[♪] We had gotten word that there were 3 or 4 NASA T-38s coming in.

And so I went out to the flight line like a lot of us to greet them.

And then I saw this black guy get out.

And I went wild.

So I rushed out to meet him and introduced myself.

And when we had an opportunity, I took him home to meet Jackie, meet my wife and kids.

And I was mesmerized talking to him.

And as he left to go back to Houston, he asked me if I was going to apply for the space program.

I said, not on your life.

And he looked at me real strange and said, why not?

I said, theyd never pick me.

And he paused for a moment, and then he said, that is the dumbest thing I ever heard.

How do you know if you don't ask?

And I felt like that big.

I said, okay, geez.

That's why I say Ron McNair is my idol and my role model.

Because he painfully reminded me that I had forgotten what my mom and dad taught me growing up, that I could do anything I wanted to do.

But anyway, I ended up being selected in the second group of space shuttle astronauts.

That's the dumbest thing I ever heard.

And he was right.