Today’s Mood: Time to say good bye to NASA’s JSC for summer 2009!
Quote of the Day: “Life isn’t what you want it to be, it’s what you make it become.” -Anthony Ryan
Hello everyone!
Well, I have been requested to blog about my experiences while I am out here in Houston working at the Johnson Space Center so I’ll be more than happy share with everybody…
First of all, I will be dividing the blog into several sections so all of you can read everything easier. The first one will be a overview of what my job is, the second one will be about RayAnn, the third will be a summary of my past experiences, and the fourth will be my any recent experiences/what I have been doing, the fifth will be any updates that I want to announce, and the last one will be my final thoughts. Most of my editing will be in the final four sections so check back regularly.
What I do…
For those of you that read the Shawnee News Star a little over two, do you recall a part where it mentioned about two NASA interns from McLoud High School/Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Oklahoma? I’m one of them… Data if you can recall. My work at the Johnson Space Center is very different than what I would normally do. I am working along with another intern from Colorado (Divya) in Management Services Office for all of the Mission Operations Directorate. The Mission Operations Directorate are the people responsible for the space program at NASA. They are the ones that do the Space Shuttle operations, International Space Station Operations, Mission Control Room operations, space exploration, and things like that. What the intern and I do is assist with IT (Information Technology)/technical support for the vast majority of the Mission Operations Directorate. It is mostly like troubleshooting and we help those who are having computer issues that need to be resolved. My workdays are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Though my job may not sound much by reading, it is actually very fun. I get to see and meet so many people and neat things that are involved with the space program while I help with any technical issues that are needed. My office is actually in the same building as the Mission Control Rooms so I get to go to that big building every day.
What RayAnn does…
RayAnn’s job is almost completely different than mine. It is a different field than my own. Her building is where all the executives and hotshots at NASA work. She is researching social networking and analyzing it to see how it would benefit the Johnson Space Center. I don’t totally understand some of the things she does, but I got a good idea after talking with her for a while. As of now, it is comparing and contrasting the different social networks and seeing what marketing or information sharing advantages could be implemented. She also researches the disadvantages of networking sites and is looking for ways on how to make it more secure. She says, “My project explores the science, skills, methodologies, and tools of social network analysis. It also looks at ways to utilize social network analysis within a project team or work group to enhance knowledge transfer.” As you can see, what she is doing is more broad than mine. Like most of us, she is doing something new that we have never done before.
Some notable past experiences…
There are three of our co-workers in our area that specifically help out with technical support for those in the Mission Control Room areas so they have access. On our first week, one of them gladly took the other intern I work with including myself in the area where we wouldn’t have access unless one of them was with us on our first week. He first took us to the International Space Station Mission Control Room. We actually went inside where the tourists are not allowed to go. We could see them behind the glass window where people can sit, but we were actually inside. The place is huge. There are big screens at the front with tons of high tech computers in the room with all the controllers behind it. When I checked, the International Space Station was orbiting over Africa. However, that thing was moving across the Earth at an average of around 17,000 miles per hour. How would you like to go that fast? He then took us to the Space Shuttle Mission Control Room. From what I understand, HARDLY ANYBODY is allowed inside there, not even in the backroom with the window and seats where you can watch everything. None of the tourists are allowed there and not even the media is allowed there either from what my co-worker said. It is a special place apparently. It is for the space shuttle after all. Only “high officials or special people” are allowed to sit there and watch. NASA has video cameras in the corners of the big room which take recordings and that those video clips are released to the media for their stories on T.V. Remember the space shuttle Endeavour and how one of it’s mission was scrubbed due to the hydrogen leak? Well, because of that, there was nobody there so we were able to look around even more. I actually sat in the Flight Director’s seat and got a picture. It looked very much like the International Space Station Control Room. After that exciting look around, our co-worker showed us many backrooms where even more of the space operations take place. Mostly, there are a bunch of computers since everything is done via computer now. Another interesting part is that we even got to go to a backroom where the Russians have their operating offices. It was pretty neat, I couldn’t read any of the writings on the wall or even understand what they were saying.
On June 20th, we went to Space Center Houston. It is pretty much like a museum. They have a lot of space stuff to look at such as astronaut figures, Space Shuttle Adventure, Space Shuttle simulators (Not the actual ones), some Star Wars stuff, and even the tours for the Johnson Space Center. There were also plenty of things for the kids to do as well.
On June 24th, all of the interns went to the old Apollo Mission Control Room and had a very unique speaker. Eugene Kranz spoke to us about his experiences as Flight Director for NASA. He is most famous for being the Flight Director for the Apollo 11 moon landing and the Apollo 13 “successful failure” missions. He was a pretty interesting historical figure. He talked a lot about the space program in general as well. After he was done, we all watched Apollo 13 in the actual control room. Pretty neat if you ask me!
On June 27th, we went to Galveston beach. The beach was pretty exciting since I have not been to one in a while. It was RayAnn’s first time seeing the ocean in her life. That was interesting. I enjoy a lot of the scenery and sea shells that were along the shore. Most of the interns actually went swimming on that hot afternoon.
Wednesday July 15th, I had the rare opportunity to be with only the INSPIRE students and meet Joe Engle. For those of you who do not know, he is a former astronaut. He was a test pilot for the X-15 and also flew the Space Shuttle. Amazingly enough, he piloted the Space Shuttle manually to the ground! That is VERY impressive. That is like every pilots dream come true! He talked a lot about the X-15 and how it contributed to the Space Shuttle program and just talked about his early days as a pilot. Mr. Engle is a very humble and nice person. I really like him a lot.
Thursday August 6th, I had the most amazing experience ever! It was a pilot’s dream come true when I actually got to ride inside the motion based Space Shuttle Simulator! It was amazing I have to say. I also got to land the shuttle as well. My landing was not too bad. I loved it!
Recent things that I have been up to…
Internship Completed
Updates…
Internship Completed
Final thoughts…
I can’t believe that everything is over now. I am very happy and feel very blessed to have had this internship. I have learned so much and have experienced so many things that not many people get to do. There is so much at NASA that I have learned and I will take what I have learned and apply it elsewhere. This summer has been the best ever!
I am officially signing off on this blog.
Thank you for reading and all of your support!
-Osceola Data Condulle
