Golden State Today

Professor Stephen Robinson, who once dreamed of flying objects as a child, turned that fascination into a reality by becoming a NASA astronaut. He shared insights from his extensive 37-year career at NASA on the latest episode of "Face to Face," hosted by Chancellor Gary S. May. During his tenure with NASA, Robinson undertook multiple spacewalks and missions to the International Space Station before transitioning to academia in 2012.

Robinson is now part of the faculty at UC Davis in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, where he completed his undergraduate studies in 1978. Reflecting on his time at UC Davis in the early 1970s, Robinson credits two significant features for shaping his path to space: an aeronautical engineering department and an airport.

Recently appointed as director of the UC Davis Center for Spaceflight Research, Robinson's current research examines human survival in extreme environments. He explained their approach to student inspiration: “We don’t try to inspire the students to protect human life in space,” Robinson says, “we try to think of inspiring the students to extend, augment and make humans much more capable in a hazardous environment.”

In addition to discussing his mentors from campus days and numerous rejection letters from NASA—which he considers "badges of honor"—Robinson also shared his choice for the best movie about space.

Chancellor May's talk show has featured over 40 guests including faculty, staff, and students. All episodes are available on the Face to Face webpage.

For updates, follow Dateline UC Davis on X.