Before Terry Hart '68, '88H, ever flew in space, he was a curious kid who took apart appliances, became a mechanical engineer at Lehigh, worked at Bell Laboratories, flew fighter aircraft for the U.S. Air Force, and eventually beat nearly 8,000 applicants to become a NASA astronaut. In part one of a two-part interview, he talks about the event that initially captured his imagination about space, the edge engineering gave him as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, the most fortuitous failure of his life, and why Sally Ride was his favorite copilot. 

Guest bio:

Terry Hart is a teaching full professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Lehigh University and a former NASA astronaut. A Lehigh mechanical engineering alum, he also earned graduate degrees from MIT and Rutgers University before beginning a distinguished career that included engineering at Bell Laboratories, service as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, and selection to NASA's Astronaut Group 8. In 1984, he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-41C, helping complete the first successful repair of a satellite in orbit. He also operated the IMAX camera for the feature The Dream is Alive (1985). Today, Terry shares lessons from engineering, aviation, and human spaceflight with the next generation of engineers at Lehigh University.

Rossin Connection is hosted and produced by Christine Fennessy, with support from the Dean's office at the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.

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