Eventually , John Crichton went off to university ( possibly MIT ) and found himself following in his father 's footsteps as he studied cosmology and astrophysics , achieving a Ph.D. and , with his friend DK , formulating his own theory about gravity - assisted propulsion .
Eventually , John Crichton went off to college ( possibly MIT ) , studied cosmology and astrophysics , and received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics . 
 He subsequently followed in his father 's footsteps by becoming an astronaut and , with his friend DK , formulated a theory about gravity - assisted propulsion .