Experience an American Space Launch with NASA Astronaut Woody Spring

Special new release video interview with former NASA Astronaut Woody Spring who shares first-hand the sensation of launching from historic pad 39A, the launch site of the Apollo moon and space shuttle missions, and discusses Wednesday’s ground-breaking joint NASA and SPACEX two-man American flight to the International Space Station. It’s an epic moment for modern space exploration, and Woody provides just the right insight to bring together the importance of this mission and American space capabilities. The Future is bright!

San Diego, Calif. – May 25, 2020 – A Special new release video interview with former NASA Astronaut Woody Spring who shares first-hand the sensation of launching from historic pad 39A, the launch site of the Apollo moon and space shuttle missions, and discusses Wednesday’s ground-breaking joint NASA and SPACEX two-man American flight to the International Space Station. It’s an epic moment for modern space exploration, and Woody provides just the right insight to bring together the importance of this mission and American space capabilities. The Future is bright!

The entire video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/u1FsWVcjy5Y.

During the interview, which was conducted by San Diego Air & Space Museum President & CEO Jim Kidrick, Spring focuses on this Wednesday’s launch from pad 39A of two Americans in a Dragon space capsule aboard a Falcon rocket, both of which were built on American soil by SPACEX, from the Kennedy Space Center, the first launch of Americans into space from the United States in almost a decade since the completion of the Space Shuttle program.

Spring also talks about the importance of future space travel, the unprecedented successes of Elon Musk and SpaceX, and teaching future generations about Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Innovation.

During his NASA career, Spring spent more than 165 hours in space aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, including 12 hours performing two EVAs, or space walks.

Spring is a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, where he earned a degree in Engineering. After graduation, he served two tours of duty in Vietnam, the first with the famed 101^st Airborne Division. The second tour came immediately after flight school, where he served as a helicopter pilot with the First Cavalry Division. When he returned from Vietnam, he earned a master’s degree from the University of Arizona in 1974.

After a short stint as a flight test engineer, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, before returning to the Army’s Flight Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base to complete four years as an experimental test pilot before joining NASA. Today, Spring is a professor at the Defense Acquisition University.

The entire video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/u1FsWVcjy5Y.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is California’s official air and space museum and education center. The Museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and was the first aero-themed Museum to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Now Open: “SPACE: Our Greatest Adventure,” an informative, educational, interactive -- and most of all FUN! -- experience for the whole family, with selfie stations on the Moon and Mars, and hands-on learning experiences for explorers of all ages. The Museum is located at 2001 Pan American Plaza, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101. The Museum and gift store are open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with admissions until 4:30 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Museum has been temporarily closed to the public since March 16 in the interest of public health concerns.