Papa Tom, an extraordinary Cook Islander who smashed new frontiers in space and the ocean in a life that spanned many fields of work.

Watch the video version of the episode here.

Papa Tom's quest for truth, history, and culture has taken him around the world and even out to space, but it was in Aotearoa and the Cook Islands that it all began...

The extraordinary Cook Islander, the first person from New Zealand and the Pacific to work for NASA, was one of the grandfathers of traditional vaka sailing in the Pacific, and who revolutionised economic reform in the Cook Islands. He is still little-known to generations of young Pacific people and to the New Zealand public in general.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details