Motorcyclist, astronaut 'Digger' Carey speaks Monday

Astronaut Duane G. Carey, STS-109 pilot, consults a reference manual on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Columbia during his mission in 2002. Carey will be speaking to students at McCook and St. Pat's school Monday, inspiring them to prepare themselves for the future, no matter what obstacles they may face. (Courtesy photo) [Click to enlarge]

Motorcycles and space ships. What red-blooded American student wouldn't want to hear from a speaker who has intimate experience with both of those modes of transportation?

Students in McCook Public School and St. Pat's School will get an opportunity on Monday to hear from Duane G. "Digger" Carey, a retired United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and NASA astronaut pilot.

In 2001, Carey was assigned to begin training to pilot the fourth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope on Space Shuttle Mission STS-109. In March, 2002, he and his crew spent almost 11 days in space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, completing 165 orbits of the earth and traveling 3.9 million miles.

It would be Columbia's last complete mission. Columbia broke apart on its next mission (Feb., 2003) upon re-entry over East Texas, killing all of the seven crew members on board. At that time, Carey was a Capsule Communicator at Houston Mission Control and he witnessed the disaster with horror and helplessness from the ground. During the months after the accident, Carey led an astronaut team of investigators at the NASA contractor facility where the Columbia's external tank was manufactured.

Carey had turned in his resignation to NASA in January, 2003, before the accident. His intention was to leave the Astronaut Corps in 22 months, fulfilling a promise to himself and his wife that they would pursue another passion, motorcycling, once their children were raised. Less than a month after turning in his resignation, the accident occurred and Carey felt an obligation to stay at NASA and help get the program flying again.

His Captain even offered him another Shuttle mission, something he desperately desired, if he were to change his mind and stay past his original resignation date. But his college-aged son convinced him that he needed to stick to his original plan. In July, 2005, STS-114 launched with Space Shuttle Discovery, approximately 29 months after the loss of Columbia, and 10 months after Carey's retirement.

Carey, who was nicknamed "Digger" by a Squadron Commander simply because he felt they needed a "Digger" in their squadron and Carey voiced his contempt for the nickname, had been a motorcycle enthusiast from the age of thirteen when he got his first Honda CT70 trail bike. He has owned a motorcycle (sometimes more than one) ever since. "I've rediscovered what I already knew, that motorcycle riding is a great substitute for flying jets. I believe that flying jets and riding motorcycles stimulate the same areas of the brain," said Carey.

Since his retirement, Carey has been speaking to young people, motivating them to reach beyond their perceived limits with his uplifting personal story. That personal experience includes being raised by a single mother, along with two siblings, and living in public housing. He says he wasn't one of the "smart kids" in school. In fact, he was somewhat of a rebel. He had no intention of ever going to college, thinking college was for rich kids or smart kids and he was neither.

But at some point, Carey realized that if he didn't pay attention to his grades, he would have no options because college would be completely unattainable. So he worked to raise his grades and graduated from high school, even though it would take him two and a half years after his high school graduation to make the decision to attend college. "When I did start college, it was on my own dime and my own time. I went after my studies with a vengeance. I still maintain that nobody knows the value of a good education better than the person who has tried to succeed without one!"

Carey's appearance in McCook is partly due to the diligence of McCook National Bank CEO Brian Esch. Esch saw another NASA astronaut and Nebraska native, Clayton Anderson, at an event in Lincoln and began to inquire about getting someone to come to McCook and speak to students. After corresponding with NASA, Esch was put in contact with Carey, who is currently living in Colorado Springs. A grant from the Graff Charitable Foundation is helping to fund Carey's presentation to McCook students.

Carey will be presenting to McCook Junior High and Central Elementary at 8:15 Monday morning, the McCook High School at 9:50, St. Pats at 1 p.m. and McCook Elementary at 2:15 p.m. He hopes to inspire students that math and science are "really cool" and that achieving literacy in these subjects can lead to great adventures in life. And of course, he will answer the most-frequently-asked question: "How do you go to the bathroom in space?"