Dr. Alexander "Sasha" Kashlinsky, an astronomer/cosmologist working at NASA Goddard presented a Maniac lecture entitled, "HOW I PLANNED TO TRAVEL TO SPACE AND GOT TO STUDY IT INSTEAD: a personal journey through 6 different countries in a changing world." Sasha was born in the former Soviet Union, just as the space era got underway with the Sputnick launch. He traced his journey back to those days of Sputnick, and walked the audience through different stages of his life and career, including his interactions with Lord Martin Rees, one of the world's most eminent astronomer and John Mather, a Nobel Prize in Physics winner.