blue sky becomes vivid.

5. Space Travel Experience (31:15–34:03)

• Perpetual Darkness:
  • On Artemis 2, rarely saw the sun due to spacecraft orientation; “everything feels like it happened at night.”
• Body Adaptation to Space: (32:26)
  • Atrophy of muscle and bone, fluid redistribution, strange immune and organ responses: “Zero effort. So your body's, like, sweet. I'm not going to build muscles…”
• Memorable Comparison: “I felt like maybe you had gone to a work lunch and had a drink maybe you shouldn't have.” (29:13)

6. Astronaut Life, Sports, and Philly Fandom (34:05–39:42)

• First Pitch Anxiety:
  • Christina’s husband’s biggest concern post-mission: “We need to start pitching practice.” (25:03)
• Philly Sports:
  • Flyers game appearance, bringing Gritty mascot “home,” and Super Bowl confetti story.
  • “The OG was definitely the Eagles…I've been watching Eagles games the longest.” (35:18)
• Dallas Rivalry:
  • “Correct. Definitely the Cowboys.” (36:05)
  • Christina gifts a signed photo of watching Eagles-Cowboys in space to a rival fan.

7. Flying to the Moon vs. Philly Super Bowl (39:06–39:42)

• Family Priority: “Family's the most important thing, so that kind of elevates it even up into to the moon situation.” (39:06)
• Moon Still Wins: “If you had to ask me, like, which one to have to, like, wipe from the record, I would probably keep the moon, to be honest with you.” (39:40)

8. Speed of Light Round: Rapid Space Questions (40:14–47:47)

• Astronaut Ice Cream: Exists, rarely eaten in space.
• Favorite Space Food: Spicy green beans, broccoli au gratin, mac and cheese.
• Spacesuit Perks: “Pockets. Lots of pockets.” (40:53)
• All-female NASA Crew?: “It could definitely happen…because we are mission oriented.” (41:03)
• Misconception: “That it is glamorous. It is whatever the opposite of glamorous is.” (41:47)
• Splashdown: “It is amazing. You…kind of like you just get cradled by the water and you're so happy and you're thinking, we're alive.” (42:00)
• Most Realistic Space Movie: “The Martian…depicted the teamwork and kind of the problem solving really well.” (46:40)
  • On NASA’s real building: “Heavy on the cinder block situation.” (47:01)

9. Women Supporting Women & Breaking Barriers (51:44–56:05)

• Grasping Significance: Christina recalls the impact of meeting Sally Ride and her intent “to say with my eyes to every young person…I see you, I know what this means to you, and your dreams are valid.” (52:20)
• On Breaking Records: “I hope all of the only's turn into many's…if I can just do that for every person like she did for me, that's what I'm trying to do.” (53:13)

10. Inspiring Young Girls in STEM (54:43–56:05)

• Advice to Parents:
  • “Just bring [STEM] up and get them to question things, like, huh, why does it do that?... those little curiosities and not taking things for granted and sort of practicing that—that questioning, I think is something really neat that we can do…” (54:54)
• Analogies to Motherhood: Christina likens the isolation of long missions to the emotional isolation some mothers feel—advocating for vulnerability and seeking support within friendships. (56:37)

11. Science Fair Projects & Tiny Human Questions (60:57–67:37)

• Science Fair Ideas:
  • Speed of light/time delay between Earth/Moon vs. Mars.
  • Mechanics of rockets.
  • “What sports could you do on a given planet?” (60:57)
• Kylie’s Kids’ Questions to an Astronaut:
  • How do you go potty in space? “With a little bit of suction…for number one and number two, similar to a camping toilet, but with light suction.” (64:01)
  • Shooting stars? Sometimes possible from space; mostly seen during missions nearer Earth.
  • Wishing on shooting stars? “Always. I saw one the other day…I wished on it for sure.” (66:12)
  • Living with three stinky boys in space? “They were very considerate…it was not so bad…We all had to accept each other’s humanness…” (66:47)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Kylie on Philly sports:
  “He is, I will say, the second best mascot in Philadelphia. Oh my God. Don't tell Swoop, because I'm definitely referring to the Philly fanatic as the top one.” (35:00)

• Christina, on returning to Earth:
  “For a while, like an extended period of time, I felt a little bit buzzed, like all the time.” (29:13)

• On barriers and the significance of her accomplishments:
  “If I can just do that for every person like [Sally Ride] did for me, that’s what I’m trying to do… I hope all of the only's turn into many's…” (53:13)

• On misconceptions about space travel:
  “That it is glamorous. It is whatever the opposite of glamorous is. There's a lot of non glamour happening.” (41:51)

• Christina on the possibility of life elsewhere:
  “It would seem very strange to me if in this big universe there was just only one place where it all came together and it was only here. That would be surprising to me.” (45:21)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:30 – Kylie’s water table, Kindergarten graduation, family updates.
• 08:15 – Doom Scroll: Reactions to pregnancy announcement, telling family, TikTok senior graduation trend.
• 16:20 – Adoptable rescue animals, PSPCA spotlight.
• 25:03 – Christina Koch segment begins; first pitch anxieties and intro.
• 27:52 – Christina on recovery from space.
• 30:08 – What’s missed most when away from Earth.
• 32:26 – How space “fucks up” the human body.
• 34:05 – Philly sports segment, Flyers game, favorite teams.
• 39:06 – How going to the Moon compares to Super Bowl.
• 40:14 – “Speed of Light” round: astronaut Q&A.
• 46:40 – Most realistic space movie (The Martian).
• 51:44 – The meaning of breaking barriers for women in STEM.
• 54:43 – Advice for parents wanting their daughters in STEM.
• 56:37 – Loneliness, isolation, and building support systems.
• 60:57 – Science fair project ideas for kids.
• 63:53 – “Tiny Human Questions” from Kylie’s daughters.
• 67:37 – Wrap-up and thank-yous.

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Episode Tone

Conversational, candid, empowering, and celebratory with a humorous, earnest, and Philly-flavored vibe. Kylie’s hosting brings playfulness and vulnerability; Christina shares with clarity, humility, and evident pride in her contributions.

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Overall Summary

This episode delivers on its promise of being both intimate and inspiring—spanning Earthly family chaos to lunar orbits, and from the emotional truths of parenthood to the realities (and illusions) of space adventure. Christina Koch shares firsthand astronomical insights and demystifies the physical and emotional challenges of space, while Kylie artfully ties these cosmic themes to everyday parenting and growing up. The show manages to be accessible for listeners new to space, while also providing in-depth content and thoughtful takes on women in science, community support, and celebrating groundbreaking achievements.

