Thomas remembers the butterflies he felt on launch mornings—like the restraints coming down before “one of the great rollercoasters at Cedar Point.”
“Any astronaut who tells you that they’re not scared, they’re either lying or they’re crazy,” Thomas said.
But he said nothing is more exciting. Thomas, who went to children’s events and hearings throughout the day at the Statehouse with fellow former astronauts Mike Good and Carl Walz, said he cares about motivating young students. He wants them to find excitement in math and science—and rockets.
“Maybe they become that first person to set foot on Mars,” he said. “I would be so proud to see an Ohioan participating on that mission.”
Toledo-based artist Bill Hinsch was selected for the milestone mission in early 2023. Although his work is already hung in the Pentagon and at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, he said this one felt “amazing.”
“That kind of a legacy, most artists don’t have that unless you’re in a museum somewhere,” Hinsch said. “But this is a museum, and so to have that is a distinct honor.”
Sketches and drafts, a color study, and then another eight months of work—or roughly 1,000 hours—were poured into Hinsch’s painting. Much of Thursday, he sat among a number of white folding chairs and watched in the rotunda as workers on scaffolding prepared to hang the nine-foot by 12-foot oil piece.
Charles Moses, chairman of the Capitol Square Foundation, said in July the painting would cost $150,000, but that the foundation was raising additional funds to potentially be used for future pieces.