NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Academy offered its first knowledge-sharing course Sept. 7-9 at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. "Space Life Support Systems: Learning from the Past and Looking to the Future with Hank Rotter" was designed to share lessons learned about environmental life support through the history of space flight. The course was given by NASA Discipline Expert Henry (Hank) Rotter, assisted by Super Problem Resolution Team (SPRT) Members Eugene Ungar and Jordan Metcalf and Subject Matter Expert Richard White.

Image Left: Participants in Space Life Support Systems: Learning from the Past and Looking Towards the Future with Hank Rotter at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. Photo courtesy of the NESC.

"Space Life Support Systems" covered topics ranging from commode development, smoke detection and fire suppression and launch entry suit cooling to Mission to Mars. Mr. Rotter shared interesting, first-hand stories about the design of the space suits, space living environment, flex hoses, water/waste dump and other life support issues that affected the crew and space vehicles from Apollo to current-day design and development of the next generation of space vehicle.

Thirty-three students participated in the course taking away a wealth of knowledge nowhere else captured. He shared his first-hand experiences with the younger generation of scientists who will be facing tomorrow's problems. "One of the things that is really frustrating is that there is not a whole lot of these guys like him left around and it is really important for us younger guys who have to do the next step and the step after that to just really draw on his experience, background and knowledge."

The NESC Academy was established to capture, share and preserve the lifetimes of experience and knowledge of NASA's senior scientists and engineers; guide the next generation of NASA scientists and engineers as they develop expertise in technical problem solving; and foster interest in NASA careers. NESC, the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA), and CIBER partner work collaboratively to design, develop and deliver the three-day classroom experiences led by selected NESC Discipline Experts (NDE).

The Academy will offer 15 courses, each focusing on a specific SPRT discipline area such as flight sciences, propulsion, robotic flight operations and human factors. The next course will be held at the University of A&M in Huntsville, Alabama on Oct. 18-20. The NDE for this course is Mr. George Hopson, a recognized propulsion expert with over 42 years of experience in the propulsion field with NASA. He will hypnotize the audience with his special stories and lessons learned about his various propulsion-related experiences at NASA. For more information on the NESC Academy, please visit http://www.nescacademy.org.

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