‘I absolutely would love to explore off this planet,’ says Chris Birch, the USA track cyclist turned NASA astronaut

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‘I absolutely would love to explore off this planet,’ says Chris Birch, the USA track cyclist turned NASA astronaut

By George Ramsay, CNN (CNN) — Scroll through the athlete profiles on the USA Cycling website and you’ll find someone whose favorite movie is listed as “Interstellar” – Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed sci-fi adventure released in 2014. “I love realistic space movies … I’m definitely a nerd,” reads Chris Birch’s answer on her profile page. That response proved prescient: shortly after stepping away from her professional cycling career, the Arizona n…