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Transcript

[A]

This episode is brought to you by. Prime Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice off campus. Elle every year. After the love hypothesis, Sterling point and more slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime

[B]

Girl. Winter is so last season and now spring's got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cutoffs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders that perfect hang on the patio. Sundress those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done. Hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear open that envelope. It's time for a little in person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. Not gonna lie, I'm currently holding a cat in my own home right now. Does Jason know about this? Absolutely not. Will he understand once I explain why? Honestly, who knows? He's about to find out. So are you. Now that's what I call a tease. Let's get this podcast started. Welcome back to Not Gonna Lie, a wave original brought to you by Pull Ups. I'm your host, Kylie Kelce. We've officially kicked off water table season in the Kelsey family. There was a moment in time where I used to fight them on putting their bathing suits on every single time we filled it up. But I have decided that I'm sick of having to pick up the slew of drenched clothing off of the front porch as they disrobe before they go in so they don't make the floor slippery. My all time favorite Jersey Shore food is probably shore break for treats for savory. I mean, I don't know. Hank sauce. You guys have heard me talk about them before. Slather Hank AQ sauce on a shoe and I'd eat it. And we're gearing up for our first. No. Oh, no. We're gearing up for our first kindergarten graduation. Guys, we literally just started the year. How did we get here? Also, she's a mile high, which I'm pretty proud of. Pretty proud of that. And she looks old, which is dumb. I'm not feeling great about it. I'm feeling pretty sad. Super casual. But I'm gonna get over it because next year, my second is gonna be kindergarten. This is. Guys, how do we pause time? Well, now that we've covered my fragile emotional state for this week, coming up. It's National Rescue Dog Day, so in honor of that, I'm going to be by multiple adoptable dogs and maybe cats from the PSPCA right here in a matter of minutes. Good luck. Everyone's staying. I'm kidding. I think we've also got a Banger Doom scroll of the Week featuring perhaps the best reaction to a pregnancy announcement I have ever seen. After that, I'm going to be joined by someone I have so little business speaking to, the first woman to fly around the moon, Artemis 2 mission specialist and Philadelphia sports fan, astronaut Christina Cook. That is silly that I get to say that out loud. She's going to talk to us. She is actually going to spend time talking to us, which is silly. But we're doing it before she realizes how silly it is. Before we get to all of that, a few NGL announcements. First up, NGL will be off next week for Memorial Day because, let's be honest, we all need a little vacation and kids. But don't worry, real ones. We wouldn't leave you hanging like that. Even though there's no NGL, you are getting a brand new episode of FAFO this Tuesday, May 26th, and it's a good one. I learned how to golf from the literal goat. Michelle. We west just in time for me to kick my husband's ass at our charity golf tournament in June. I should say that with more confidence, but I'm. I'm a little worried. And by that I mean I've never played more than eight holes of golf. Well, that's a lie because I played two more with Michelle, so I've played 10 holes of golf. Also. Not that any real ones would be surprised. There may or may not be puppies in that episode too, because we found some. And by found some, I mean they were holding an event at the golf course we were at. And I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to pet that dog. Even more news, NGO will be back the first week of June with our official summer kickoff solo episode. You jerk. What did Queen Emma bribe me with this time? What did you bribe me with? Nothing. She didn't bribe me with anything. And you know what that means if we have to do a solo episode. She's not getting more than 60 minutes this week. Got her. Next, let's get to Real one Comment of the week, brought to you by Peloton. And our Real one comment this week was shockingly common in the comment section of our Hillary Duff clip telling us about her SI swimsuit cover, the comment says at SI Swimsuit. Get Kylie for next year. Guys, how do I say this nicely? No, thank you. Absolutely not. Yeah, I would. Queen Emma tried to ask if it was the top 10 place. I have no business being. I would almost say it's top three. And I think it goes without saying that if I don't like having my photo taken clothed, I'm probably not gonna like my photo taken naked. You know what I mean? Queen Emma wants to know what magazine cover I would be into. She's providing some ideas like Modern Dog or Modern Cat. Yes. But I would be the stage mom behind the camera for Freddy or Patty. Or Freddy and Patty. That'd be cute. Queen Emma also recommends ADHD magazine. Yes. Immediately. Yes. Also, Food to love. Simply Bread issue.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Also yes, I'd be on the COVID You want to fill a pool with loaves of bread and bread items. I'm talking anything that uses a yeast or a sourdough starter. You can catch me doing the backstroke through that pool. I will happily be photographed again fully clothed in a pool of bread. How did we get here? That's it. For real. One comment of the week, brought to you by Peloton. And just to make sure you heard me, I do not want to be in my bathing suit on SI Swimsuit edition. Big fan of the magazine. Big fan, though. I love that. When I was younger, I got the magazine every year. I loved it. So big fan. Love it. For other women. I. You guys are crushing it. You guys look hot and powerful and strong and amazing. And I'm good. Don't call us, don't email, don't inquire, don't waste your time. Moving on, let's get to doom. Scroll the Week brought to you by Pull Ups. Yeah. First up, hands down, the best reaction I've seen to a pregnancy announcement. Queen Emma, the clip, please.

[A]

Coming soon.

[B]

You're pregnant.

[A]

Oh, my God. I'm gonna fall.

[B]

Calm down.

[A]

This is just the most wonderful news

[B]

that I could ever imagine. I know. Do you get it?

[A]

Me too. There's two of them.

[B]

Me too.

[A]

You're having two.

[B]

You're having twins.

[A]

You're kidding, right?

[B]

