VietNamNet Bridge – Former NASA Astronaut Jim Reilly gave an inspiring speech yesterday (May 29) to Vietnamese youth at the American Centre in HCM City about space travel.

Former NASA Astronaut Jim Reilly gave an inspiring speech on May 29, to Vietnamese youth at the American Centre in HCM City about space travel.

Reilly, 60, who had a long career at NASA, where he logged 850 hours in space in five spacewalks on three Space Shuttle missions, said his experiences in space were like a miracle.

"You can fly like a super hero in space. There are so many wonderful things about being in space," he said.

During the exchange, he encouraged local young people not to give up chasing their dreams and later talked to students who want to be astronauts.

Reilly told the local press that he wanted Viet Nam to be involved in space programmes like other countries in the world.

Before his NASA experience, he spent 17 years in the petroleum sector as a manager and exploration geologist in Dallas, Texas.

Selected by NASA in December 1994 when he was 40, the veteran space shuttle astronaut reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 and completed a year of training and evaluation. He is qualified for flight assignments as a mission specialist.

Source: VNS