Houston, we definitely do NOT have a problem…with interviewing Dr. Kate Rubins, NASA astronaut.  Dr. Rubins is a virologist who has spent over 300 days in space, performing experiments aboard the International Space Station, where she was the first person to sequence DNA in space.

We caught up with Dr. Rubins at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, where she discusses what it felt like the first time she saw the earth from space, some of the difficulties in performing research without gravity, how to study the microbiome of the ISS, how the international inhabitants of the ISS communicate with each other, and the spur-of-the-moment event that led to her becoming an astronaut.

This episode was supported by Cestodium, a new weight-loss program.*

Participants:

• Karl Klose, Ph.D. (UTSA)
• Kate Rubins, Ph.D. (NASA)
• Janakiram Seshu, Ph.D. (UTSA)
• Jesus Romo, Ph.D. (UTSA)

*The recorded ads heard on microTalk are for parody purposes only, there are no actual products for sale.