For audio listeners, they pulled out a little T shirt. The mom is seated on the couch next to him and proceeds to scream like she's having an exorcism when with her whole body tensed. And then she starts sliding off the couch until she decides I'm actually going to fall on the floor. It was a decision. I said decides for a reason. She. It was a decision to fall on the floor. One of the best comments is a thought that I also experienced, which was, mind you, she was sitting down and still fell twice with three crying, laughing faces. Yes, she did. So Queen Emma wants to know what Big Ed and little Lisa's reactions were when we told them. My mom found out the first time that we were pregnant pretty early on because I was. I was struggling. I was struggling. When we told my dad, we actually asked. I asked him by saying, are you ready to be a Skeeter? Which for those of you who don't know, have we talked about this on the show? My dad's grandfather name is Skeeter. That was decided when we were. My sister and I were probably 10 and 12. We were reading books from a bookshelf in our house. One of them was a baby name book. And at the back of the book it included grandparent names, which sent us down a spiral. And we determined at that age that we were going to call our dad Skeeter when we had kids. Because it's a slow burn. It's a slow burn that a 6 foot 9 man has to introduce himself as Skeeter and gets called it in public. We said, do you want. Are you ready to be a Skeeter? And he had, he had big feelings about that. He was very excited. So, yeah, that's how we told him. As we have announced our consecutive pregnancies. I think people are like less like. They're like, oh, congratulations. By the fourth one, people are like, congrats. You know, you guys don't have to touch each other like that kind of thing. You know, you guys could like just not. You guys could. You guys could not. You know, every so often when you say you have four kids, people look at you like, do you guys know about contraceptive next? You know what's up this tick tock trend. Graduating seniors are trying to make us cry when we're just innocently doom scrolling on a Tuesday night. It's time for your next adventure audio listeners. The student is in there cap and gown. They place down a toy that completes the lineup of toys. Anybody tells you trains and then they walk away. Words and ideas out of focus. Rude. Immediately rude. It's disrespectful. You guys should cut the. Am I. Is that Gene Wilder talking or is that Robin Williams? Because I'm gonna be honest with you. I feel very strongly about the fact that if it is Robin Williams, I might have to hold down on TikTok and select not interested. Because my emotional state can't handle that. The fact that you Have a voiceover of Robin Williams with that music. And it's with tiny little toys that my current kids are the current ages of that are appropriate to be playing with. This suggesting that it'll just be tomorrow when they're in their cap and gown for their high school graduation is. I literally can't come up with a better explanation other than it's disrespectful. I feel personally attacked by this. If my girls were going to do it, they would probably line up. Let's think. I think they just have very specific. Like Ellie would be the kid that would line up stuffies. There are specific stuffies. She rotates, but there's specific stuffies that I would line up. That makes me want to cry. The thought of that makes me want to cry. The idea that she won't always be a stuffy kid also makes me want to cry. Raising kids is a trap. I'm going to move on before I actually start crying. That's it for Dooms Girl of the Week, brought to you by Pull Ups. Moving on. In honor of National Dog Rescue Day, I have some very special visitors from the pspca. That's where we adopted Freddy and they're here right now. This cuddly, furry adoptable animal segment is brought. Adoptable, Emphasis on adoptable animal segment is brought to you today by our friends at Door Dash. Please take this as a hint also to make sure that you support your local rescues. These animals that I am about to introduce you to are available at the pspca. If you're local to the Philadelphia area, you can also always support local rescues by donating food, toys, bedding, things like that. You can call your local rescues and ask how you can support sometimes. I do understand that not everyone is in a place to adopt an animal. Whether that be that you don't have a yard, that you're not financially ready, things like that. That should be taken into consideration. I'm not telling you to go adopt an animal on a whim, but if you would still like to support your local rescues, there are plenty of ways to do that. And you can call them and ask how. All right. I can't take it anymore. Bring them in, Queen Emma. Do it. Zoom out. Effie's been here for the last five minutes. Are you joking? Guys, have you seen her little thing? She's good girl. Let me tell you, the audio that just picked up in my headphones was so perfect after hearing the way she sneaky snacks on her cheese. Don't you want to bring Effie Home to your house. Effie is available right now. We don't have an age on her because she's a young adult. She's a tiny black pittie that came from a suspected dog fighting case. She's a little bit nervous, but who wouldn't be when you come into a weird ass back office that ends up being a podcast studio and asked to be well behaved sitting on a random woman's lap. She has a white chest. Big old white spot on her chest. You know what else she has? White piggy toes. White pitty toes. Are you kidding? Guys, don't you want Effie to be part of your family? She doesn't want to be in a house with other animals. She wants to be. She wants to be the center of attention. She wants your focus and love to be on her. Guys, are you kidding me? Look at her. Maybe she wants to be a studio dog. You don't know? Do you have a podcast? Do you need a studio dog? I have an Effie for you, okay? But we do have another adoptable dog, so we're going to send Effie out. I love you. You're perfect and I hope someone great adopts you. Someone great. I'll let you. You can have free reign. That's a fully fenced backyard girl. Go ahead. Oh my gosh. She's just perfect. Dog number two is named Bright Eyes. You heard that, right. My understanding is that Bright Eyes is not going to be a candidate for sitting in my lap because Bright Eyes is well fed is what I've been told. Oh, no.

[A]

She said I'm the perfect kibble.

[B]

I'm a take. What? I'm perfect. Oh my God. I can't wait for you guys to see this dope. Stop it. Okay, guys, she was at the PSPCA two years ago. She was taken by the police force and brought into care of the PSPCA because she was emaciated. And that, as we know, is neglect. You should feed your dogs, okay? Because they're sweet angel babies and they are hungry. Okay? Now. Oh, gosh. She went out, lived with a family with kids. She was happy as a little clam. Oh, my goodness. She has a pink nose like a little piggy. Oh, no. You have a pink nose like a little piggy. And then she came back to the PSPCI because that family's situation changed. But now she's ready for a new family. Guys, first of all, let me tell you for our audio listeners, a pity smile to end all pity smiles, okay? She is a stocky queen. She's got a chubby little stumpy tail, let me tell you. And she's a thick girl. And when I say thick, I mean thick with three Cs. And I mean that in the. Yeah, in the. You get it in the most complimentary way. Hold that thought, everyone. Oh, no. Thank you so much. She's just a baby.

[A]

Hi.

[B]

How old is she? We think three to five.

[A]

She was fairly young when she came in.

[B]

He's a good girl. Okay. Can she be placed in a house with other animals? She's also open to meeting other dogs if you already have a dog in your house. Oh, bright Eyes. It was an absolute pleasure. And when. When you. Her name is Bright Eyes for a reason, guys. She has, like this little twinkle in her eyes and she's. Oh, beautiful. Okay, I know it's rescue dog day, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to have a cat inside my home. You guys don't understand how rare this is. Let's see her. She's meowing. She's 17 years old. You stop it.

[A]

I actually, like, didn't believe it when

[B]

I saw, but we had her in 2009. Is she all black? Yeah. Jokes on, you guys. I kind of love that you guys would think that because I'm a superstitious lady that that would bother me, but it doesn't. Now, if she crossed the road, am I driving down it? Absolutely not. I'm not an idiot. This is Star.

[A]

This is Star.

[B]

Star is. Oh, my God. Star is 17 years old. Hello. She came back to us earlier this year. She was like, had some paralysis, but she's walking around fine. She actually just wanted to go to a different house. She said, I'm 17, I'm tired of where I am and I'd like to explore somewhere else. Guys, look at how beautiful she is. Are you kidding me? Where is she cleared to live? Sarah, Is she allowed to have roommates?

[A]

Yep.

[B]

