Kjell Lindgren might as well write Colorado’s return on investment from the space program across the midnight sky. Lindgren sheds light for those who think of going to the moon when they think of funding NASA.

“The U.S. for decades has been seen as a technological leader,” Lindgren said on a crackling phone aboard a research capsule on the ocean floor on a Friday afternoon. “NASA really helped make that happen.”

Lindgren’s roots are at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where he was a champion parachute jumper. He is also a medical doctor educated at Colorado State and the University of Colorado.

When he spoke to Colorado Politics, he was commanding a 10-day mission to do DNA sequencing, physiological research and simulated space walks outside the Aquarius module in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The cylinder with five other people busy at work mirrors conditions he encountered in space, Lindgren said.

From outer space to the ocean floor, Lindgren’s work pays dividends to the nation, and especially to Colorado. The state’s economy orbits space.

Colorado, home to eight of the world’s largest aerospace contractors, and more than 400 companies engaged in research and space travel.

Few of NASA’s major projects today lack a “made in Colorado” label, including the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Kepler Telescope, which flying across the Cosmos charting new planets that could yield life, got its major boost from Boulder’s Ball Aerospace and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado.

In March, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat from Arvada who serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, made a big push for a manned spaceflight to Mars by 2033 in the NASA Transition Authorization Act, which passed Congress.

He and Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Yuma, are working on companion legislation on weather forecasting in space, which could be a bonanza for the state’s satellite industry.

Breakthroughs in space, indeed, move quickly to the private market places and private jobs and fortunes are made.

In 2013, the Brookings Institute, in collaboration with the Rockefeller Foundation and the state Office of Economic Development and International Trade, released a report that concluded that space as a public and private enterprise is an “outsized driver of Colorado’s economy.”

Colorado’s aerospace industry supports more than 180,000 jobs and $3.4 billion in annual payroll across the state, according to the Colorado Space Coalition.

Thanks, Mr. Space Man.

But, Boulder, we have a problem. Among the threats to this prosperity is dependence on government programs and research, the report found.

“The predominance of military and intelligence activities in the space sector and the state’s heavy reliance on federal government contracting make the state susceptible to federal budget drawdowns and fiscal uncertainties,” the Brookings Institute said.

Gardner is worried about just that.

“In the Senate, I have fought for continued assured access to space for programs being developed right here Colorado, including the Orion space exploration expedition and a future manned mission to Mars,” Gardner tells Colorado Politics.

“For decades, the United States space program has inspired American students in schools across the country. When I was in school, I even wrote a letter to NASA asking what I needed to do to become an astronaut. American astronauts like Kjell Lindgren – who holds degrees from the Air Force Academy, Colorado State University, and University of Colorado – are amongst the top in their field, and it is our duty to support them to ensure the United States remains a global leader in space exploration.”

Last week Gardner met with space business leaders and others from Colorado to discuss an amendment he attached to a bill proposing sanctions on Russia and Iran to help shield space programs from relying on cheap rocket engines that launch satellites and other partnerships with Russia to reach space. Gardner put similar protections in last year’s military spending bill.  As the U.S. has threatened sanctions in recent years, Russia has threatened to cut off America’s access to the International Space Station

That makes research such as that Lindgren is doing with the NEEMO project – that stands for NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations – all the more important. The project closely simulates the conditions of space without the comparably high cost, risk or reliance on the Russians.

Lindgren was aboard the International Space Station from July to December 2015, where he played “Amazing Grace” on the bagpipes as a tribute to a friend and fellow NASA researcher who died while Lindgren was in space.

He told Colorado Politics he knew as a child that space was his ultimate destination, and the road there ran through El Paso County.

“The Air Force Academy was a phenomenal experience,” said the 1995 graduate. “And whether you want to be an astronaut, a pilot, a physician or an engineer, it’s the perfect place to be.”

Though he’s been, quite literally, all over the world, Lindgren’s heart is still at home in Colorado.

He lives with his wife and three children in Los Angeles, but doesn’t see the city of angels as his final frontier.

“As much as I love working at NASA and having phenomenal experiences such as the NEEMO project, our family is looking forward to getting back to Colorado some day,” Lindgren said.