Luca Parmitano

I had the fortunate opportunity this flight to have the chief of the astronaut office call a meeting where all the crew members were present.

And that was really special for me because my previous flights, it was me and the chief, and that was it.

And my crew that I was going to be flying with was not there.

And so that was just afterwards I sat and was just really thankful for that, for everybody to find out about each other at the same time.

Certainly, we started off and have very little time together so far, but the majority of the time we've been together, we've been laughing.

That is a very good sign to me that with the stresses of the limited time or the complexity or the weight of the mission, that being able to have that levity and comfort with each other will make the mission go very smoothly.

Well, I certainly was always interested in flight because our house was under the traffic pattern of the Santa Monica Airport where I grew up.

And I looked out the window and just watched planes go around and listen to them.

It was just fascinating to me.

And...

So my father was a pilot, but it wasn't because of what he did.

It was just it was innately fascinating to me.

So I was super fortunate to be able to get a scholarship from the Marine Corps to attend college.

And that then took me to flight school where you get the opportunity to fly aircraft.

You know, a trainer aircraft, and then they decide what you go to fly, you know, whether it's jets or helicopters.

And so certainly a lot of people have your druthers, but it's always the needs of the service.

So I happened to be at the fortunate time where I did well enough in flight school where I got selected to fly jets.

And then when I finished up my jet training, I was fortunate enough to be selected to be able to fly F-18s.

And so, you know, doing that and being able to master that airplane, become a training officer, attend, you know, Top Gun and our weapons schools was awesome because you're at the pinnacle of that tactical aviation.

And then what next?