She can live with pretty much anything. Of course she can, because she's a well adjusted lady. She's reasonable. Come on. She. Would she walk on this halter? Is this just a safety precaution or she would walk? Yeah, she likes to walk around. You're joking. Do you want to take Star for a walk? You could do that. I'm gonna let you down because I think you want to get down and explore. And you're more than welcome to do that because you're in an enclosed room. And actually, if you look super comfy, I will let you stay here. Jason probably wouldn't feel great about a cat Being in here. But like I said last week, we did get him with the AI Cat picture. So we might need to take a picture of Star before she leaves this house so that we can get him with a real life picture. If any of my kids were home from school right now, I'm gonna let it go just so she can leave me if she wants to. If any of my kids were home from school right now, I would get a video of them petting her so that he would believe it. I do think I should text him a picture. Let's see. Look at our newest addition. Listen to her little meows. Gosh, she's so pretty. Okay, that's it for our adoptable animal visit. Brought to you by Doordash. Thank you Doordash for giving me the excuse and thank you for the National Adoptable Pets Rescue animals. What is it? I don't even care. I just rescue dogs. Guys, it's rescue dogs. But any excuse send in the the days that we need to honor with dogs and we will keep bringing you adoptable pets. Coming up, I'm about to be joined by astronaut Christina Cook right after these messages. Being a person is tough enough these days, let alone being a parent. That's why I use Doordash. Because when life gets crazy, Doordash helps people. Brings some order to it. Like last week when you guessed it again, I ran out of milk. And Finn doesn't like when that happens. So I had to doordash a gallon of milk. I'm pretty sure it was 9:30 at night. And it got there because there was no way in heck that I was gonna experience the next morning without a bottle to greet her. She knows what she likes. So Doordash came in clutch with that one. Real life needs real relief. That's why doordash is there for whatever you need whenever you need it. Life with kids is wildly unpredictable. No matter how much par a plan, there's always going to be chaos. Being able to offload a few to do's and give a little more time to focus on yourself and your family is huge. We all know life gets crazy. Door dash just helps bring a little order to it. Order. Now as a mom of four toddlers six and under, I've been deep in the potty training trenches. But luckily I have learned a thing or two over the years. It is terrifying. It's so scary to have to potty train a child specifically because everyone's different. And honestly, the soundtrack of my life is I'm all done pooping. We've all heard it. I've also learned my secret weapon is Pull Ups training pants because they have my back and they also make sure that I don't have as many surprises because I don't like surprises. And now my secret weapon has its own secret weapon. Pull Ups just introduced the new learning layer and I'm all about this. It's designed to help kids learn the difference between feeling wet and dry because they need to feel that an accident happened, you know. Plus it gives my tiny humans big kid confidence while I get peace of mind of up to 100% leak free protection. You can buy the new Pull Ups with learning layer now designed to help kids learn wet from dry. Buy one, get one 25% off pull ups training pants with new learning layer at Target now through May 23rd. As a busy mom taking care of everybody else's schedule, it's important to carve out time for yourself. That's what I like to call nobody needs me time. One way I use that very small window of time these days is by doing a workout right on the Peloton app. It makes it so that I can go on, decide how much time I have, and pick the classes that fit perfectly in that window. I really need to get my body moving to make sure that I feel like I can have a productive day and really be in a better mood. Peloton helps you unlock that joy through movement with their new cross training plus. Powered by Peloton iq, it provides intelligent strength coaching so you can stay in the moment. And it builds a workout roadmap that's completely yours so you can stop overthinking and just move. Plus, when you're racing against the nap time clock, you can get in your hot girl walk and strength training with one smooth spin of the swivel screen. My favorite instructors, guys, I say it every time. It's Robin, it's Alex Toussaint, and it's Ally Love. They're my favorites. I take other classes and they're outstanding, but those three are my tops. Let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push and go explore the new peloton cross training tread [e-mail] I will tell you.

[A]

Day one back on earth, this was my husband's biggest concern. He was like, we need to start pitching practice. I was like, what are you talking about? Hi, welcome back to Earth. I don't. What are we talking about here?

[B]

Welcome back.

[A]

And that's when he revealed that his biggest fear is me having to throw the first pitch. And I was like, wow.

[B]

Honestly, first of all, it's actually really sweet. We love a supportive king. That's very kind of him to think ahead.

[A]

Also, he was really planning. Great point.

[B]

We do. Is it. Would it really be that bad? It's okay if it is.

[A]

I think so. I do.

[B]

Could we maybe place blame on the fact that you've been in space for an extended period of time?

[A]

I have evaluated how long I can rely on that as an extension excuse and it's dwindling. It is dwindling on this nine day mission.

[B]

Mlb, I'm going to need you guys to gear up. I'm going to need someone to invite Christina to do a first pitch ASAP so that we can with some practice time with a little. A little practice time so that we still have an explanation. I'm not going to say an excuse. It's an explanation.

[A]

That is a great call. Okay. Thank you.

[B]

You're welcome.

[A]

We're on a team now.

[B]

This might actually be the most badass intro I've ever done on this show. So I'm going to try not to nerd out. But the real ones know that's inevitable. So here we go. She's the first ever woman in the history of time to fly around the moon. She holds the record for longest single space flight by a woman with a total of 328 days. She served as mission specialist one of NASA's Artemis 2 mission that took her and the crew the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth. And perhaps of nearly equal importance, she's a die hard Philadelphia sports fan. It's astronaut Christina Cook. Christina, welcome to the show.

[A]

Go birds. Thank you. It's great to be here. Go birds.

[B]

I have been. First of all, we've been talking about you in our house because we had to talk about the first woman to do it. You know, we have to as a, as a house of four girls, we have to chit chat about it. We were obviously dialed in as was everybody else. The girls are fascinated and it's exciting that we get to have these conversations that you are sparking these conversations with the incredible work that you're doing and, and that it gets to spark sort of that, that curiosity and then we get to talk about it and that. I cannot thank you enough for that.

[A]

I'm here for all of it.

[B]

First and foremost. How are you doing and how is the recovery process going?

[A]

Oh, thank you. It's going pretty well. Like I said, I wish I could maybe rely on it a little bit more for not excuses but explanations of things like Just general brain fog, klutziness, et cetera. But honestly, we're doing pretty well. After my really long mission, I had one mission that was 328 days. This one was nine. My recovery was much longer after that one. This one we felt fairly normal after about two weeks. And we looked really normal as long as our eyes were open. Walking around and doing normal things almost right away, which was a great, you know, a great blessing. And there were some other things that maybe we were managing that weren't as apparent. But even all of that is really back to normal a lot. And didn't have quite the same shell shock with, I guess, socialization as after my first mission as well. My first mission, I went for almost 11 months only seeing 11 other humans. And so, of course, landing and seeing lots of humans was definitely a shocker. But this one, you know, short and sweet. I was just so happy to see everyone on that ship out in the Pacific when we landed. It's just been up from there.

[B]

Now. What's the toughest adjustment coming back

[A]

for this mission? I would say adjusting to maybe the way the world reacted to it. That would be on the, like, psychological side, on the physical side, just the dizziness, learning to walk. And I feel like for a while, like an extended period of time, I felt a little bit buzzed, like all the time it was. How I would explain it to my doctors was it felt like maybe you had gone to a work lunch and had a drink maybe you shouldn't have. And then you go back to work and you're like, trying to pull it together. The room is moving a little bit. And that's how I felt all the time for, I would say, the second week I was back. So that was a challenge to manage. Not a big deal. And it's. It's gone away. And in some ways it's sort of sad to have all your. All your space adaptations gone. Cause for a while, it's kind of a link reminding you that your body went through something and you went through something.

[B]

Now, what's something that we are all taking for granted here on Earth? Something that you might have missed?

[A]

Well, I'll go with the obvious one, is your family. I mean, just to be surrounded by loved ones is so special. And it's special to every single person that goes to space, whatever that means for you. Loved ones are 1000% the most important thing to every human being. And then if I would just think about something else on Earth, you know, it's not to me like the creature comforts Like a latte or something like that. It's. It's. Maybe here's a good one for you. Blue sky. Because when you go to space, you actually don't see a blue sky. This thing that just feels like it's the background of everything, like this inevitable something you look up and see. I mean, on my long mission, I didn't see a blue sky for almost 11 months. And that. That is something beautiful.

[B]

That is such a. Yeah, that is crazy to think about. I mean, that. And how dark is it?

[A]

It's 1000% dark. It is so dark, in fact. Well, on the space station, you go around the Earth every hour and a half. So you have 17 sunrises and sunsets every single day. On our mission, we were just flying through blackness the entire time. And the way that they had to point our spaceship, like, the spaceship isn't just kind of tumbling or through space on its way. It's in a very specific orientation. It's called the attitude. And our attitude was such that the sun was always on the tail end of the spacecraft. That was for, like, thermal balance reasons. So we very rarely actually saw the sun. We would literally for three days. Other than maybe seeing the sunlight glint off of the moon or the Earth, when it happened to be in the window, we didn't really see the sun. So I was just thinking about how on the mission, everything feels like it happened at night to me because out the window was complete darkness. And so I'm like, oh, yeah, that, that. No, that was first thing in the morning. It was dark out the windows, but it was definitely like. Or midday.

