Greetings to my brothers from the Kennedy Space Center!
I am honored to be one of two flight surgeons supporting the NASA/SpaceX historic mission that will launch today. First launch from US soil since 2011. We have been launching our crews from Kazakhstan on the Soyuz rocket without capability in the US.
I have been in quarantine with the crew the past few weeks. Doug Hurley (Col. USMC) and Bob Behnken (USAF) are truly outstanding gents. Doug is from Owego, New York, and knows the family of our brother Jim Franz ’77. Doug and I have many mutual friends from Central New York and through the Marine Corps. It is special to work together with Doug, realizing we grew up 20 miles apart. I served as Bob’s flight surgeon previously on the shuttle flight STS-130.
Bob and Doug will be heading to the International Space Station (ISS) to join Capt. Chris Cassidy (USN, SEAL) and two Russian cosmonauts. As you recall, Chris flew our Sigma Pi charter to the ISS during his prior six-month trip to space. Will be serving as Doug/Bob’s doc during their stay on ISS and with eventual water recovery at sea.
Wishing you all the best of health during these times, and, weather pending, hope today will be an awesome day for our Nation and Space Program.
Cheers,
Dash Derv
