He’s known as one of the most versatile astronauts and he’s coming to Longview to give a talk. Dr. Story Musgrave has pursued many different career paths. He’s a physician and landscape architect. A biophysicist and business consultant. He participated in six Space Shuttle missions, and left NASA in 1997. Today, he yearns for the passion of the space-race heyday of the 1960s, when he was tapped to be an astronaut.
"We’re going nowhere. We’re doing nothing. We’re not building anything. We’re not going anywhere and there’s no dates," Musgrave said. "And how do you change that? NASA should have the courage to say we create the vision.”
At age 78, Musgrave throws his energy into his Florida landscape design business. He says he’s planted about 15,000 palm trees over the past several years, and does all the heavy lifting. He finds joy in the little things, like picking out Valentine's Day cards with his 6-year-old daughter. He says he keeps more than 100 speaking engagements a year, and he tells young people to follow their heart.
"One little step at a time, you can build a very powerful repertoire to offer to the world, and that’s who you are," Musgrave said.
Musgrave speaks Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Pine Tree Road Auditorium. The talk is sponsored by the Pine Tree Independent School District. A pre-show begins at 6:30 p.m.