[B]

Now, I, for anyone who doesn't know, you kind of touched on this, but I'm going to put this as bluntly as possible. How does being in space fuck up the human body, scientifically speaking?

[A]

So many things. One of the big things. Well, you know, I like to remember that they're actually all adaptations to being in space. So the human body is just like, oh, cool. I don't have to pump the blood as hard to make it all go to the brain. So I'm going to work a little bit less hard because I'm a heart, and I'm just, you know, trying to take as much as little energy as I can and. Or like, oh, all the fluid is rising up in your body because you're not on Earth, where the gravity pulls it down. So all of your, like, body sensors are like, whoa, we have too much blood volume. Let's shed that. And the other one, for long duration, is muscle and Bone atrophy, meaning it just all goes away because you don't even have to lift your arm. Like, everything you do, zero effort. So your body's, like, sweet. I'm not going to build muscles. I'm going to not do that because I'm a body trying to conserve energy. And so the muscles and bones can atrophy. That's why we have to exercise so so much. Another very regimented thing in space. Lots of exercise every single day. And that sort of counteracts that, I think the other things are more internal medicine type of things. Our immune systems kind of start operating funny. Latent viruses might come out, rashes might happen because of all the stress that your body is under in terms of your immune response. And then there's some other organs that just do a little bit of weirdo things after a lot of time. But, yeah, for the most part, the blood volume changes are the big one.

[B]

That's so crazy. I can't imagine coming back and feeling like you're a little drunk. Just a little. Just a little. Yep.

[A]

That's the best way I can characterize it.

[B]

Yikes. Well, I'm glad that even amidst recovery, you do have your priorities in order, because everyone got to see you at the Flyers game a couple weeks ago.

[A]

That was so awesome that they let me come early. Yes.

[B]

I mean, incredible.

[A]

The best. We had so much fun. It was amazing. The welcoming people were so welcoming. People were so stoked. People brought by their kiddos to the suite. All the adjacent suites were like, what's up? And we were doing photos. It was so fun. I got to, like, meet the people that are on the radio in my house all the time, and.

[B]

Oh, that's so great.

[A]

So, yeah.

[B]

Now, you also sent us this amazing photo. It's gritty on top of your luggage, which is perfect way to do that. I love that. You just are representing.

[A]

Well, he had to come home with me, and I had a pretty full bag, so.

[B]

And also, he needs to breathe.

[A]

Really cool gift. The best gift ever.

[B]

I love that he is, I will say, the second best mascot in Philadelphia. Oh, my God. Don't tell Swoop, because I'm definitely referring to the Philly fanatic as the top one. Don't nobody tell Swoop. This is going to be bad. Speaking of favorites, which is your favorite Philly team? Is it the Flyers?

[A]

Well, I have to go with the Eagles. It was. It's just like football was the number one for us. The Flyers are coming in, though. They're kind of rising because my husband has started to play men's league hockey again. So now I'm a hockey wife and it just. The whole thing elevates and I know the rules a little bit better now, but the. The OG was definitely the Eagles. That's where. That's where, you know, I feel like that's where he started me. And that's where the main, like, family memories that we're. That we're bringing into our family really come from. Him and his dad and him and his friends watching all the games. And so I've been watching Eagles games the longest, I would say.

[B]

And so. So if the Eagles are your favorite team, who's your least favorite team and why? Is it the Dallas Cowboys?

[A]

Correct. Definitely the Cowboys.

[B]

How do you run into a lot of Dallas fans living in Houston?

[A]

There are. They are everywhere here. In fact, I have a couple going text rivalries with a few people. There was a pilot instructor. We fly these high speed supersonic jets. And one of the instructors is a Cowboys fan. So we have a text war all the time. And then he recently retired, and I gave him a signed picture of me watching the Eagles Cowboys game in space for him to take with him as a memory.

[B]

That's so perfect. You know, he. Smart man. Right. Obviously doing the job that he was doing. But everybody has their flaws. And that's what I tell every single Cowboys fan I meet.

[A]

Every single. I didn't hold it against him, but it didn't. It was a little questionable. Yeah.

[B]

You're like, I can't fully trust your opinion now, but I still love you. You know, that's kind of where we have to be.

[A]

Totally.

[B]

Speaking of the birds, your post about bringing the super bowl confetti to the moon. Insane. Well done.

[A]

Yeah, well, thank you. I wasn't sure if I should, you know, reveal that because it was a surprise for my husband. And so I talked to him beforehand and told him the surprise. I might have accidentally ruined it as well prior to the mission, so. But he was really sweet. He pretended it wasn't ruined and acted surprised. And then I was like, and by the way, I'm thinking about, like, telling the world when I respond to Jalen Hurts. And he said, sure, you have my. You have my blessing. I actually brought the confetti. I have it if you want to see it.

[B]

Do you really? We would love to see it.

[A]

Well, this will show you, like, how not fancy I am because it's. It's actually. It came so we tried to go get confetti because we did go to the game. And we could not find any. We went down because we weren't in Gracie's. We went down to where it all was and we're like, where is it? Like, did it get vacuumed up? Like, there was none. So I had to order it on ebay. And it came as this huge envelope, so I had to repackage it for space so it have minimal weight. So it's in a reused credit card payment envelope that I found. And I made sure I wrote Surprise for Bob on it, like an official label.

[B]

That's outstanding.

[A]

This is it. This is it. And you know, of course, the phila fee in me is like, is it real super bowl confetti? But it has shapes, so I feel that if it's not, it's very much. It's believable. Approximation.

[B]

It's believable. I don't even know that we. I don't think we have confetti from that one. So I couldn't even help you by comparing.

[A]

Oh, well, you know, now you know someone who does. So we can fix that.

[B]

I'm very excited about that.

[A]

Now.

[B]

How does. How does the feeling of winning a Super bowl compare to flying to the moon? Honestly, I am prepared for you to. To like one more than the other. I'm okay with that.

[A]

I will say that going to the super bowl with Bob was incredible. We had such a fun time. We rode our bikes there through New Orleans, and just the whole energy walking up the street. The Superdome was absolutely the time of my life. So, you know, they're different. Like I said, family's the most important thing. So that kind of elevates it even up into to the moon situation. And like, it was. It was pretty close. Like, if you. If you. Okay, fair. If you had to ask me, like, which one to have to, like, wipe from the record, I would probably keep the moon, to be honest with you.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

It's real close.

[B]

That's totally fine. The good news is I'm never going to ask you to wipe it. So we can just say apples and oranges. Both were very exciting. One was slightly more exciting.

[A]

Fair.

[B]

By slightly, I mean probably a substantial amount. But we're going to say slightly right now because. Go birds. So relative now. I said it earlier, but I've been known to nerd out on this show. And I'm about to do it again because I'd love to ask you all the questions. I've been thinking since the mission, I'm going to try and do it rapid fire style, though, since we're talking space. We're calling it the speed of light round.

