“I want to be an astronaut.”
It’s not too surprising to hear that from kids when asked the all-too-common question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” But most people do just that — grow up — and move on to something else more, well, realistic.
Not Michael Pecaut, PhD. He started his dream like lots of other kids — when he saw something that looked like a lot of fun. In his case, it was a visit from a NASA official to Pecaut’s elementary school, who took a blow torch and scorched a tile from a space shuttle.
“It was the coolest thing,” Pecaut recalls, with an excitement in his voice and a little sparkle in his eyes as if he were still 8 years old. “Ever since then I wanted to be an astronaut.”
But unlike most people, his dream never faded. In his spare time, Pecaut read science fiction. Academically, he got as close as he could — his BS, MS and PhD are all in aerospace engineering — before joining LLU School of Medicine in 1999. He currently serves as vice chair, division of radiation research, and professor, basic sciences.
Even when his eyesight got in the way — NASA didn’t allow its astronauts to wear glasses — he didn’t lose hope. He kept dreaming until he got the break he needed: NASA changed its “no glasses” policy. So, just six months ago, he applied to be an astronaut.
He knows his odds are slim — he’s one of 18,000 applicants. But what kind of a dream would it be if statistics stood in the way? Instead he remains focused on how he could contribute as a NASA astronaut.
“In our latest space flight experiment, we will inoculate animals in space with a vaccine to see if there are changes in antibody responses and immune memory,” Pecaut says. While other organizations are trying to do this type of research, Loma Linda University was the first to be funded by NASA to do an in-flight vaccination. Plus, since astronauts have little training in handling animals, Pecaut is ready to step in and provide his expertise.
Where in space would his expertise be best utilized? While NASA selects the mission for its astronauts, Pecaut hopes to go to Mars. NASA currently has a plan for a three-year mission for the first visit to Mars, including the return trip home, which would be a good length of time to fulfill his lifelong dream. If Mars were livable, however, Pecaut would consider staying there for the rest of his life.
“Sure, why not?” he asks casually. “All I have is my dog. It makes leaving a little bit easier. If I had a family it’d be harder. But I want to be a scientist forever.”
And for Michael J. Pecaut, PhD, aerospace engineer, professor, researcher and kid who never lost his dream, there’s no better place to do that than … Mars.