Moonshot

Moonshot Plot Summary

Introduction

Mike Massimino never seemed like a typical astronaut. As a working-class kid from Long Island with bad eyesight and a fear of heights, his path to the stars was far from guaranteed. Yet through sheer determination and perseverance, he overcame countless obstacles to fulfill his childhood dream of space exploration. What makes Massimino's journey so compelling isn't just that he reached space, but how he got there – and the wisdom he gathered along the way. Massimino's experiences as an astronaut – from his grueling training to his historic spacewalks repairing the Hubble Space Telescope – offer profound insights on human potential and resilience. Throughout his extraordinary journey, he learned invaluable lessons about teamwork, leadership, and adapting to change. His story demonstrates that success isn't just about individual achievement but about supporting others, maintaining perspective during challenges, and finding wonder in even the most difficult circumstances. These lessons extend far beyond the realm of space exploration, offering guidance for anyone pursuing their own personal "moonshot" – those seemingly impossible dreams that require both courage and perseverance to achieve.

Chapter 1: The One-in-a-Million Dream: Perseverance Against All Odds

In March 1992, Mike Massimino sat in his tiny Cambridge apartment watching the Oscars when something unexpected caught his attention – a live broadcast from the space shuttle crew in orbit. As he watched the astronauts floating weightlessly, a powerful realization struck him: "I have to be one of those people." Yet almost immediately, doubt crept in. "But you'll never get to do that, Mike. Becoming an astronaut is impossible. It's a one-in-a-million shot." But then Massimino did something that would define his approach to life's challenges. He calculated that one in a million is not zero – it's just a really small number: 0.000001. It's only when you don't try that the possibility disappears entirely. This mathematical epiphany kept his space dream alive, even as he faced rejection after rejection from NASA's Astronaut Program. His first application in 1989 resulted in a simple "No." His second application in 1991 received the same response. But Massimino persisted. On his third attempt in 1995, he made it to the interview stage, only to be medically disqualified due to his eyesight. His vision couldn't be corrected to NASA's stringent 20/20 standard. For many, this would have been the end of the road – a definitive, insurmountable obstacle. But Massimino refused to accept defeat. Rather than giving up, he approached his vision problem like an engineering challenge. He abandoned his orthokeratology lenses that had flattened his eyeballs and began a program of vision training with Dr. Desiree Hopping. For seven months, he dedicated himself to strengthening his eye muscles through special exercises, staring at charts and marbles with deep concentration. His persistence paid off when he was finally cleared to reapply, and in 1996, he received the call he'd been waiting for – he was accepted into the NASA Astronaut Class. Massimino's journey demonstrates that success often comes not to those with the most natural talent, but to those who refuse to quit. While others might apply once to NASA, get turned down, and decide the rejection is too painful to try again, Massimino kept going despite multiple setbacks. His story reminds us that the only guaranteed way to fail is to stop trying. As he puts it, "Successful people are not those who never failed. Successful people are those who never let failure stop them."

Chapter 2: Teamwork: No One Leaves the Pool Until Everyone Passes

Shortly after receiving his acceptance letter to NASA, Massimino discovered a requirement that nearly derailed his dreams: he needed to pass a swim test. Despite growing up on Long Island surrounded by water, Massimino had always avoided swimming. He hated the cold water, disliked having his head underwater, and had never properly learned to swim as a child. Now, facing a rigorous test that included long-distance swimming, drownproofing, lifesaving, and treading water while wearing a full flight suit and boots, he was terrified. When the new astronaut class gathered for their first meeting, their class sponsor, Jeff Ashby, asked for a show of hands from both strong and weak swimmers. Then he made an announcement that would forever change Massimino's understanding of teamwork: the strong swimmers would help the weak swimmers prepare over the weekend because "when we do this on Monday, we don't want to leave the pool until everyone passes the test." This approach stood in stark contrast to the hyper-individualistic culture Massimino had experienced in previous jobs. At NASA, just like in the military, lives depend on each other, and the metric for success is how well you contribute to the group. If one person failed, the whole team failed. The strong weren't a burden to the weak; they were resources to help everyone succeed together. That Saturday, Massimino and the other struggling swimmers gathered at astronaut Peggy Whitson's backyard pool. Navy diver Heidi Piper and English earth scientist Piers Sellers gave him pointers on technique. There was no judgment or condescension, just a shared commitment to collective success. By Monday, Massimino was no longer filled with dread but with confidence, knowing he had forty-three teammates backing him up. The swim test itself proved challenging, especially the treading water portion, but everyone passed. They had succeeded as a team. This experience taught Massimino that winning as a team is only part of the story – perhaps even more important is learning how to fail as a team. When mistakes happen, the strongest teams don't throw individuals under the bus; they stand together and share responsibility. Years later, during a spacewalk on the Hubble Space Telescope mission, Massimino accidentally damaged a small antenna tip. Rather than allowing him to shoulder the blame alone, the entire crew shared responsibility for the mishap. The incident reinforced what Massimino had learned in that pool: true teamwork means supporting each other through both successes and failures, recognizing that none of us can navigate complex challenges alone.

