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“So, you still have a strong working relationship with NASA?”
Derek hesitated for a moment, his eyes switching back and forth as he processed the question. “There are a lot of brilliant and motivated people working for NASA, people I want to collaborate with. They nurture young minds, and they are committed to exploration and beyond.”
Dr. Salazar looked like he wanted to address Odyssey 3, something Derek never publicly mentioned since it happened years ago. But he didn’t. “The fact that you accomplished all this by the age of thirty is truly remarkable. They say Einstein, Niels Bohr, Tesla, they all did things at a very young age, but your accomplishments really make you spectacular. You should be very proud of everything you’ve done.”
Everyone applauded.
Derek dropped his gaze, like he didn’t know what to say to that. “I’m a private person who rarely leads any kind of a public life, but I realize the only way to grow this discipline is to inspire people. If you find me inspiring, then I’ve done my job. I hope to nurture the next generation of scientists and engineers, to teach them there’s only one way to do things—the right way. My students say I’m rough on them because I don’t offer partial credit for their exams, and that’s true, I am rough. But all it takes is one error, one decimal point, and lives are lost.”
Oh my god…he was going to talk about it.
Dr. Salazar was quiet, like he expected Derek to move into the territory he had said was off-limits.
Derek took another pause, like he was trying to talk himself out of it before he said anything. His gaze dropped for a moment before he looked at his interviewer. “I built a rocket for Odyssey 3…” He lost his confidence for a moment as if he were reliving it. “I did the best I could. I checked everything a million times. But then I realized there was a temperature variance that hadn’t been addressed. That was all it took…a few degrees. That’s why I push people, not to be the best, but to be perfect. Because even perfection isn’t enough sometimes. We’re giving kids trophies and ribbons just for participating, just for showing up. That’s not enough. We need to be unafraid of failure as a learning process so we can know that we will succeed later. And that success is perfection, no errors, no lives lost. I’ve never really moved on from what happened with Odyssey 3, but I’ve come to a place in my life where I’ve found peace. I did the best I could to stop it, even lost my job over it, but I tried. A lot of things have changed since then, and the collaborative spirit of those settings is different too. We’ve learned from that mistake, and we will be better. But none of my students, none of my engineers, will ever repeat that mistake.”
Applause erupted, longer than all the others.
My eyes were actually wet because I could see Derek’s progress right before my eyes. He was growing, changing, healing, and it made me feel good to know I was part of that.
Dr. Salazar waited for the applause to die down before he asked his next question. “Is there any animosity between you and NASA at this point?”
Derek considered the question before he shook his head. “There wasn’t a single person in the room that day who wanted that rocket to explode. There were tears, sobs, overwhelming sorrow…pure devastation. We try to be right one hundred percent of the time, and we usually are, but this one time…we weren’t. The problem was the chain of command, not the people. No, there is no animosity on my part. There are good people there, brilliant people, and the fault only lies with one person—a person who is no longer there.”
Dr. Salazar gave a subtle nod before he moved on. “I have one last question for you, and after all the deep things that we discussed, I thought we could change direction. So, Dr. Hamilton, what do you do for fun?”
The audience laughed.
Derek took a slight breath, like he was relieved by the change in subject. “I work a lot. That is my hobby.”
“No vacations?”
Derek shook his head. “No.”
“Do you see yourself ever settling down? Or will you always be completely dedicated to your work?”
“There’s no doubt I will always be working, just the way my dad is still working, will be working until it’s his time to pass on. But I can see myself settling down…with a woman who understands how important my work is to me.”EighteenDerekI sat at the dining table with my laptop and paperwork laid out in front of me. The chef left my dinner in the fridge, so after I reheated it in the microwave, I ate it while I continued my work. Every day after work, I hoped that Emerson would join me, that we would have some time together away from the rest of the world.
