Admit it. When you were a
kid, you dreamed about
becoming an astronaut.
Maybe you were inspired
by NASA's Apollo program -
or Star Trek. Maybe
you dream about it today.
And maybe that led you to
a career in engineering. Things weren't all that
different for two EEs on board the Space Shuttle
Endeavor during August's STS-118 mission.
"I didn't know I could be an astronaut until I
graduated from college," said STS-118 mission
specialist Rick Mastracchio, who collected his
bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and
computer science from the University of
Connecticut and his master's in electrical engineering
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He
was always interested in airplanes, space flight,
and their operations, though. After seeing an ad
in a magazine, he applied to NASA.
"The Johnson Space Center was looking for
engineers to develop things," he said. "They didn't
want me as an astronaut but as an engineer." But
he wasn't disappointed at all, seeing it as a way to
get his foot in the door. Soon, he was at work with
the Flight Crew Operations Directorate, and over
the next nine years, he supported 17 missions as
a flight controller with Mission Control. This inside
background was an advantage, as expected, when
he was chosen for astronaut training in 1996.
Scott J. Kelly, commander of STS-118, followed
a similar path. He always had an ambition to be a
military pilot, earning a BSEE from the State
University of New York Maritime College and a
master's in aviation systems from the University
of Tennessee, Knoxville. His Navy career followed,
with 3700 hours in more than 30 different aircraft
and time as a test pilot with the Strike
Aircraft Test Squadron at the Naval Air Warfare
Center, where that BSEE came in handy.
"You need some kind of technical degree to be
a test pilot. As a test pilot, you're working as an
engineer. Besides the flying, you're doing a lot of
the engineering work, helping the full-time engineers
figure out what's wrong," he said, and that
time at the Naval Air Warfare Center eventually
inspired him to apply for astronaut training. Like
Mastracchio, Kelly was selected as an astronaut
candidate in 1996.
Heading for Orbit
Kelly's first launch was as a pilot on board the
Discovery and STS-103 in December 1999, where
the crew installed new instruments and upgraded
systems on the Hubble Space Telescope.
Mastracchio's first trip was as a mission specialist
on board the Atlantis and STS-106 in September
2000. During that journey, the crew installed batteries,
power converters, and even a treadmill on
board the International Space Station.
"The work in Mission Control really prepared
me as an operator seeing the whole system,"
Mastracchio said. "We basically outfitted the
Russian Service Module. There was a lot of engineering
work there. Good, hands-on engineering."
STS-118 proved to be more exciting for both
astronauts. Mastracchio, who stayed inside
Atlantis during STS-106, took part in three spacewalks
this time as he added a truss segment to
the ISS, replaced a control movement gyroscope,
and moved and installed an antenna.
"I was pretty excited, but you have to keep
things very mechanical. I was going outside. I was
going to turn some bolts, move some hardware
around. But when you think about itâ?¦" he said.
"The first time, we were on the night side of
Earth, and there was a lightning storm below. You
try to work but take a few moments to think
about the wonder and beauty. By far, it's the
most beautiful thing you could do in space."
"I wouldn't mind doing that," Kelly said, though
he was responsible for getting the astronauts into
and out of their spacesuits - a task far more difficult
than it sounds - and for managing the "big picture"
of the EVA missions during the spacewalks
themselves. "I can't do it as the commander of the
shuttle, though. You have to be there for the entry
and the landing. They don't want additional risks."
Back on the Ground
An astronaut's work is never done. When they
aren't scheduled and training to go up again,
they're assigned to other roles and positions
supporting other flights.
"As I get more senior in this office, I fill in more
of a leadership role than a technical role, doing
all kinds of things," Kelly said, "from developing
systems and techniques for vehicles other than
the shuttle for ISS docking to other space station
systems, like caution warning systems and oxygen-
generating systems."
"As an astronaut, you're an engineer first and
an astronaut second. When you're not assigned to
a mission, you're assigned to technical duties in
the astronaut office. They go across a lot of areas,
like hardware engineering, software engineering,
and human factor design like the development of
cockpits and displays," Mastracchio said.
It's no wonder that NASA looks for strong technical
backgrounds in all of its candidates.
"That's one of the things we like to do,"
Mastracchio said, remembering his surprise at
seeing that magazine ad. "We like to tell people
that they can be an astronaut too."
So maybe it's not too late for you to submit
your application.