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Kylie Knott

In March 2009, American Scott Parazynski – a veteran of five Nasa space shuttle missions, including seven spacewalks, who had racked up more than 23 million miles (37 million km) – hung up his spacesuit.
“I could have flown once, maybe twice more, but I was keen to stretch my wings as an inventor and entrepreneur,” says the 63-year-old.
A couple of months after retiring from the US space agency, Parazynski attempted to summit Mount Everest but, at 7,470 metres (24,500 feet), was forced to turn around because of a back injury.
Undeterred, he tried again the following year, and this time succeeded in conquering Earth’s highest mountain above sea level. He reached the top at 4am on May 20, 2009, making him the first person to have flown in space and summited the world’s highest peak.












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Parazynski is a doctor by training – he was the personal doctor to his hero John Glenn aboard the Discovery shuttle on the then-US senator’s return to space in 1998.
His other adventurous feats include scuba diving deep into a volcanic lake in the Andes mountains of South America, making the first descent into Nicaragua’s Masaya volcano and visiting Antarctica, where he oversaw the medical care of staff of the US government’s Antarctic programme.
He is also a pilot, with more than 2,500 flight hours logged, and an elite athlete: in 1988, he took part in the trials for the US Olympic luge team. “I didn’t quite make it,” he says.
I want to inspire people not just to become astronauts, but to become their best selves, to be contributors to society in science, engineering, [maths] or whatever
Scott Parazynski, former Nasa astronaut
Despite his achievements, Parazynski remains humble and is just as happy sharing his highs as he is his lows, something he laid bare in his 2017 memoir, The Sky Below.
“I didn’t want the book to be just about successes in life,” says Parazynski. He says he reads a lot of autobiographies and biographies that are just about “Look at how wonderful and easy my life was”.
“Life is hard, so I’m proud that it reveals overcoming obstacles and challenges along the way,” he says of The Sky Below.

His life experiences also make him a sought after speaker around the globe, including this month in Hong Kong, where he spoke at events hosted by the Royal Geographical Society Hong Kong.
“I want to inspire people not just to become astronauts, but to become their best selves, to be contributors to society in science, engineering, [maths] or whatever – I just want to motivate people to try and advance society in some way.”
At the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong’s Central district, Parazynski strides into the club room with confidence and an outstretched hand.
The first thing you notice is how tall he is, around six feet two inches (188cm) – although he was taller while in space.
“When we go into space, a bunch of things happen to the body like muscle weakness and bone loss and stress on the heart – it atrophies a little bit unless you exercise rigorously every day,” explains Parazynski, whose early medical research involved the design and development of exercise devices for long-duration space flight.












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A post shared by Royal Geographical Society HK (@rgs_hk)



In space, Parazynski “grew” about two and a half inches.
“We have a natural curvature of the spine, but in space, without the gravity vector pushing down, the spine straightens out,” he says. Multiple space flights caused a disc to rupture in his lower back.
“And for those who spend a lot of time in space, six months or more, they receive a lot of radiation, and that poses an increased cancer risk.”
Adjusting to life on Earth is also challenging.
“After each mission, you’re on this incredible high, and then you’ve got to take out the trash, deal with traffic and pay the bills,” he says, laughing.

But he would not have had it any other way: his career has been “a gift” – a childhood dream come true.
He was exposed to the space industry at an early age. “My father worked at Boeing and was part of the space programme that helped build the rockets that first sent astronauts to the moon as part of Project Apollo, so I was all into that.”
His wanderlust was also shaped at an early age. When he was 11, he moved with his family to Senegal in West Africa, and later to Lebanon, Greece and Iran.
All during that time, he dreamed of becoming an astronaut.
“I didn’t talk about it much because I thought people would think I was crazy, but it was always in the back of my mind.”

After years studying medicine and graduating from Stanford University in the US, Parazynski joined Nasa in 1992.
“I had the right credentials to apply, so I got to pursue my boyhood dream, and spent 17 years at Nasa,” says Parazynski, who in 2016 was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.
During his time at Nasa, he clocked up more than 47 hours outside spacecraft on spacewalks, including one in 2007 to repair a solar panel on the International Space Station in which he was extended on a 90-foot arm, and at risk of being electrocuted. It is regarded as one of the most dangerous spacewalks ever performed.
But all the risks were worth it, he says. Seeing the Earth’s curvature from space for the first time was “jaw-dropping”. Nothing can prepare you for it, he says.
“You’re travelling at crazy speeds, you know, 25,000km an hour, and going around the Earth every 90 minutes, seeing a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes.”

