Daily Inspiration Quote by Duane G. Carey

Carey is telling a joke that only lands because the stakes behind it are enormous: the orbiter is not a prop, it is a national asset balanced on razor-thin margins of procedure. The humor comes from inversion. “Scooter” (a nickname that instantly shrinks the heroic aura around astronauts) was “the Pilot” but “never had a chance to fly the orbiter” because shuttle roles were rigidly tiered: the commander flew the critical phases, the pilot’s hands were often busy with systems, checklists, and contingency management. The line quietly punctures the movie version of spaceflight where the guy called “pilot” is always the one joyriding.

Carey’s intent is classic crew-room levity: defuse tension, signal confidence, and reinforce hierarchy without sounding precious about it. “The joke is” functions like a pressure-release valve, acknowledging the absurdity that a career built on flying can culminate in not actually “flying” the vehicle in the way outsiders imagine.

The subtext is collegial power-sharing. “I’m going to have a chance to fly it first and hand it over to him” frames command not as dominance but as stewardship: I’ll take my turn, then I’ll make sure you get yours. That’s leadership in NASA’s culture, where trust is operational, not sentimental.

Contextually, it reflects the shuttle era’s peculiar mix of swagger and bureaucracy: the most advanced machine of its time, managed through roles so structured that the only safe way to acknowledge the ego around “who gets to fly” is to laugh at it.