The day of my rejection from the astronaut candidate class of 2017

The First Call at the Red Door Cafe Friday September 25, 2015 was the day my life would change forever. The life of someone about to spend a year at the South Pole was surely different than the life of a research scientist in Pasadena and until September 25 I could imagine either but never both. Read More …

My commencement speech at Grandview Heights High School, May 2017

This past May, I had the honor of giving the commencement speech for my old high school, Grandview Heights High School, in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. This is the transcript of my speech. It’s an honor to be back at Grandview Heights High School today, 15 years after I was sitting in your seats. Read More …

Kindred, Octavia Butler

Over the next five months, I’m reading and reviewing ten pioneering works of science fiction written by women. This is my fourth pick. Stay tuned for more. Kindred is the story of Dana, an African-American woman who is inexplicably and repeatedly transported back to the antebellum South from Los Angeles in 1976. Dana’s purpose is Read More …

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler Over the next five months, I’m reading and reviewing ten pioneering works of science fiction written by women. This is my third pick. Stay tuned for more. Parable of the Sower is the haunting tale of twelve year old Lauren Oya Olamina growing up in the United States in 2024. Read More …