Photo: Collected
Standing on the stage at Playpen school's auditorium, staring at a few hundred school children who were all excitedly anticipating his first words, Astronaut Joseph Acaba simply asked, "Who likes pizza?" As the crowd erupted in laughter and most of the students raised their hands to signal that they loved pizza, Acaba nodded and told them that he, too, loves eating pizza. He then went on to show the audience a video of him and other astronauts cooking pizza in the International Space Station (ISS).
It was a genius way to break the ice; a masterclass in knowing the audience. The students had been waiting in the hall for a while, and they were buzzing with excitement. But they were also cautious and reserved, no doubt having been told to be on their best behaviour by the school admin.
Acaba understood this, and having realised that the students would be nervous, he opened with a fun question that helped the students relax and become confident, while still engaging with them scientifically about how food is made on the ISS.
But of course Acaba knew how to disarm the students and get them to loosen up. After all, according to him, "Teaching is the best job ever."
In 2023 Joseph Acaba was appointed as Chief of the Astronaut Office at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the most senior leadership role that can be pursued by active astronauts.
A lifetime of hard work and diverse experiences culminated in Acaba becoming the Astronaut Chief, but the journey to the position was itself as marvellous as spaceflight.
"There are three things about me that are important to know: firstly, I am a scientist who studied Geology, I am an astronaut, and I am a marine," he exclaimed.
Acaba grew up in California and was always interested in science and maths while in school. He was physically active and always deeply interested in the natural world. He trained to become a certified scuba diver while he was still in high school.
Acaba's scuba diving experiences enamoured him to the earth's environment and he decided to pursue a degree in Geology in both undergraduate and master's studies. "Geology is the study of the Earth. My background in it has been a tremendous help to me as an astronaut. Being able to differentiate how certain processes or things work one way on Earth and differently in space helps us advance our scientific understanding of the universe," he explained.
Acaba went on to work in other positions that reflect his love of the environment, as he managed a research facility in the Bahamas where scientists studied the ocean. He took this opportunity to conduct deep cave diving, and once spent five days in a cave, which he described as a unique and thrilling experience.
Acaba also spent six years in the United States Marine Corp Reserve as a sergeant, and two years in the Peace Corps. "I care about service to my country and to the world. I was in the marine reserves, and I volunteered for the peace corps in the Dominican Republic," he said.
It was in the peace corp that he discovered his love of teaching and educating. He trained hundreds of teachers in teaching methodologies there, and eventually pursued another master's in education.
He went on to teach science and math in schools in America, "Teachers and educators are so important. Without an educator, I would never have become an astronaut," Acaba noted.
Acaba then went on to make history as the first NASA astronaut of Puerto Rican descent. He had a prolific career as an astronaut so far, having been on the ISS on three different missions, with a combined 306 days spent in space.
He hopes to return to space again one day after his duty as chief astronaut is complete. "I miss space every single day. It has been five years since I last went, and I want to go again one day. There is nothing like it."
It takes about eight minutes to reach space once the rocket launches, and from there it takes a few hours to get to the ISS, which is where the astronauts selected for the mission stay for about six months.
"The goal of going to space is to conduct scientific experiments up there in order to gain new knowledge that will enrich life on earth," Acaba states.
They conduct experiments on the human body, such as drawing blood and storing the samples in a frozen container to send to earth for analysis. "One of the tougher experiments that I participated in was growing plants in space. It was scary because I did not want to kill the plants, but we successfully grew them, and in the end they were delicious," he joked.
One of the most important things to consider during months spent in space is how the body reacts to the change. Due to a lack of gravity in the ISS, the human body grows weak and must be properly cared for. "We have to train our muscles in order to stay strong. This is why we are required to spend two hours every day doing exercise," explained Acaba.
"The ISS has a treadmill and other equipment that we can use to train, and the fun thing is, they can be placed anywhere, on the wall above me, or to the side," he added.
Acaba then explained how they receive food on the station, "Visiting vehicles come from Florida to bring us various sorts of food every once in a while. The days when those vehicles come are some of the best. They bring us ice cream, pizza and a lot of other delicious meals, which we then have to retrieve and bring into the station."
Apart from these, Acaba sometimes had to do repairs to the ISS. He mentioned that due to the extensive training he had to go through before the missions, and the fact that there is a whole team of astronauts watching his back in the communications room back in Houston, he doesn't feel afraid when he's in the ISS, except when he has to do spacewalk.
Spacewalk is when an astronaut has to don the full space suit and go outside the space station, into the vastness of space, in order to conduct repairs or analysis. "The only thing that scared me was spacewalk, which I had to do a couple of times," Acaba says.
Spending so many months in space can be a disorienting experience for some when they finally return to earth. As strange as zero gravity feels initially, the human body is incredible at adapting to different situations, and eventually it normalises living without gravity too.
As such, when Akaba first returned to the planet, he started feeling the effects of gravity.
"Even though we do daily exercise in space to keep our bones strong, nothing prepares us for what it feels like to go from zero gravity to earth's gravity. Every day felt heavy, and it left me wondering how people live on earth," Acaba says humorously. He adds, "But within a week I was back to normal."
The other odd situation he faced was the balancing of his inner ear being off. This led him to feel awful while standing up but feel great when he was laying down.
In order to make sure the transition to earth is smooth, he along with the other astronauts went through 45 days of rehabilitation, with periodic mental and physical check-ups.
According to Acaba, these are exciting times for space travel. In the past, only government workers, and those professionally trained could hope to go to space, but now they are planning space travel for civilians. Private corporations are starting to enter the scene as well.
Another exciting contemporary space mission is the Artemis programme, which seeks to send people to the moon again in 2026, the first time since the 1970s. In fact, Acaba is one of the 19 astronauts chosen to be eligible to go back to the moon, putting him in the same level as legendary figures like Neil Armstrong.
Finally, Acaba mentioned the role of AI in future space travel, "Back in my time, AI was not that important for space travel, because we had a team behind us in Houston taking care of us. But in the future, once we go to the moon, we are also planning to send people to Mars. With missions that far out, AI will be pivotal in helping us make decisions on the go."
He wrapped up by proclaiming that one day he wants to sit in an auditorium across from the students and listen to them talk about their experiences in space. "I want to see you walk on the moon. So, study hard," he concluded.
Messenger/JRTarek
