SpaceX Astronaut Scott 'Kidd' Poteet | Mike Drop Episode 240

About this video

Scott ‘Kidd’ Poteet, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and SpaceX Polaris Dawn astronaut, discusses his experience on the highest Dragon mission to date (1,408 km above Earth). He describes the physical sensations of launch and spaceflight, his impressions of viewing Earth from space, and his interactions with Elon Musk. Poteet also shares his background as a competitive athlete, his journey from a struggling student to an F-16 pilot, and his perspectives on commercial space exploration.

Key takeaways

• Poteet describes the Polaris Dawn launch as building from 1.7 million pounds of thrust to 4.5 gs, followed by a violent main engine cutoff experience, with the crew reaching space and zero gravity within 6 minutes.
• Poteet recounts experiencing the ‘overview effect’ when viewing Earth from space, describing it as a cognitive shift that impacts people intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually, with Earth appearing to have a radiant glow.
• Poteet argues that commercial space tourism missions like Blue Origin’s are beneficial because they inspire the next generation and broaden exposure to space exploration, despite being suborbital flights rather than the developmental missions he participated in.

Episode details: published May 21, 2025 · 10.5K views · 3:38:23 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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