Chapter 3: Communication: Speaking Up When It Matters Most

Early in his astronaut training, Massimino learned a critical lesson about communication that would stay with him throughout his career. During a training flight in a T-38 jet with experienced Air Force pilot Jim "Vegas" Kelly, Massimino made a potentially fatal mistake. After takeoff, when Kelly turned in the wrong direction following a last-minute heading change from the tower, Massimino—despite noticing the error—said nothing, assuming the veteran pilot knew what he was doing. Seconds later, the tower controller's urgent voice came over the radio ordering an immediate turn to avoid a collision with another aircraft. After they corrected course, Kelly asked Massimino why he hadn't spoken up. The rookie's silence could have gotten them both killed. "The number one thing you need to learn from tonight," Kelly told him firmly, "is that you have to speak up when you see something that could be wrong. It doesn't matter that I have thousands of hours in the air and you have only a couple." This lesson became a prevailing ethic at NASA: everyone has a voice when safety or mission success is concerned. Massimino learned that newcomers and rookies are often the most observant people on a team precisely because they're learning with fresh eyes. Meanwhile, veterans can become so habituated to their environment that they miss critical details. The importance of speaking up was reinforced during a later flight when Massimino identified a weather balloon obstacle in their flight path that his instructor had missed. By pointing it out, he potentially saved their lives. But speaking up doesn't just apply to seeing others' mistakes—it's equally vital when you've made a mistake yourself. NASA's culture requires astronauts to publicly confess safety incidents during Monday morning meetings. While embarrassing, these confessions are necessary for the team to operate safely, which is why they're never held against anyone. The only unforgivable sin is attempting to cover something up. Massimino recounts the cautionary tale of an astronaut who ran his T-38 off a taxiway and failed to report it, potentially endangering the next pilot. The crew chief discovered evidence of the incident, and the astronaut's career was effectively over—not because of the mistake, but because of his failure to speak up about it. For leaders, there's a corollary to the "speak up" rule: actively encourage newcomers to voice concerns and reward them when they do, even when their observations turn out to be incorrect. As Massimino advanced in his career, he made a point of listening to rookie space fliers with new ideas, recognizing that a fresh perspective is often the best perspective. This openness led to innovations like the "Pick Stick" tool developed by newcomer Drew Feustel, which revolutionized the approach to repairing Hubble's gyroscopes during Massimino's second mission.

Chapter 4: Trust: Finding Confidence in Training, Equipment and Team

The morning of Massimino's first space launch in March 2002 brought a moment of stark terror. As he approached the space shuttle Columbia in the pre-dawn darkness, he saw it billowing with vapor from its cryogenic fuel, making metallic groans and creaks that made the vessel seem alive and angry. After years of dreaming about space, Massimino had a sudden thought: "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." But with no escape route visible—the driver had already left, and security personnel stood watch—he had no choice but to continue. Once inside the shuttle, however, his training kicked in. He knew what to do and felt confidence return. This experience taught him a mantra he would call the "Three Trusts": Trust Your Training, Trust Your Gear, and Trust Your Team. These principles would guide him through his most challenging moments in space and beyond. Trusting your training means believing in the judgment of those who trained you. If they believe in you, you need to believe in yourself. During Massimino's preparation for the Hubble mission, despite his self-doubts as a rookie, Hubble servicing manager Mike Weiss reassured him: "Even if you've got doubts about whether you're ready, you're ready." NASA wasn't sending him to space with their fingers crossed—they were experts in training astronauts, and their confidence was all the proof he needed. Trusting your gear means having faith in the machinery and equipment that keeps you safe. For astronauts, this includes everything from the T-38 training jets to the space shuttle itself. Massimino recalls watching a technician meticulously applying epoxy to a joint on a solid rocket motor, showing the care that went into every component. This attention to detail gave him confidence that the rocket would perform perfectly on launch day. The third and most crucial trust is Trusting Your Team. This means having faith in the engineers, technicians, and fellow astronauts who support your mission. Massimino built this trust through personal relationships, visiting contractor sites and meeting the dedicated workers who built and maintained the spacecraft. These relationships created mutual bonds of trust that held the entire operation together. Even with these three trusts firmly in place, tragedies can still occur, as demonstrated by the Columbia disaster in 2003. The accident showed that mistakes and equipment failures can happen despite the best precautions. But the response to this tragedy demonstrated how trust can be rebuilt: through transparency, accountability, and a commitment to learning from mistakes. NASA made no attempt to cover up what happened or shift blame. Instead, they conducted a thorough investigation that identified not only physical failures but also organizational and cultural weaknesses, leading to improved operations that made the space program stronger than before.