[A]

Okay, I'm sitting up.

[B]

Okay. Is astronaut ice cream a real thing?

[A]

Oh, it is, but believe it or not, it's not part of our standard menu, so I have never eaten it in space.

[B]

Well, that feels wrong. What was your favorite thing to eat up there?

[A]

There are so many good foods. I love vegetables. So I was eating the. We have these spicy green beans. We have broccoli au gratin. I know this sounds as bad, but broccoli au gratin. If I need a comfort food, it was Mac and cheese. I mean, comfort food. We still have that.

[B]

What's the best part about wearing a spacesuit?

[A]

Pockets. Lots of pockets.

[B]

I was hoping you were going to say that. I love pockets. Do you think there will be an all female NASA crew that goes to space one day?

[A]

It could definitely happen. There's a lot of women in the corps. There's a lot of women who have been commanders. So because we made these decisions decades ago that we would welcome anyone to the table that has talent and abilities and is willing to work hard. And we've, as a result, have this incredible diverse office full of just complete, really good people. I'm trying not to say bad words here. And they're all ready to go. So I wouldn't be surprised if it happens. It will happen organically. I don't think NASA's ever been in the business of kind of, you know, doing something just for the sake of it, because we are very mission oriented. But that is exactly why it could happen, because we are mission oriented.

[B]

Now, what's the biggest misconception about human space travel?

[A]

That it is glamorous. It is whatever the opposite of glamorous is. There's a lot of non glamour happening.

[B]

What is it like to splash down into the ocean?

[A]

It is amazing. You. We, wow. We were happy. It feels it was less dramatic than landing on land. It's kind of like you just get cradled by the water and you're so happy and you're thinking, we're alive. It's just the best feeling now.

[B]

When did you first get to communicate with your families again?

[A]

I got to communicate with my family when I was in the med bay of the Navy ship that we recovered to after getting on the helicopters. And someone showed up with my cell phone and they were like, here you go. I'm dialing Bob's number. And there he was. So that was awesome. They knew what was most important to us as soon as we sort of got into a Stable spot.

[B]

Were you ever afraid at any point in the mission?

[A]

You know, fear is an interesting thing. I wouldn't say that I was afraid in the sense of having physiological effects or having it be a large part of my brain capacity, but I was very aware of risks. And really that just kind of put me into a place of focus and vigilance. But I never, and I want to emphasize it is okay to be afraid. It is okay to be nervous, is okay to have anxiety. I've experienced all of those things throughout my career. That there's something about fulfilling the mission that you've trained for. That for me, put me in a state of calm and focus, and those anxieties weren't necessarily a part of it.

[B]

And what is your absolute favorite memory of being with your crew?

[A]

Yes, just so many. Probably on the far side of the moon when we were experiencing the eclipse, which if your listeners, viewers haven't seen what we described, the photos or how we described it, there was a hole in the universe outside the window. Apparently it was actually just the moon with the sun behind it. But it was the most ominous thing I've ever seen in my life. And we were all experiencing it in the exact same, same way. It was almost like you couldn't look at it for too long. Unlike seeing the Earth or the moon where you're like, I can't stare at this for long enough. It's so beautiful. I'd never want to take my eyes off this. You would look at this crazy thing out the window and you'd be like. And the fact that we all had that opinion about it and felt the same way was really wild.

[B]

That is weird. Now, I know that you guys just got back from the literal moon, but I have to ask, are you already thinking, thinking about the next mission?

[A]

Well, I'm. I'm thinking about other people doing the next mission, for sure. We are really stoked our friends are going to be on Orion. Then some more friends of us are going to be landing on the moon, walking on the moon. And I could not be more excited. I actually think I would be just as excited for this mission if it had been my friends and not me. I am just pumped that we're doing it and we're doing it. You know, we're, we're lighting rockets, we're going. We're keeping up the cadence and we're making it happen. That is. I can't stop thinking about it now.

[B]

I don't know if you can answer this, but I'm not an actual journalist so I'll ask anyway. Do you believe there's life on other planets?

[A]

Oh, well, I don't necessarily believe differently because of anything I've seen or not seen in space.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

But I believe in the strong possibility. I am not really swayed by the fact that we haven't either detected it yet or been contacted yet because I think, you know, all the infinities that are part of the equation. We're just not sure which one wins out in the end. But it would seem very strange to me if in this big universe there was just only one place where it all came together and it was only here. That would be surprising to me.

[B]

So you're saying that you haven't seen anything necessarily.

[A]

And I can, I can definitely tell you we're not that far away. Like in the grand scheme of things. Like, you know, the space station is 250 miles up. It's basically just at Earth and Orion kind of in the Earth moon system. It's not like we're going to a distant galaxy or even a distant solar system within our own galaxy. So I wasn't expecting to like pop out, look out the window and be like, what's that blinking thing? You know, who are you? Yeah, exactly. Hi, I'm ready to speak to you in your language of music. No, I wasn't expecting, expecting that.

[B]

Now, last question is someone who would know what is the most realistic space movie?

[A]

Great question. I. It's a tough one. I always go back to the Martian and a couple reasons why. One is that it depicted the teamwork and kind of the problem solving really well. There were obviously some pretty fantastical things that happened in it. The one thing it did not get right though, and I just have to tell you, this is kind of funny. We actually got to all watch it. All the, the employees of Johnson Space center here at NASA where we work and they showed the entrance to our space center in the movie. And in the movie version it was the super futuristic. There were like fancy lights and signs and if you knew the real government facility that we drive into every day, heavy on the cinder block situation. The entire theater. Yes, at that part. So that was, that was the unrealistic part.

[B]

That's so good to know. It's nice to know that it's just the, the movie optics of the building that really went awry.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, exactly. It's again, not glamorous.

[B]