As with many astronauts, space travel has been life-changing for Parazynski. “Everyone comes back profoundly altered in a positive way – usually as an environmentalist.
“Some come back with a religious epiphany, although I didn’t have that, but I felt incredibly fortunate and humbled by it.
“I left with a sense of awe and then compulsion to do whatever I could to improve the quality of life on Earth.”
One of the coolest things I ever saw was flying through the northern lights at night
Scott Parazynski
That includes engaging with Proteus Ocean Group, an advanced underwater scientific research station that was founded by Fabien Cousteau, a grandson of French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau.
Parazynski’s passion for ocean conservation has also been fuelled by a lifelong love of diving that started at the age of 11.
“Our oceans are the lifeblood of the planet, so I’m passionate about protecting them … 70 per cent of our planet is covered in water, so really, it should be called Ocean instead of Earth.”

Today, Parazynski’s “main day job” is heading OnwardAir, a green tech firm he founded that develops electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft augmented with advanced control systems.
He is also excited by the “space travel renaissance”.
“What’s happening in commercial space flights with SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic – companies that have the ability to take more people into space safely and repeatedly – is really exciting.”
He is full of praise for Nasa’s Artemis programme, a major step towards returning humans to the moon, and says plans by Elon Musk to colonise Mars “is human destiny”.
As for the state of space exploration, that is a bipartisan issue in the United States, says Parazynski.

“There’s strong support for space exploration, which is great, but there are also massive cuts across all agencies, so it’s hard to know where it’s going to settle,” he says.
He points out that the best thing about investments in space is that they pay dividends across different domains on Earth.
“When I go into a hospital’s operating room or intensive care unit, there are so many different technologies that have their origins in the space programme,” he says.
“In space, we had to figure out how to sustain life for the early astronauts, and how to do surgery and laboratory studies.
“You have to miniaturise all these different sensors and invent new ways to do things in the absence of gravity, but then that gives us ways to treat people in remote and rural environments … it was kind of the beginning of telemedicine and telehealth.”
And let us not forget that space travel is cool, providing those lucky – or rich enough – to experience it with the ultimate visuals, in particular the spacewalks “when you’re outside in your own personal spaceship, enveloped in space and looking down on planet Earth”.

“One of the coolest things I ever saw was flying through the northern lights at night,” recalls Parazynski. “There was a thin curtain of pale light extending several hundred miles straight up into the sky, and we flew right through it. It was crazy.”
Another highlight was photographing Mount Everest from space – not an easy feat when travelling at supersonic speeds.
For those seeking motivational tips from someone who has taken exploration to extremes, Parazynski says he practises pre-visualisation, a technique he learned during his years as an athlete.
“If you go through in your head the process of that day’s climb, or a difficult medical procedure, or a difficult spacewalk, it’s much more likely that you will succeed.”


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Space

Ex-Nasa astronaut Scott Parazynski shares his journey from space to top of Mount Everest

Ex-Nasa astronaut Scott Parazynski in Hong Kong. Parazynski is the first person to have both flown in space and summited Mount Everest. He shares his journey, and advice for would-be adventurers. Photo: Nora Tam

 Scott Parazynski crosses ladders in the Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest in 2008. Photo: Adam Janikowski

The crew of the Discovery shuttle, including Scott Parazynski (left) and John Glenn (second from right) board the astronaut van to drive to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, in October 1998. Photo: AFP

Parazynski in Hong Kong. In space, he “grew” about two and a half inches. Photo: Nora Tam

Parazynski with the Earth behind him while the Space Shuttle is docked to the Russian space station Mir in 1997. Photo: courtesy of Nasa

Investment banker and marathon runner Adam Janikowski and Parazynski resting at Advanced Base Camp on Mount Everest in 2008. Photo: courtesy of Adam Janikowski

Today, Parazynski’s “main day job” is heading OnwardAir, a green tech firm he founded. Photo: Nora Tam