Chapter 5: Leadership: Admiring and Caring for Every Team Member

During his first year at NASA, Massimino attended a talk by Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon. Rather than highlighting his achievements, Bean chose to share his mistakes and the lessons he'd learned. He recounted how his Apollo 12 commander, Pete Conrad, once told him, "You don't know the first rule about being a good team leader." When Bean asked what that rule was, Conrad replied: "The First Rule of Leadership is to find a way to admire and care about every member of your team." Bean initially dismissed this advice, especially regarding the "three or four characters at the back" of every meeting who seemed to contribute little. But over time, he observed how respected leaders like Jim McDivitt knew everyone's names and treated all team members with equal respect. By the time Bean commanded Skylab, he had learned to value every person on his team, which made him a more effective leader. For Massimino, who had always preferred being "the guy behind the guy," this lesson was transformative. As he took on greater leadership roles at NASA, he put Bean's advice into practice, particularly during the complex Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) repair on his second Hubble mission. When working with an engineer whose contributions were often dismissed by the team, Massimino made a special effort to get to know him. Rather than viewing him as difficult, Massimino reframed his perspective: "When you're having problems with someone, don't think of it as 'I don't like them.' Rather, think of it as 'I don't know them well enough.'" Through this approach, Massimino discovered the engineer was extraordinarily smart and dedicated to the mission's success. His suggestions, though sometimes delivered awkwardly, were often valuable. By showing respect and highlighting these contributions in team briefings, Massimino helped integrate the engineer into the team. This proved crucial when the engineer identified a problem with removing the STIS power supply card and engineered a solution that worked perfectly during the mission. From these experiences, Massimino developed what he calls the "Bank of Good Thoughts" - mentally storing positive attributes about each team member to recall when facing challenges. This approach recognizes that everyone has shortcomings and will occasionally disappoint or disagree with others. The key is to address issues after first recalling why you admire and care for that person. This prevents negative thoughts from driving decisions and damaging relationships. Today, Massimino applies these leadership principles in his academic career at Columbia University and in his public speaking engagements. Even when crossing paths with someone briefly, showing appreciation for their abilities builds trust and inspires their best work. The First Rule of Leadership transformed Massimino's approach to teamwork and remains one of the most valuable lessons from his NASA career - a life-changing insight from the fourth man to ever set foot on the moon.

Chapter 6: Adaptability: Embracing Change and Finding New Purpose

When space shuttle Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base on May 25, 2009, concluding Massimino's second mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, he felt a bittersweet pang. This was one of the final flights of the Space Shuttle Program, which would end just two years later. Major changes were coming to NASA and to Massimino's life, whether he was ready for them or not. The space program itself was undergoing a fundamental transformation. After the shuttle's retirement, NASA established the Commercial Crew Program, partnering with companies like SpaceX to design, build, and operate spacecraft. This shift meant astronauts would communicate with SpaceX's control center in California rather than Houston's Mission Control, and many tasks traditionally performed manually by astronauts would now be handled by automated systems and artificial intelligence. Many veteran astronauts, including Massimino, initially resisted these changes. The automation in the cockpit was particularly difficult to accept. Yet as the new programs developed, the advantages became clear. SpaceX demonstrated that computer intervention in emergency scenarios was often safer than human response, and their reusable rocket technology significantly reduced launch costs. What seemed like a threat to traditional astronaut culture ultimately expanded access to space for both people and scientific experiments. As NASA transformed, Massimino faced his own pivotal moment in April 2010 when Peggy Whitson, Chief of the Astronaut Office, offered him a six-month expedition on the International Space Station. This long-duration flight would require extensive training in Russia and prolonged absence from his family. Despite the opportunity to live in space—something his childhood self would have treasured—Massimino felt ambivalent. His children were at an age when they needed him, and he ultimately declined the assignment. Walking out of Whitson's office, he experienced a profound realization: he'd just turned down a flight assignment, effectively ending his active astronaut career. "Is an astronaut who doesn't go to space really even an astronaut anymore?" he wondered. With the Shuttle Program ending and long-duration ISS missions not aligning with his family needs, he needed to find a new path forward. The answer emerged from Massimino's longstanding passion for sharing the story of space exploration. In 2009, he had sent the first tweet from space, connecting with the public in new ways. NASA increasingly asked him to represent the agency in media appearances, including recurring roles on late-night television shows and eventually a guest spot on "The Big Bang Theory" that evolved into a recurring role. Meanwhile, Massimino returned to academia, first as executive director of the Rice Space Institute, then as a visiting professor at Columbia University, his alma mater. This combination of teaching and media work allowed him to continue telling the story of space while building a sustainable post-NASA career.

