“There are people alive today who one day will be flying around the world regularly— and it will take them 40 minutes, not 18 hours”

from stanford, harvard, cornell, and Johns hopkins are doing genetic and molecular studies of us. we obviously have a lot in common, but we are different people.

DA: When you saw the earth from space for the first time, how did you feel? MK:

i looked over my shoulder and there was the planet in the space shuttle window, and i thought: holy s--t!

DA: Did you have any kind of religious or spiritual experience up there? MK:

i was so busy; there was no time for anything like that. i was concerned about getting things done and that my people were okay.

DA: On a different note, how long have you been a fan of Breitling watches? MK:

a long time. i’m a collector! My first Breitling was the original emergency model [the world’s first wristwatch with a built-in dual-frequency personal locator beacon]. i never had to use the beacon, but it was good to know it was there. i think every pilot in the military should have an emergency. The association of naval aviation asked me to wear the Breitling naval centennial limited edition airwolf watch for my last shuttle flight, which i was happy to do. My brother is wearing a Breitling navitimer 1461 on the space station.

DA: Last but not least, how is your balloonsin-space project going? MK:

good. we are in the middle of the first stage of development and testing. we hope to fly a full-size vehicle by the end of 2016. in three or four years, we will be flying passengers every week. i think we are close to getting back to the feeling for aviation that people had in the 1930s, when flying airplanes was new and exciting. There are people alive today who one day will be flying around the world regularly—and it will take them 40 minutes, not 18 hours.