Interview with Dan Durda, soon-to-be astronaut, teacher, author,  asteroid guy.  Darren and Dan talk space and crewed missions, and geek out a bit.  Information about Doctor Dan Durda from his Spacefest bio and elsewhere:  "Dr. Dan Durda is a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research  Institute in Boulder, Colorado where his research interests focus on  impact studies and the evolution and exploration of asteroids. Dan is a  Fellow and former member of the Board of Trustees of the International  Association of Astronomical Artists; his space art has appeared in  numerous magazines, web news stories, and books and has been  internationally exhibited.  Another multi-talented Renaissance Man, Dan has extensive experimental  experience in hypervelocity impact studies, is an experienced cave diver  and holds multiple scuba and cave diving certifications, including Full  Cave and Cave Recovery Specialist, and is a pilot with time logged in  over a dozen types of aircraft including the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-104  Starfighter. He has spent over 110 minutes of time in zero-gravity  conducting experiments on NASA’s KC-135 Reduced Gravity Research  Aircraft.  Dan was a finalist in the 2004 NASA astronaut selection and is one of  three SwRI payload specialists who will fly on multiple suborbital  spaceflights with various commercial companies. He has co-authored a  book, published numerous articles popularizing planetary science and  human exploration of space, and has appeared in over 70  nationally-broadcast television science documentaries. Dan is the 2015  recipient of the AAS/DPS Carl Sagan Medal “for excellence in public  communication in planetary science”"  Another multi-talented Renaissance Man, Dan also holds a pilot's  license, and is an expert underwater cave diver. He also is a hiker,  caver (spelunker) and geologist. He volunteers for grisly underwater  search and rescue teams, and is constantly on call.  He therefore covers most of what the surface of this planet has to  offer. His particular field of study is related to asteroids and  interplanetary dust. His artwork has recently been published in Sky and  Telescope. and was chosen as one of the illustrators of comet Hale-Bopp  co-discoverer Alan Hale's new book on comets. He is also a member of the  Galileo imaging team.  He has never been an astronaut, though he is an applicant, and is adept  at Adobe Photoshop.   SPECIAL HONORS: Asteroid 1992 YC3 numbered and named 6141 Durda (1998); Kerrick Prize,  Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, "For outstanding  contributions in astronomy" (1990); Class Honors, 64th Annual Honors  Convocation, University of Michigan (1987); Regents Alumni Scholarship,  University of Michigan (1983)."  The main website for NASA New Horizons mission is:  http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/  Twitter:@NASANewHorizons,  Results for MU69/Ultima Thule are published with the hashtag  #UltimaThule  Thanks yet again to Dr. Carly Howett for their time to bring this  interview together!

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