Job Experience: Technician, Outer Space Beat Reporter

I get to interview an astronaut soon.

Just... let it sit for a second.

An astronaut.

If you had told me last year I would ever be given the chance to interview an astronaut, I would have laughed in your face and resumed my nap. Hey remember when I took naps? Remember when I lived in Avent Ferry? If taking naps positively correlated to living in Avent Ferry, to hell with naps.

Anyway. Astronaut. What am I going to ask an astronaut?

I can see it now:

Actual script of Alison Harman's April 12 interview with Rick Linnehan, NASA. Asterisks indicate moments in which Harman paused awkwardly for extensive amount of time. The amount of asterisks correlates with exactly how extensively awkward the pause was.

Harman: So what was it like? Going up in space? I mean, oh my god. SPACE. Tell me. What. It was. Like.

Linnehan: [pauses] Well, it was breathtaking and, at the same time, scary as hell. You never realize how --

Harman: YEAH. I read something about that, about how the space men, you know, feel all this stuff but really it's just the nerves and then they get up into space and it's just like ** wow.

Linnehan: ... Yeah.

Harman: Oh yes. ************** Well, what was it like then? Did anything really bad happen?

Linnehan: I can't really talk about that. You know, top-secret NASA stuff.

Harman: Oh my god, I forgot you worked for NASA. What? How could I forget that!! I've always wanted to work for NASA. If you read my blog, you'd know that. But of course you don't, you're too bust flying up into space! Also, I'm not good at math at all so I'd be a real awful astronaut. Are you good at math? I'm not. Also, I want to work writing about NASA. For NASA, writing about NASA. So basically what I'm doing now, but all about NASA, and also I'd get paid more. Do you think I'd be good at that????


It would be a really wonderful interview.