A photo of Mount Everest from space taken by Parazynski in 1994. Photo: courtesy of Nasa

Nasa’s newly returned astronauts would fly on Boeing’s Starliner craft again

Nasa astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore on Monday. Photo: AFP

The Boeing Starliner spacecraft with Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard approaching the International Space Station on June 6, 2024. File photo: Nasa via AP

Astronaut Butch Wilmore after his return to Earth. Photo Nasa via AFP 

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SpaceVIP will take guests 30 kilometres above sea level in a space balloon to dine on a luxury meal created by Danish chef Rasmus Munk while watching the sun rise over the earth’s curvature - at the cost of US$500,000. Photo: SpaceVIP

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Travel to the edge of space in a balloon – at a price: for US$164,000, a Japanese start-up is promising stunning views of Earth from 25km up

A helium balloon takes off from a test site in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido on July 23, 2023. Photo: Iwaya Inc

A Japanese start-up is promising stunning views of Earth – from a helium balloon – for people willing to pay US$164,000. Photo: Iwaya Inc

Akihito Oikawa is pictured aboard the cabin that hangs from a helium balloon on a test flight in July 2023. Photo: Iwaya Inc

Takeshi Kaneshiro, one of the ‘most good-looking’ actors in Hong Kong cinema and star of some of Wong Kar-wai and Peter Chan’s best movies, is a man of mystery

Takeshi Kaneshiro at an interview with the Post in July 2004. Kaneshiro, who debuted as a singer in Taiwan in 1992, has not been seen on the big screen since 2017 – but remains as popular as ever. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu in a still from “This Is Not What I Expected” (2017).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin in a still from “Chungking Express” (1994). 

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Kyoko Fukada in a still from the drama series “God, Please Give Me More Time” (1998).

(From left) Xu Jinglei, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Jet Li, Jacky Heung and director Peter Chan promote “The Warlords” at an event in December 2007. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from “Perhaps Love” (2005).

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Takeshi Kaneshiro in an interview with the Post in December 2006. Photo: SCMP

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

Culture

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Alton Kwok (right) is the Hong Kong under-20 record-holder in the 100 metres. Photo: HKAAA

Alton Kwok (centre) coming third in the 100m final at the Hong Kong Athletics Championships. Photo: Eugene Lee

Alton Kwok’s father, Kwok Wai-hang, and his mother have always supported his sporting pursuit. Photo: Mike Chan

Hong Kong unveils 9 ‘hotspot projects’ featuring brands, 4 peaks to draw tourists

Authorities have identified nine projects to attract tourists seeking in-depth experiences. Photo: Alexander Mak

Hikers visit Tai Mo Shan, the highest peak in Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee

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People jog at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront in May 2021. Hong Kong has seen significant improvements in running routes in the past few years on both sides of Victoria Harbour. Photo: Dickson Lee

The 2020 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon route.

Runners start Tokyo Marathon 2024 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Japan on March 3, 2024. Photo: AP

The enduring Chinese love affair with gold wedding jewellery, the dragon and the phoenix

Chinese weddings traditions involve giving lots of gold jewellery to the bride, who should wear as much as possible on her wedding day. Photo: Getty Images

In Chinese tradition, the mother-in-law gives the bride four gold ornaments: a necklace, a bracelet, a pair of earrings and a ring. Photo: Getty Images

Traditional Chinese wedding gifts include gold bangles, often engraved with a dragon and a phoenix, and the Chinese characters for “double happiness”. Photo: Shutterstock

Gold is often a feature on Chinese traditional wedding outfits. Photo: Getty Images

From Nasa missions to scaling Everest, Scott Parazynski shares his inspiring journey – and his advice for adventurers on how to succeed


From Nasa missions to scaling Everest, Scott Parazynski shares his inspiring journey – and his advice for adventurers on how to succeed.


Ex-Nasa astronaut Scott Parazynski shares his journey from space to top of Mount Everest

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Nasa missions to scaling Everest, Scott Parazynski shares his inspiring journey – and his advice for adventurers on how to succeed

From Nasa missions to scaling Everest, Scott Parazynski shares his inspiring journey – and his advice for adventurers on how to succeed