Yeah. All right, that does it for our speed of light round. One of my favorite parts of the. The summer is going down the shore Parking myself at the beach and staying out there for hours in the sun. With that comes the need for major eye protection that not only makes you feel good, but look good, too. So whenever I'm looking for my next go to pair of sunglasses, I always go to Sunglass Hut. Sunglass Hut has a wide range of brands or any style, and I'm not a very stylish person. But I do have style when it comes to sunglasses because my favorite brand is the tried and true Ray Bans. I love them. Every single pair I get is Ray Bans. I know what I like, and I like what I like. Plus, Sunglass Hut offers a premium shopping experience with expert guidance from shade experts. I need help when I shop because I'm bad at shopping. And the Sunglass Hut shades experts, they have me covered. They'll open the drawers and show you every possible combination of lens and frame. And it's amazing. And they also, I think, know what's going to look good on your face. It takes the stress out of it, truly. I always go to the Suburban Square store. It's been the Sunglass Hut that I've gone to since the first pair I've bought, and they're great. Visit Sunglass Hut and find your perfect pair of shades for summer. Sunglass Hut Own your moment. Checking Allstate first can save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking to make sure that TV remote is out of reach of my oldest. Nothing like turning on show with the volume blasting at 80. Checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. If you're a real one, you know I finally caved and embraced minivan life. All thanks to our Toyota Sienna. And now that it's been a full year, I can somewhat confidently say there's no turning back. I think we love that the Sienna can fit all six Kelsey family members at once. But my girl's favorite feature, that would be the screen in the back. And it's perfect to get a little peace and quiet going to the shore, but they think it only works on long car rides, and we're gonna keep it that way. We have repeatedly watched Aquamarine over and over and over again. It's one of the only ones that I can consistently get all three girls to agree on. I also literally can't lie. I love the Sienna's features, the vacuum well, that's because on long car rides, you know what you have. Snacks. And you know what you have on short car rides. Also, snacks and snacks come with crumbs. And that's why we love the vacuum. If you're looking not only for a great car to get you from point A to point B, but a car the entire family will love, I highly recommend the Toyota Sienna. And going for a test drive at your local Toyota dealership, you can learn [e-mail] sienna and remember, it's not the places we go, but the people we go with that matter. Have you ever rearranged your furniture and discovered the carpet underneath looks brand new while the rest of it looks, well, not so new? It's time for a carpet upgrade. At the Home Depot we have stylish choices at simple prices from all the top brands. Best of all, we can install it for you starting at only 49 cents per square foot. So all you have to do is pick your perfect floor. Start your carpet project today at the Home Depot. How doers get more done Exclusions apply for licenses. See homedepot.com licensenumbers Good sleep is everything. That's why Ollie's science back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L theanine for both kiddos and grown ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help your racing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Ollie Sleep solutions for the whole [e-mail] that's o l l y.com now, something else that's extremely important to me and this podcast is women supporting women. And you're living that every single day. Each time you break a record or make history for women, are you able to grasp the significance of that?

[A]

That is a big challenge for me and I do consider it to be one of the biggest responsibilities that I have. And privileges. I mean, what a privilege, like you've met your heroes. I'm sure you've been a hero and an inspiration. And to imagine how you looked up to people and then try to translate other people's thoughts about you and that that might be how they're thinking is very. It's very hard to do. But I'll say it's actually the only way that I can start to understand it because I don't see myself that way. So I have to actually imagine how I saw my heroes. How did I feel the day I met Sally Ride? And to be honest, that has helped me so much because I feel like I Can't be enough for everyone. And when I remember meeting her specifically, I was one of like a long line of people shaking her hand and moving on, Shaking her hand, moving on. And yet I have the most crystal memory of her looking into my eyes when she shook my hand. And I realized that's all I have to do. I just have to say with my eyes to every young person that I meet, I see you, I know what this means to you, and your dreams are valid. And that's all I have to do. And honestly, I don't think about the records. All I think about them is I hope they're surpassed as soon as possible. I hope the superlatives are beat as soon as possible. I hope all of the only's turn into many's and. But if I can just do that for every person like she did for me, I, that's, that's what I'm trying to do.

[B]

It's so great to hear, especially when you talk about, like supporting the people around you, the way that you spoke about, like your crew members, the people who are also training for missions, the people around you, your team members that might not have been on this specific mission with you, but that you train with on a regular basis. It's so special to hear the way you speak about them and the way you speak about your relationship with them. Because the idea of saying in response to, do you understand the, the gravity of pun intended, the gravity of what you are doing and, and how you are breaking barriers, it is to hear you say that you hope that one becomes many, to hope that people break that through that very quickly, that the quicker they do it, the more success you can, you can sort of summarize it as right, that it's more successful that way. That is so impressive that that is such a cool thought process that you are thinking like rising tides raise all ships in this specific. In it as a whole. Right. Like as NASA as a whole, that if we can just continue to have more women to have. And because you're saying that it's mission driven, they are going to be the most qualified people in those positions.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

And as someone with four daughters and a podcast where we have a lot of parents listening, how would you encourage us to get our girls interested in STEM fields?

[A]

Well, I, you know, I am not a mom, I'm an ally. And I would say that talking. I have so many siblings with kids, so many friends with young kids, and I feel like the important thing is just seeing what they're into and pumping them up about that. And if there's a way to sort of bring in stem, not as a way of saying this is what you should be doing, but just bringing it into their awareness by maybe questioning little things. Maybe that's a sound that you hear when something happens. Maybe that's watching the water come out of the faucet and, and narrow into, into a smaller stream. Just all these little like examples of science, biology, nature, physics in our life. I would say just bring them up and get them to question things like, huh, why does it do that? I wonder? And maybe then they will start to bring that online in their own lives and those little curiosities and not taking things for granted and sort of practicing that. That questioning, I think is something really neat that we can do with our young ones.

[B]

Well, like I said earlier, you are helping to spark those conversations because in our own house we very much had the no, you could also go to space. And it was, it was a very exciting realization. Speaking of parents though, you just referenced that you are an ally to moms even though you don't personally have children. You said. One thing I hear from a lot of my mom friends that I can relate to as an astronau who lived on board the space station for almost 11 months is isolation. Can you share a little bit more about that?

[A]

Yes, for sure. That is something that I've thought a lot about. Loneliness and isolation and this sense that you're going through something where you feel invisible when you go maybe out into the world. No one knows what you just overcame in your own home, trying to get out the door even, or what mess you just cleaned up before you have to turn the other way and suddenly try to present like everything's fine or just your day to day struggle, like how tired you are. And I think as an astronaut, I was doing that thing where I felt like I couldn't talk to people about my day to day struggles. Like I wasn't trusting even my close friend group to be able to support me or understand or be interested in my day to day struggles. And I realized at one point this was not sustainable, that I could not keep going through this alone and not feeling like I could talk to friends about my job. And so I just tried it out once. I was like, man, it was such a rough week. I had to fit in flying the supersonic jet. And I got schooled doing my spacewalk training in the giant pool, the neutral buoyancy lab. And they got it, like they understood and they were right there for it and they, they were listening. And it just reminds me of all the silent things that moms have to go through sometimes when we feel like the world isn't ready to hear what we're actually what moms are going through. And it was just a little bit of an analogy. I don't think what I do is nearly as hard as being a mom. But it was a reminder to me maybe to be on the other side of that friendship to like ask my mom friends how it was going and get specific with them so they knew that this was a space where they could talk about the struggles that maybe weren't necessarily feeling like they were okay to just bring up on the fly. And so I, I think that isolation can be. Can be a way that we connect.

[B]

I think it's so special to. I think it's so special to have that level of awareness because even just you saying like that you don't think that what you do is as hard as what moms do is I think that even you feeling like you have to say that, but knowing that like your friends didn't hesitate that the moms in your life wouldn't hesitate to tell you things so that you felt like you could do the same in your, the, the challenges that you were having at work or feelings that you had about work that it is really like it. It's just, they're not necessary. Like we don't have to compare the two. Both are extremely difficult. And it's so amazing for you to see that in the women around you and your friends and family and to be able to acknowledge that and then find common ground on it is like the most beautiful thing and well done. That's very impressive.

