NASA Astronaut, Crestwood alum Hines shares space stories with area students

YATESVILLE — Sal Aita and Alex Ross, both juniors at Wyoming Seminary, stood in the back of the Pittston Area High School auditorium on Tuesday, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the guest speaker for an event.

That guest speaker — arranged by U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright — was NASA Astronaut Bob Hines, who is a graduate of Crestwood High School, who was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class.

Hines completed his first spaceflight as the pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission, having logged a total of 170 days in space over his two increments, Expedition 67 and 68.

Aita and Ross are both interested in career in the space program. Aita hopes to become an engineer and Ross has his eye on becoming an astronaut.

“I’ve always been interested in the space program,” Aita said. “There’s just so much to explore and I want to be involved in the planning.”

Ross said that since he was a young child, he’s always flt that becoming an astronaut would be “the coolest thing.”

Well, Aita and Ross and 1,174 Pittston Area students, representing grades 9 through 12, packed the auditorium to hear Hines tell his story and to learn all they could about why, as Ross said, being an astronaut would be “the coolest thing” ever.

Hines, 48, spoke to the students for about an hour Tuesday morning, telling his incredible journey from Crestwood to outer space and back. He narrated a video that detailed much of that journey.

Hines began his talk by crediting his family — he and his wife, Kelli, have three children — for their support throughout his career.

Following the Pittston Area event, Hines appeared at WVIA for a discussion with area middle schoolers that was also live-streamed to area students.

At WVIA, Hines was joined by Cartwright and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

Nelson said the students are part of “the Artemis generation.”

Nelson said, “We’re going back to the moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new generation of explorers — the Artemis Generation. “You will be the generation that sees us go back to the moon after a half century. We’re planning to go to Mars within the next 17 years — this is your generation.”

Nelson talked about NASA’s Apollo program, which saw several lunar landings — most notably Neil Armstrong’s first footprint on the moon’s surface and his historic comment, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Nelson told the students that they are the Artemis generation.

“Students like you will become the scientists, mathematicians, technicians, lawyers, doctors that will all come together to form a team to enable folks like Bob Hines to be able to strap into that rocket and go back to the moon and get ready to go to Mars.”

Cartwright, D-Moosic, hosted the event and introduced Hines at Pittston Area and WVIA, and also Nelson, a former U.S. Senator.

Cartwright, a senior member of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, also serves as the Ranking Member of the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee and the second-highest Democrat on the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee.

Cartwright said these positions present an excellent opportunity for him to bring federal tax dollars to Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Cartwright noted that his Appropriations Committee assignments include funding NASA and the space program initiative. He said of the $82 billion in funding that the committees he serves on allocates, one-third of it goes to the space program.

“I’m a big fan of our space program and I am especially proud of Bob Hines, who is from Luzerne County,” Cartwright said. “We proudly claim him as our own.”

Hines graduated from Crestwood High School in 1993 and he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Boston University, 1997; a Master of Science degree in Flight Test Engineering, U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, 2008; a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama, 2010.

Spaceflight experience:

Hines completed his first spaceflight as a mission specialist on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission (April 27 – Oct. 14, 2022), serving as flight engineer of Expedition 67 and 68 aboard the International Space Station. Hines logged a total of 170 days in space during the mission.

He and his crewmates conducted hundreds of hours of science investigations and saw the arrival of five visiting vehicles to the space station, both crew and cargo.

This was the fourth commercial crew rotation mission and the first flight of the Crew Dragon “Freedom” spacecraft.

At WVIA, 100 area middle school students from Weatherly, Crestwood, Pittston Area, Mid Valley and Dunmore school districts, were part of a live studio audience for the NASA presentation and question and answer session that was live-streamed to school districts throughout the region.

Hines shared his adventures in space and why the students should consider careers with NASA.

WVIA Studios also hosted a Space Business Roundtable Luncheon, during which a discussion was held on the growth and development of aerospace-related business opportunities in Northeast Pennsylvania with 12 area small business owners.