A few weeks ago, we sat down with astronaut Nicole Stott when we were in Milan, to talk to her about being a Space Shuttle astronaut, Family and Speedmasters. A day before our Speedy Tuesday event in Milan, we had the opportunity to interview Nicole Stott in the beautiful city of Milan. The event report […]

Visit Video Interview With Astronaut Nicole Stott to read the full article.

 

Interesting interview & questions RJ ... but I could come up with some more detailed spaceflown wristwatch related questions
Great to hear Nicole Stott mentioned the ActiWatch, in fact a light & movement monitoring device carried on a wrist strap...
Here's an interesting NASA photo of the NEEMO-9 mission ( Nicole Stott was a NEEMO-9 diver in April 2006 ) which shows a reminder to remove the ActiWatch during activities in the Aquarius underwater laboratory
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You always have a but ;-) But let me tell you this, that she merely saw it as a backup tool. And she didnt have a deeper understanding of the watch back then. For her it was just a tool, or piece of equipment. No more, no less.

 

As I said very interesting stuff...
Chasing the red line is a less-known fact and some cosmonauts told me that monitoring several experiments at the same time can be stressfull work aboard the ISS... It's not all fun but luckily they have planned R&R time for sports and "weekend"
I always enjoyed NASA's description of the ActiWatch as a waterproof, nonintrusive sleep-wake monitoring device, worn as a wristwatch.
The little ActiWatch contains a photodetector (converting light into voltage) and an accelerometer to measure the wearer's motions & activity.
Doctors look at the Actiwatch Spectrum data in order to analyze sleep-awake patterns, exposure to bright light, 24Hrs circadian rhythms and astronaut's activities...
The NEEMO-9 photo has an ActiWatch on a red strap sitting on top of the computer monitor box, but here's a better view of an ActiWatch on the wrist of ESA-astronaut (& current EAC director) Frank De Winne... together with an Omega X-33 Speedmaster
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@Robert-Jan thanks for sharing, really enjoyed the interview particularly her description of what lift off was like. For us mere mortals it is something that we can only ever imagine and it is fascinating to her from someone that has experienced it.

 

Great interview, RJ. I met Nicole a few years ago with another friend of mine who is also a former astronaut. She is a very "down to Earth" person as I'm sure you realized while interviewing her. What a great ambassador for space exploration ... and tool watches!

 

Indeed RJ she was not a person fully interested into watches, but nice story about the Omega wristwatch she wore for her son...
Short-time visitors (e.g. Intercosmos cosmonauts or astronauts paying to go up to the ISS) tend to carry more personal items...
I have to say, we really like the direction #SpeedyTuesday has been taking lately... Charlie Duke, Nicole Stott,... looking forward what's next !

 

Great interview, Thanks!!!!!