Dr. Eiman Jahangir | Iran

This week on Aspiring Martians, Joe is joined by Dr. Eiman Jahangir, a cardiologist, author, speaker, and astronaut whose new book, A Heart for Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Achieving the Impossible, traces the winding path between two lifelong ambitions.

Eiman was born in Iran and came to the United States as a young child. After visiting the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville at age six, the idea of going to space took hold.

Medicine eventually became the path he could see clearly. He built a career as a physician and cardiologist, working with patients through some of the most difficult moments of their lives.

But the astronaut dream never disappeared.

After years of applications, rejections, near misses, and persistence, Eiman flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard in August 2024 and became the 704th person to travel to space.

In this conversation, we talk about childhood dreams, medicine, mortality, rejection, resilience, family, what it feels like to finally reach space, and the surprisingly complicated question of what comes next once the thing you have spent decades chasing is no longer a dream.

We also talk about the story behind A Heart for Space, and why Eiman’s journey is ultimately less about one rocket flight and more about knowing when to pivot, when to persist, and how to keep building a meaningful life while pursuing something that may never happen.

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