The brainers
Terry Virts – Astronaut
Terry Virts trained as a fighter pilot at the French Air Force Academy in 1988, as part of an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force Academy. He joined an operational unit flying the F-16 in 1992. He was posted to Korea and Germany. In 1997, he joined the Embry-Riddle Test Pilot School (USA) and became a test pilot from 1999 until his selection as an astronaut by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2000. He has flown 3,000 hours on 40 types of aircraft. Virts was selected as an astronaut in 2000 as part of NASA’s 18th astronaut group. He made his first space flight in February 2010 as pilot of Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-130. Terry Virts took part in expeditions 42/43, and was commander of expedition 43. On November 23, 2014, he lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-15M, accompanied by Samantha Cristoforetti (ESA) and Anton Shkaplerov (Roscosmos). He returned to Earth after 199 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on June 11, 2015. His return had been scheduled for May 2015, but due to the loss of a Progress module, it had to be postponed until June 11. During this second mission, he performed 3 spacewalks in the company of Barry Wilmore for a total of 19 hours.
This brainer takes part in round-table discussions, offers improvisation sessions and the following solo talks:
View From Above:
Terry shares amazing photos and videos and hilarious stories from his seven months in orbit in an engaging talk that’s always a hit. Building World-Class Teams: As a former F-16 and ISS commander, Terry discusses how to recruit, train, inspire, debrief, and grow your high-functioning team. Leading Organizations Through Change: Terry explains how NASA changed its culture after the Columbia shuttle accident, and transitioned to the new commercial space economy.
Why Organizations Fail?
As a rookie astronaut Terry was assigned as a ground support astronaut on the STS-107 mission that ended with the crew of Columbia’s demise. He explains how NASA’s leadership failed so profoundly during both Challenger (1986) and Columbia (2003), and how your organization can avoid the same tragic pitfalls.