Posted on Feb 27, 2009 02:48:26 AM | NASA/Seventeen Co-op | 0 Comments   

The second day of my NASA experience began in a hectic mad dash and a lot of stress do to my own fault but then ended perfectly! The Dream Experience team managed to set up yet another amazing day! NASA has some really amazing people working there and we were all so lucky enough to be able to meet so many of these amazing and inspirational people! I am so thankful for each and every single person who has dedicated their time into setting up these amazing days full of activities.   I would like to elaborate so much on this day but have ran out of time because I spent all night filling out the INSPIRE program application…something that is also cool and everyone should check out! J But I will quickly try to recap this amazing day!   The day began crazily because I realized when getting ready to head to NASA I did not have my ID! Long story short… I left it at Olive Garden! I can’t believe I did that… surly I won’t do that again!   At NASA our morning began with Josh who is the Flight Director of MCC Simulations. He explained how everyone plays a role and they come up with what they call a script, two days before, where they decide what errors to program into the space shuttle to have the practice room learn how to deal with potential problems that one can encounter once in the real MCC (Mission Control Center). It was so amazing to learn about how everything works and how NASA really always practices safety first over and over… since there are basically two practice rooms before you get to work in the real MCC or shuttle. Michelle who works in the MCC SIMS also spoke to us and talked about how she gets to travel to many places though her job and how much she loves it…She was so kind and helpful answering all our questions! Then around the corner we ran into Heidi! Running into Astronaut Heidi was such a treat and very special for me because she flew on STS-126 (which just launched this past fall) and the first launch that I went to Titusville to see! I saw this beautiful night launch from just outside the town line and now here I was meeting someone who was onboard it! She has a lot of robotics and engineering background and it was cool to see how she ran things. However, she was very busy so we quickly left.   …To be continued since I have ran out of time…   The continued…continued!   After meeting everyone there we walked over to the other MCC where people were dealing with the program designed by the MCC we were just in. Here I met one if not the most inspirational person at NASA thus far! Here we had the pleasure of meeting Ginger Kerrick! She was soooo amazing! She was so personable and eager to meet us…which was so nice! She immediately told us a personal touching story about the time she applied to be an astronaut and when that did not happen because of minor medical issue she did not give up! Instead of given up on her dream she went on to do even more amazing things then becoming an astronaut like paving the way for people to be CAPCOM with out first having to first be an astronaut and working her way to the top as the first Hispanic women to be a Flight Director! A role so powerful that not even the president can tell her what to do! She taught me the importance of never giving up toward your dreams! She also made me realize the importance of taking care of your health (which is something I definitely don’t do) to be ready for anything…because I met her… my life will forever have changed! I now have a new role model…some one who never gives up and persevered independently on her own until she made it all the way to the top. She took the devastating news of not being able to be an astronaut into something positive and powerful because she became someone who is basically the boss of the astronauts and tells them what to do! She said to always be assertive and don’t be afraid to push the limits and see what can be accomplished! I am so thankful I met her!   After this we headed over to building 17…the food lab. Here we had the immense pleasure of getting to do something only astronauts do which to taste and score our appreciation of the food that astronauts eat. Here Michelle Pittman a nutritionists and Kimberley Glucos-Alt –food scientist talked to us about how foods are freeze dried and then re-hydrated.  We learned about how astronauts have pretty strict diets and when onboard the ISS they often like to trade their food with the Russians because their foods have more fat and flavor since their diets are not as strict. It was interesting to learn all the little ins and outs of how astronauts chose their food and why.             -A little side note: yes it was true that having to eat the spicy green bean as apart of the astronaut food tasting was not my favorite part…and it took me a long time to warm up to the idea…but I did in the end try it…which was brave of me since I don’t do fruits and vegetables…but since meeting Ginger I will change my ways…some J   After this the day proceeds to still become even more amazing! I believe today’s lunch was definitely the highlight of the trip so far because it was the careers lunch in! Here the girls (my students Nicole and Ciara) where able to meet women in the careers they aspired to have. It was so special for me as well to see how excited the girls were to meet…basically their idols! Nicole especial was trilled to have gotten the chance to meet Astrobiologist Kathie. Like me, she was so impressed that they were able to get a real Astrobiologist to come and meet us. I too am really interested in astrobiology since I am a teacher who teaches both biology and earth space science so it was really cool for me too! Kathie left a long lasting impression on us because of her real zeal for life and the immense passion she has for her job…she says that everyday she asks herself what will she do today and then she answer by saying…something cool! A flight surgeon was there and spoke to Ciara about her training and experience which really provided Ciara with great information. Also at the table we had Sara Dora who is a flight controller who trains astronauts and Janelle Holt who is a student education specialist. Both these women were really so kind and helpful! The both of them provided me and the girls with great information about how one goes about getting prepared for a career in NASA. They really helped a lot… I can’t stress it enough! At lunch also we received a surprise visit from Clay Anderson, Susan’s husband who is an astronaut. He gave us singed pictures and was so kind on have stopped by on his busy schedule (He is going back to space on STS 131)!             After lunch we stopped on a small but really cool detour! We were able to go to the actually fields made to look like the surface of mars and the moon! This is where robots and rovers are put to the test. It was really cool walking on this site because it really did feel like it was out of this world! After this experience we went some where I have always wanted to go to!  The NBL… Neutral Bouncy Lab! This is where the astronauts train for their EVA in a super giant pool! We started off our tour with Michael who told us all about the Sonny Cater Training Facility (where we were) and how it was named after Astronaut Sonny Carter. He provided us with lots of detailed information like the dimensions of the pool which are 101 ft. wide, 202 ft long and 40 ft deep…wow! Michael even explained how the tanks of oxygen the astronauts use once submerged in their suits underwater are actually Nitrox… which is made up of 46 percent oxygen. The tour was then taken over by Philip a student in a CO-OP program who like me, wishes to be an astronaut one day. He took us into the TC, which is a test control room A and B. In TC B people were there overseeing the EVA of the two astronauts currently under water… they had audio and live video streams of the astronauts every move.  While we waited for the two astronauts who had been in the pool for 6 hours straight to come out we were able to see the rest of the facility. When the astronauts did come out we got to meet them! One was Dottie which we were super excited to see again since Dottie is the astronaut that came to our school to tell us that we had won and we met Garrett an experienced astronaut who was very nice as well. It was so nice of them to stop and talk to us after having spent 6 hours in the pool working.             We finished off the day by actually going to a tourist place… Space Center Houston: a place for people to go and learn about the history of NASA along with fun activities. We all had a great time but it was so cool to think in the back of our heads how we were one of the few lucky ones to actually be going to the real NASA and getting to see how it works from an employee’s point of view!             We again were lucky enough to have Dinner with Jenny our cool PAO/ NASA VIP chaperone! We went to Papasitos a Mexican restaurant which was something new for me. We had a really great time and… I didn’t leave my ID this time! J   NASA is SUA (SO Unbelievably Amazing)!

Tags : General  

Trackback URL :
http://wiki.nasa.gov:80/cm/newui/blog/trackback?id=6503