Last Wednesday, Mike Massimino, astronaut and Columbia graduate spoke in Roone Arledge Cinema. Massimino graduated from the School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1984 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. During his presentation, Massimino shared how he came to be an astronaut. He also sought to inspire students to follow their dreams and interests, even when they seem unreachable.

"With the cool stuff I've gotten to do, what I hope you would do is that you find something that you love as much as I love what I get to do, as much as I love being part of the space program and being an astronaut. If you have or find something in life that you love that much, that you're so interested in, I would encourage you to pursue it, even if it seems a little bit ridiculous or crazy," Massimino advised.

On his most recent space flight, Massimino and other crew members of STS-125 performed the final upgrades and repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. During this mission, Massimino became the first astronaut to

"tweet" from space. Before his talk, Massimino met with students and alumni, to sign autographs and share some of his experiences as an astronaut.

"The view of the Earth from a space walk is just magnificent. When you launch into space, one of the first things you want to do is go to the window and look and see the earth or the stars or whatever you can see out there. The earth is just so compelling to look at ... so beautiful," Massimino remarked.

"When Massimino was selected for the flight to the Hubble, Columbia students created signed a t-shirt that he took with him on the Space Shuttle. On his visit to Columbia, Massimino returned the shirt to Dean Feniosky Pena-Mora and the students who had signed it. The shirt will be on display in Carleton Lounge."

"[The shirt] traveled a total distance of 5,276,000 miles, so there's a lot of miles on your shirt. ...[laughter]... Maybe you guys can find your names," Massimino said.

Massimino expressed his hope to return to Columbia in the near future. Columbia boasts two other astronaut graduates, including Gregory Johnson. Johnson is scheduled to make a spaceflight to the International Space Station in August.