He was seven years old when he knew he wanted to be a scientist or an engineer. So he focused his school studies on the subjects that would support that career choice.  Now, he wishes he’d spent a little more time on English and History. He didn’t realize as a scientist how much writing he would have to do.  

In a recent interview, Alan Stern sat down and talked with our host, Richard Wiese, for the Explorers podcast. We learned about the journey he took to become a scientist and some highlights and disappointments along the way. 

Alan worked as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman between his Freshman and Sophomore years at college.  He learned the art of selling, which helped him pitch ideas later in life.  Once he finally completed his college years, he took a job in Colorado in a big scientific lab and found his calling.   

He was off to a rough start, being put in charge of the satellite being carried into space by the Challenger, which was obviously destroyed during that ill-fated expedition. 

These days, Alan works on multiple missions concurrently to take place in deep space.  He regards space exploration as a kind of gateway drug to STEM careers.  He observes that kids are always keenly interested in dinosaurs and space… and that the dinosaurs always lose to space!  

His bucket list is simple.  He wants to go into space… a lot!  He wants to be able to work in space as a researcher. 

To learn more about Planetary Scientist and Space Explorer Alan Stern, visit his website. To hear about other explorers, join us for new episodes of Life’s Tough: Explorers are TOUGHER! !At https://www.lifestough.com/podcast/explorers/. 

Richard Wiese, the host of this podcast, is an American explorer. He is the author of the guidebook, Born to Explore: How to Be a Backyard Adventurer. He became the youngest person to become president of the Explorers Club in 2002. Richard is also Executive Producer and Host of the PBS weekly television series Born to Explore with Richard Wiese.