[A]

The honor is all mine. And I reach out to the moms and I make sure they know that even though my day job is to go do crazy astronaut things, I will babysit for you if you need it. I actually babysat recently for a good friend of mine going through a divorce at like 4:45 in the morning so she could go to the gym. And it was, it meant so much to me that she accepted that help and that she was like, you know what? Yeah, I know you're launching to the moon in a month. Please, please come over and, and build, you know, build forts with my 4 year old while I'm at the gym. I will, I will let you do that. And that, that was the most connected I have felt in so long. It was, it was beautiful.

[B]

Well, it's so special because in both situations you're preparing to Go to the moon. She's mothering a child. In both situations, life is still happening. Like the world is still spinning. Right. So it's. That's amazing. Yep. Since I have you, next school year I will have a first grader and a kindergartner. So the science projects are bound to pick up some steam. So I was wondering if you could coach me up a little bit. If you were to come up with a science fair project for a younger kid, do you have any ideas that you could maybe recommend that I could keep in my back pocket for later?

[A]

So. Good. By the way, I think this is the most like, unsung hero moment of parent parenting. When my friends tell me the science projects they did with their kids, I was like, I don't think I could do that. Like, how did you even come up with that idea? Amazing. One of my friends just did this thing with, I live at the beach, like how waves can create energy. And I was blown away. So thinking about space, things that are simple to grasp, something that comes to mind might be things like the speed of light and how there is a delay when you talk to people on the moon and maybe what that delay would be for if they were on Mars versus the moon. So that's kind of a simple one that can be fun. Another one could just be parts of a rocket, like how much, you know how. What happens to the rocket after it goes into space and drops off the space capsule and just kind of the mechanics of that, because even I fully didn't grasp, like how that all happens. It's a very, it's a very wild thing when you find out how rocketry actually works. So looking into that could be fun. And then, you know, there's always the good old fashioned planets. And I will say, like on this mission, when I was looking out and I would see Earth, it looked like it was in like a kid's book or something. It was just way out there, you know, blackness of space behind it, just like in all the books. And in my mind I'm like, what am I going to see? Neptune out this window? Like, what is going on here? There's planets out there. And so, you know, that's always a good one. Like what sports could you do on a given planet? Could you rock climb on Mars or, or Jupiter or not?

[B]

So maybe these are very good suggestions. And honestly, I would just like to point out the lack of delay in your answer was wildly impressive. I would have, I would have been sitting for a while with that one.

[A]

Did you hear the the delay, talking about the wave thing, that was.

[B]

That was me buying time.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I like it. It's very good. Now, last thing I have for you, Christina. We've been talking a little bit more, like I said, about my daughters and us talking about your mission and. And your team's mission. We actually have a segment on here called Tiny Human Question of the Week, where I talk about real questions my kids have asked, usually stuff I cannot answer. And we have had to go to search engines to figure out what the answer is. We did search where do butterflies live? Because we needed to know a little bit more about their migration. We did ask, what is time? There was a moment in time where I was asked, why is my butt so big? It's a whole thing. Yep. They humble you, but I thought it would actually be perfect to have you respond to some of the questions my girls asked me about space since I told them about it.

[A]

I have. I might need Google, but I am ready to.

[B]

We can do that. Okay. How do you go potty in space?

[A]

Oh, that's easy. Luckily, there, you know, obviously no gravity. The stuff does not go down into any kind of toilet like it needs to. So we create something so that it goes where it needs to with a little bit of suction, kind of like a light vacuum cleaner. Not like a really high vacuum cleaner, but just a light vacuum cleaner. There's a funnel on the end of it, so you just, you know, you go number one in the funnel. The same light suction is kind of put into this, a canister with a seat on it, like you might think of like a camping toilet, but with a little bit of suction. So, you know, there's. There's some practice involved, but if you, you know, figure it out and you're careful, everything for number two goes where it should as well. And actually, we also just spray, like, the. The. The number one out into space. On this particular mission, on the space station, it gets recycled into your drinking water.

[B]

That is something I will not be telling them because they will make that into a whole thing at the dinner table.

[A]

You're right.

[B]

And everybody knows. No potty talking at the dinner table. So I'm sorry, I will be keeping that to myself, but I will tell them the first part, so thank you for that. The other thing they wanted to know is, did you see any shooting stars?

[A]

Oh, amazing. We would have had to look back at Earth to see shooting stars, because the shooting part that you see is an actual meteor kind of burning up in the atmosphere. So I think on this particular mission we might have seen one or two at most because we had one instance where we were looking back at like a fully darkened Earth. But for the most part we were not looking back at Earth. And what it would look like, if you can imagine, like dark Earth would just be like a little white line just going across. I did see some on my first space mission when we were in the atmosphere of Earth or just above it.

[B]

I also have to ask the follow up question which is did you wish on it? Very important.

[A]

Always. I saw one the other day. I saw one over the weekend and I wished on it for sure.

[B]

Oh, good. Okay. They, they would feel very confused had you not taken advantage of that opportunity.

[A]

Totally. Definitely. I mean I've been wishing on stars since like five, so I'm not going

[B]

to stop and look at how far you've come with claims of no talent.

[A]

Truth.

[B]

Now this last question is from specifically my 3 year old. What is it like living in outer space with three stinky boys?

[A]

Okay. Yes. They were very considerate. So that's nice. Yes. It wasn't, it was not so bad. It was not. We, we all had to accept each other's humanness in every way on this mission because we were like in one tiny room the whole time.

[B]

Yeah. My. Our three year old believes that girls smell like flowers and boys are stinky. Now she lives with mostly girls and is only conditioned in that way because of my husband.

[A]

So there's amazing.

[B]

But she did, she did want to know if the stinky boys. What it was like.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, in general, would I have loved to have had a girlfriend up there in addition? Sure. But I couldn't ask more of my crewmates. They were absolutely phenomenal. And they, they, they didn't stink too bad.

[B]

Less stinky boys. Good. That's it for tiny human questions. Thank you for that. And I think they're going to be very excited with your answers. Especially the wishing on a star. That's important. I cannot thank you enough for coming on. It has been. We really wanted to make sure that we got you on here, that we were able to chat not only about your incredible accomplishments, but obviously all things space and tiny questions. And most importantly, go birds. We wanted to make sure we were able to say that together. I cannot thank you enough. Thank you so, so much for, for doing this. It was such a pleasure.

[A]

Thank you. The pleasure's been mine. Thank you for having me. It's been a lot of fun.

[B]

And that's it for another episode of Not Gonna Lie. You can find even more clips from my longer conversation with Astronaut Christina on my YouTube channel on More Ship Monday. I'll be back in two weeks with a brand new Summer Kickoff solo episode. But make sure to tune in to FAFO this upcoming Tuesday and see if I fall into a water feature on the golf course or not. Follow us on social media Media GL with Kylie for clips throughout the week. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Not Gonna Lie is a Wave original brought to you by Pull Ups. Thanks again to the real ones for tuning in. Wave. Your next chapter in healthcare starts at Carrington College's School of Nursing in Portland. Join us for our open house on Tuesday, January 13th from 4 to 7pm you'll tour our campus, see live demos, meet instructors and learn about our Associate Degree in Nursing program that prepares you to become a registered nurse. Take the first step toward your nursing career. Save your spot now at Carrington. Edu Events. For information on program outcomes, visit carrington.

[A]

Edu Sci.