In this fifth episode of This Planet’s on Fire, SSPI’s Lou Zacharilla speaks with Nicole Stott, author and retired NASA astronaut. Nicole talks about her new book: Back to Earth: What Life in Space Taught Me About Our Home Planet - and Our Mission to Protect It and how when she first saw Earth from space, she realized how interconnected we are and knew she had to help protect our planetary home.

Nicole Stott is a retired NASA astronaut who performed two important missions on the International Space Station, where she served as flight engineer for Expeditions 20 and 21. She was a Mission Specialist on Space Shuttle Missions 128 and 133. Nicole began her career as a Structural Design Engineer with Pratt & Whitney. She was the first astronaut to have a picture taken with the SSPI logo from space. In 2020, she appeared in a super bowl commercial with Busy Philipps and Lilly Singh riding the first Olay rocket! You can hear more from Nicole in a previous SSPI podcast: Women Making a Better Satellite World.

In Back to Earth, Nicole imparts essential lessons in problem-solving, survival and crisis response that each of us can practice to make change. She knows we can overcome differences to address global issues, because she saw this every day on the International Space Station. Nicole shares stories from her spaceflight and insights from scientists, activists and changemakers working to solve our greatest environmental challenges. She learns about the complexities of Earth’s biodiversity from NASA engineers working to enable life in space and from scientists protecting life on Earth for future generations. Click here to learn more about Back to Earth.

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