Chapter 7: Wonder: Staying Amazed at the Universe Around Us

During Massimino's second spacewalk on the Hubble Space Telescope, a rare break in the action allowed him a moment to look over his shoulder at Earth. The sight overwhelmed him with emotion. "This is something I'm not supposed to see," he thought. "It's too beautiful for human eyes." The blue marble of our planet against the blackness of space stirred such profound feelings that he had to look away, afraid he might tear up inside his spacesuit. When he gathered the courage to look again, a new thought crossed his mind: "If you were in heaven, this is what you would see. This is the view from heaven." He watched the terminator line – the boundary between day and night – move steadily across the planet, a motion that had continued unchanged for billions of years despite the rise and fall of civilizations below. Looking at his gloved hands and the technology that allowed him to survive in the vacuum of space, he felt the miraculous nature of human ingenuity. Simultaneously, he realized how fragile Earth's atmosphere is – as thin as the outer layer of an onion skin, and as vulnerable as the suit protecting his body. This sense of wonder has sustained Massimino through life's challenges ever since. He discovered that amazement can be a choice, not just something that happens to you. During a difficult cold-weather training exercise in Canada, he initially focused on his discomfort until he forced himself to embrace the experience. Standing on a frozen lake in the middle of the night, looking up at the brilliant stars in the crystal-clear sky, he realized he was having an extraordinary experience despite his initial misery. His mindset shifted, and the remaining days flew by. What Massimino missed most while in space were the sensory experiences unique to Earth – the smells of fresh-cut grass and flowers, the sounds of birds and rustling leaves, the changing weather patterns, and most importantly, people. After returning from space, he found a new appreciation for crowds and human connection, something the pandemic later helped others understand as well. His definition of "home" expanded from his hometown on Long Island to encompass the entire planet – our shared home. Keeping this "big picture" perspective helps Massimino through difficult times. When his job feels mundane or the sacrifices seem too great, he remembers why his work matters. Looking at Hubble's image of the Omega Centauri star cluster – what he calls "the big picture" – reminds him of the larger purpose behind daily challenges. It's this sense of purpose and wonder that makes any career worthwhile. Today, Massimino encourages others to pause and appreciate our remarkable world. Taking a moment to enjoy our planet's beauty, embracing challenging situations as opportunities for growth, and remembering the bigger purpose behind our work can transform our perspective. Far from making us feel insignificant, contemplating the universe helps us recognize the miracle of our existence and inspires us to make the most of our time on this remarkable planet we all call home.

Summary

Mike Massimino's journey from a self-doubting kid from Long Island to NASA astronaut exemplifies the power of perseverance, teamwork, and maintaining perspective in the face of seemingly impossible challenges. His story teaches us that our greatest limitations are often self-imposed, and that with determination and the right mindset, even the most improbable dreams can become reality. Perhaps the most profound insight from his experiences is that success isn't a solo endeavor—it requires trusting others, speaking up when necessary, finding value in every team member, and maintaining a sense of wonder about the world around us. The lessons from Massimino's extraordinary career extend far beyond space exploration. Whether facing personal challenges, leading a team, or navigating significant life changes, his approach offers valuable guidance: remember that one in a million is not zero, trust your training and your team, speak up when something doesn't seem right, find ways to appreciate everyone you work with, and never lose your capacity for amazement. These principles have universal application, helping us overcome obstacles, build stronger relationships, and find meaning in our work. Ultimately, Massimino shows us that pursuing our own "moonshots"—whatever they may be—isn't just about reaching a destination, but about becoming the kind of person who can make the journey worthwhile.

About Author

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Mike Massimino

Mike Massimino served as a NASA Astronaut from 1996 until 2014 and flew in space twice: STS-109 on space shuttle Columbia in March 2002 and STS-125 on space shuttle Atlantis in May 2009 – the final two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. Mike became the first human to tweet from space, was the last human to work inside of Hubble, and set a team record with his crewmates for the most cumulative spacewalking time in a single space shuttle mission. Mike has a recurring role as himself on The Big Bang Theory; appears regularly on late night talk shows, news programs, and documentaries; and is a much sought after inspirational speaker. He received his BS from the Columbia University School of Engineering, and his two MS’s and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He currently lives in New York City where he is an engineering professor at Columbia and an advisor at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum.

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