The Ignatian - December 2016 Vol 26 July Edition Vol 27 | Page 36

A Chat with Dr Paul Scully-Power (OR1961)
Recently I had the opportunity to sit with Dr Paul Scully-Power, Australia’s
first astronaut; recipient of numerous medals, awards, fellowships and
orders; inaugural President of the UN International Commission on Space
Oceanography, and Riverview Old Boy.
Beginning his career as an oceanographer in 1967, by 1984 he was one of
seven astronauts aboard the 13th mission of the Challenger space shuttle.
I asked him how he went from diving the ocean depths to orbiting the planet
from the outer reaches of space.
“One of my favourite sayings is: when you come to a fork in the road, take it.
That’s what I’ve been doing my entire career. A thesis on oceanography led
me to the Royal Australian Navy, which led to the US Navy, which led to
NASA… It was just a matter of joining the dots.”
Of his experience in space, he says, “What you see in pictures and on TV is
2 dimensional, but seeing it in 3D is completely different. I was absolutely
staggered, but the brain and body adjust remarkably fast.”
This remarkable ability to adapt seems to be the hallmark of his career
evolution. From working in US military intelligence to helping to design a
water filter (for which he received the Star of Ethiopia), he is now working on
the cutting edge of UAV (drone) and nanotechnology.
However, before his distinguished career, he was a student at Riverview –
and a bit of a troublemaker, by the sounds of it: “The overwhelming memory
I have is that the teachers at Riverview threw me out of most classes… but the
incredible thing is they figured out why I was disruptive in class – because it
was boring me. They put me in a separate class for most of my subjects and
elevated the lessons – applied mathematics, chemistry, physics... I’ll never
forget it as a big debt I owe to them because it raised me up, in a way. It gave
me a nice start in life. Very few schools would do that.”
His early ‘troublemaking’ has morphed today into orthogonal thinking, that
is, approaching problems at right angles to find unorthodox solutions. His
curiosity and fascination are piqued by technology and the future.
“Things change dramatically, and you have to be prepared to go with it, or
you get left behind. Look at 3D printing: five years ago no one knew about
it and now we’re making jet engines with it. And who would have predicted
Brexit and Trump last year? No-one was predicting either of those but they
happened. The future is almost unpredictable”.
He concludes with this advice for the current crop of Riverview students:
“You never know where you’re going to end up, so take opportunities when
they come. You know that saying about reaching beyond your grasp?
Keep reaching.”
Sound advice from someone who has already reached the stars.
LEANNE GOMEZ
Photos, from top to bottom Dr Paul Scully-Power
today; as a Riverview student and athlete in 1961.
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