WEBVTT

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<v Allard Beutel>To help us walk through

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<v Allard Beutel>what they're doing now, what the crew
is up to, we're joined right now by

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<v Allard Beutel>Colonel Jim Dutton,
who's one of our astronauts,

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<v Allard Beutel>part of the <c.number>2004</c> class.
Jim, thank you for joining us.

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<v Jim Dutton>It's great to be here, Allard. Thanks.

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<v Allard Beutel>Well, if you wouldn't mind,

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<v Allard Beutel>we've got a couple minutes
before we see the crew,

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<v Allard Beutel>why don't you walk us through
you?

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<v Jim Dutton>Okay. A little about me:
I grew up in Eugene, Oregon.

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<v Jim Dutton>I joined the <c.brand>Astronaut</c> <c.brand>Corps</c> about <c.number>four</c>
<c.number>years</c> ago, as you said, <c.number>May</c> <c.number>of</c> <c.number>2004,</c>

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<v Jim Dutton>with the
class we affectionately call the Peacocks.

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<v Jim Dutton>And my background is with the <c.brand>Air</c> <c.brand>Force.</c>

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<v Jim Dutton>I was a test pilot, and before that I flew
as an operational pilot in the <c.brand>F-15</c> <c.brand>Eagle.</c>

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<v Allard Beutel>I have to—you opened it up, I have to ask.

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<v Allard Beutel>This is what happened: the classes give
themselves different names, and Peacock.

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<v Allard Beutel>Why a Peacock?

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<v Jim Dutton>Well, we didn't give ourselves that name.

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<v Jim Dutton>Although I'll say
we took it over an alternative

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<v Jim Dutton>that we preferred
Peacock to the other one.

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<v Jim Dutton>But
when we first came in,

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<v Jim Dutton>we were told as a class

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<v Jim Dutton>that we <c.key>would</c> <c.key>not</c> <c.key>fly</c> on the shuttle,
based on the way things were going

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<v Jim Dutton>and how it looked
with the number of crew members

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<v Jim Dutton>or astronauts who had not flown yet.

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<v Jim Dutton>And so there was also a lot of pomp
and circumstance about our arrival

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<v Jim Dutton>because of the new vision
for going back to the Moon.

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<v Jim Dutton>And
so we were labeled Peacocks

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<v Jim Dutton>because we're <c.key>all</c> <c.key>show</c> and we don't fly.
So I think we can, <c.soft>you</c> <c.soft>know,</c>

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<v Jim Dutton>take pride in that now that we've got
our <c.key>first</c> <c.key>classmate</c> on this flight,

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<v Jim Dutton>Aki Hoshide,
a Japanese astronaut,

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<v Jim Dutton>and we're going to start seeing a lot
more of our classmates on shuttle flights.

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<v Jim Dutton>And they're trying to get actually
all the rookies in the office,

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<v Jim Dutton><c.key>the</c> <c.key>unflown</c> <c.key>astronauts,</c>
up in

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<v Jim Dutton>one mode or another, most on shuttle,

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<v Jim Dutton>before we <c.key>retire</c> <c.key>the</c> <c.key>shuttle.</c>

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<v Allard Beutel>As a way to get experience to be ready
for, obviously, the <c.brand>Constellation</c> <c.brand>program,</c>

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<v Allard Beutel>the <c.brand>Orion</c> <c.brand>capsule</c> and spacecraft.

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<v Jim Dutton>Exactly. We're going to have a <c.number>five-year,</c>

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<v Jim Dutton><c.soft>roughly,</c> delay between shuttle
and bringing <c.brand>Orion</c> online,

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<v Jim Dutton>so we want to <c.key>carry</c> <c.key>as</c> <c.key>much</c> <c.key>experience</c>
as we can over into <c.brand>Constellation.</c>

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<v Allard Beutel>As a matter of fact, <c.brand>NASA</c> is also

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<v Allard Beutel>right now actively looking,

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<v Allard Beutel>at least for another month or so,
for a <c.number>2009</c> class.

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<v Jim Dutton>That's correct.

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<v Allard Beutel>I think pretty probably safe to say
that that class will not fly on a shuttle.

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<v Jim Dutton>That's true. They are being brought
in to actually fly on station

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<v Jim Dutton>during the interim before <c.brand>Constellation</c>

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<v Jim Dutton>and then obviously carry
on into <c.brand>Constellation.</c>

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<v Jim Dutton>So,
yeah, it's very exciting.

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<v Jim Dutton>It'll be a <c.key.number>five-year</c> <c.key>gap,</c>
which is a very long gap,

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<v Jim Dutton>and it's going to be great to have
some new folks in the office.