NASA Highlight Reel
I started working for NASA when I was 20. I was hired two weeks after the Columbia accident into the co-op program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. From scuba diving in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory where astronauts train for spacewalks to suiting up the crew in their orange Advanced Crew Escape Suits (ACES) before they left on a Shuttle flight, I've had the honor of serving America's space program from the frontlines.
Here are some of the highlights of my incredible experience at NASA.
Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis
Up close and personal with Atlantis (OV-104), prior to her final flight on STS-135 (which was the final flight of the Space Shuttle program).
STS-133 Tweetup
Conducting a suit demo for NASA Twitterers prior to the launch of Discovery on STS-133
Cape Canaveral Pad A
Approaching Pad A during a Mode II/IV (assisted pad egress/escape) training simulation.
Micro-G in the “vomit comet”
Catching some air in the C9 reduced gravity research aircraft, used for simulating near weightless environments.
Teaching a Class to Astronauts
Me, with hair, plus two of the bravest men I've ever met: Mark Kelly (on my right, picture left) and Steve Lindsey after I taught them a "ISS Racks Installation and Removal Skills" course prior to their STS-121 flight. I was 21.
Teaching a Class to Astronauts
I'm actually teaching astronauts something they didn’t know!!! Or else, they knew it and just played along for me. Either way, it was an amazing experience.
Testing Space Suits
Me and Dean Eppler, spacesuit test subject extraordinaire.
Shuttle Egress Training
Core to every crew survival engineer’s training: understanding survival scenarios and equipment capability. Shuttle egress training in the NBL. They drop you from a crane to simulate bailout and drag you across the water and you have to disconnect your parachute risers to simulate a parachute caught in the wind.
Pad Egress Training
Shuttle pad abort training, probably my most fitting contribution to the space program. I was literally "dead weight" for closeout crew teams to practice pulling disabled crewmembers out of a Space Shuttle orbiter while on the launchpad. I'm very good at playing dead weight, if I do say so myself.
Multiple User Cooling Unit
MUCU!!! My first NASA acronym. This was my first NASA project, actually: a Multiple User Cooling Unit which supplied cold water to an entire Shuttle crew during ground training or other non-flight ops. Here is the finished MUCU installed in the Astrovan which is used to take astronauts out to the launch pad. I don’t recall the inaugural drive, but I believe all crews starting with STS-120 received their little jolt of cooling via the MUCU, likely while gazing out the windows across the flat marshlands of the Cape during the 20-minute ride to the pad.
Note: if you Google “NASA MUCU,” most of the links will be for “NASA mucus,” also an interesting topic, but not one for which I made any significant contribution.
Astronaut Transfer Van
By the way, this is the Astrovan, or Astronaut Transfer Van, technically. It’s a modified 1983 Airstream Excella motorhome that was used to take astronauts to the launch pad from the operations and checkout building. All crews from STS-9 to STS-135, the final flight of the program, used this as their last terrestrial vehicle ride prior to sitting atop nearly 8 million pounds of thrust and accelerating to 17,500 mph in about 8.5 minutes.
A total of 355 men and women flew on the Space Shuttle throughout the program’s history. What thoughts went through their minds during this last earthly leg of the journey?
Diving in the NBL
One of the most extraordinary experiences I’ve ever had the privilege of doing: diving in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL). This image is me and astronaut Rex Walheim making our way across the 6-million gallon pool.
Helping Astronauts Prepare for their Mission
"Yeah, I think we can fit a 60" flat screen in here!" This is astronaut Rex Walheim and me measuring the clearance of a payload in the Space Shuttle's cargo bay, several months in advance of his flight to the International Space Station on STS-122. Sometimes, while working at the NBL, astronauts would request a “buddy diver” to help them visualize something using the mockups and neutral buoyancy of the 6-million gallon NBL to get as close to the real thing as possible, while staying on Earth.
Bioculture System
Take a cell biology lab, design it to be operated remotely, miniaturize everything in it - incubator, refrigeration, oxygenation, bioreactors - then test and certify it to survive the rigors of spaceflight, then launch experiments to better understand what happens to cells in micro-gravity. As Lead Project Engineer, I oversaw the engineering team delivering the Bioculture System, a first-of-its-kind bioscience platform for the International Space Station.
Bioculture System On ISS
NASA Astronaut Nick Hague, from inside the Japanese Kibo lab module on ISS, working with one of the Bioculture System cassettes inside the Life Sciences Glovebox. Part of science ops for the Cell Science-02 bone healing and tissue regeneration experiment.
Credit: NASA. (July 30, 2019)
Silver Snoopy
Surprise presentation of the Silver Snoopy award, the astronauts' own award for outstanding performance, contributions to flight safety, and mission success. Astronaut Randy Bresnik (@AstroKomrade) flew his T-38 from Houston to Mountain View, CA, to personally present this to me after I successfully certified replacement pre-breathe masks for the International Space Station in time for the final Shuttle launch. To top it off, my family surprised me for the presentation (I think this picture captured when they walked in). I was speechless. It was, without a doubt, the highest honor I’ve ever received.
Banner Image Credit: NASA/Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid)