Growing up in the small town of Fort Plain, New York, Eric Baumgartner had his eyes on the stars.
The youngster was fascinated by space, reading science and science fiction books at a time shortly after the space race had kicked into high gear.
His dream, like many children of the time, was to become an astronaut.
“My love of NASA, my interest in NASA kind of drove me, inspired me,” Baumgartner told the Business Journal recently.