Former astronaut discusses perspectives from space

"Not enough people in this world, I think, carry a cosmic perspective with them. It could be life-changing."

- Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist

PICATINNY ARSENAL, NJ -- Sandra Magnus had dreamed of being an astronaut since she was a little girl. When she turned 36 she got her first chance to travel to space.

The former NASA astronaut, and current Executive Director American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronauticsm, shared reflections, perspectives and lessons learned from her experiences in space with Picatinny Arsenal employees on March 30.

USE IT OR LOSE IT:

"When you're in space for longer than two weeks, you must exercise. If you don't exercise, you will lose minerals from your bones and your muscles will atrophy," Magnus said.

Because she exercised regularly on special equipment designed for space, she was able to walk off the shuttle - although the doctors did not let her walk too far because they wanted to get medical data from her body before it readapted to gravity.

"When I came back I was strong, I could walk, but my balance and my spatial awareness was all messed up," she said. "The vestibular system in my inner ears was confused. I went four and a half months without gravity and now I had this vector applied to it and it didn't really know what to do. I felt like I had a standing wave in my head."

The issue was so bad that Magnus had trouble turning corners without hitting the walls. Her body had also forgotten how to jump and land properly.

"So there are all these little things that were going on in my body because I had been out of the gravity environment for so long. Some things that really shocked me, which is where the "use it or lose it" comes into play.

"It made me appreciate all of those comments about staying active when you get older and keeping your body engaged and your brain engaged, because it deteriorates if you don't use it. My body deteriorated much faster because I was in an extreme environment. But it happens to you on a daily basis. If you don't use it, you will lose it. Your body will deteriorate, your mind will deteriorate, so stay active."

DON'T LET FEAR STOP YOU:

Magnus often gets asked if she was afraid of going into space. The answer is no.

"It's something I had wanted to do since I was a little girl. I was 36 by the time I finally got to launch and 31 when I joined National Corps. You know, 20 or 22 years after I had first dreamed of going to space, I was finally going. No, I was not afraid, I was incredibly excited."

Because Magnus was asked for years if she had been afraid to venture into space, she tried to determine what makes people afraid.

"The things that are scary to us as humans is the unknown. For those of you that know how to swim, the first time you got thrown into a swimming pool and putting your head under water, that was a little scary. Walking down a dark alley at night is scary because you don't know what's there. So as humans we're very frightened by the unknown."

Astronauts train a lot, so Magnus believes that the unknowns are fewer for astronauts.

"I think a lot of people stop themselves from doing things because they are afraid of that unknown. Which is kind of ironic because if you look at who we are as human beings, we are naturally explorers. Why are we exploring in space? For lots of reasons, but partly because we're explorers as human beings.

"You have to find a way to balance that right? So I would encourage you to embrace the unknown. And recognize that when you're in new situation, you can't let yourself be stopped by the fear of the unknown. Just figure out everything you need to know or can know about it and move forward and embrace it. Don't let it stop you from doing anything."

SPEND TIME DOING THINGS YOU VALUE:

"Being an astronaut was a wonderful job and I loved it and feel so fortunate that I got to do the thing I had dreamed of doing. But the one catch is that I didn't control my schedule," Magnus said. "The whole time I was there I had people scheduling my time and telling me where I was going, when I was going, how long I was going to stay there.

"So there was a limited amount of ability to manage parts of my life. And that made me realize how precious time was. I enjoyed everything that I was doing. I wouldn't change it for a minute. But it gives you a different perspective. It made me realize that time is our most precious commodity.

"I can always find ways to make a dollar.

"But if I spend a second, I never get that second back. We're all go through phases where we're constantly fighting that money-versus-time battle, depending on where you are in your career or your family situation.

"You want to spend your time doing things you really value that are fun, interesting and challenging and fulfilling for you.

"Because when you spend that time you're never getting it back.