Astronaut inspires young patients at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

“So I look forward to being with them and just trying to get them to smile today, and have a good day,” Kimbrough said.

Kimbrough isn’t just an astronaut visiting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. He’s our astronaut.

The former commander of the International Space Station lived in Smyrna, went to Lovett and after joining the U.S. Army and going to West Point, he got his masters from Georgia Tech.

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But Thursday, he was just the coolest guest these kids at the Ryan Seacrest Studios inside Children’s had ever seen.

“Kids are the best because you really never know what’s coming out of their mouth for questions. And so I love it because it’s always something different, but everybody wants to know of course what it’s like to fly around, you know. You know, I think they think it’s really superman or whatever,” Kimbrough said.

He sat in the studio and answered questions from the patients in the room, their parents and from other patients who called in or texted.

And he did it all with a genuine smile, hoping to make their day, even if just for a little while, a little better.

“So I look forward to being with them and just trying to get them to smile today and have a good day,” Kimbrough said.

He spent more than a year in space, both on the space shuttle and the International Space Station.

Kimbrough said he hopes he can inspire these kids to reach for their dreams, even if those dreams aren’t the stars.

“I hope it gives them some inspiration, some hope, just something different in their normal day,” Kimbrough said. “I think this studio here provides that opportunity quite often, which is amazing.”

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