🎵 [music] 🎵
KIDS: Our World!
Evan: Hey Globey. Iíve got a riddle for you.
What do you get when you put together medical doctors,
microbiologists, geologists, engineers, and physicists?
No guesses?
Well I bet you got it: NASA!
NASA is a lot more than just astronauts. People at NASA are
engineers, scientist, computer programmers, accountants,
astronomers, writers, graphic designers,
and mathematicians just to name a few.
There are so many opportunities and programs you can get
involved in at NASA, that youíll find lots of
other careers as well. One of our other engineer
friends from NASA Johnson Space Center is Heather Paul.
She recently spent some time with some other members of the
NASA family and found out how unique the
organization really is.
Heather Paul: Hi Everyone, Iím Heather Paul from NASA Johnson
Space Center and right now, Iím in Key Largo with Nick Skytland
and our team from NASA. So Nick, can you explain a little
bit about what weíre doing here in Key Largo? I mean I love
being here, but donít we have some scientific
objectives weíre trying to do? Nick: Absolutely, well weíre
preparing for a field test and weíre actually preparing for a
field test to understand crew performance on the Moon.
Heather: Nick can you give me a little background about
yourself? How did you get this really awesome job?
Nick: It is a really awesome job. And actually, I started as
an engineer. I went to school in Indiana and I started in the
NASA cooperative education program as a summer co-op.
And I came down here and I had to chance to work on space
suits. I had a chance to work on space station.
And I actually had an opportunity to work in the
neutral buoyancy laboratory which is a big pool that we
have at NASA in which we do similar things.
We train astronauts underwater.
Evan: Thatís a great job combining science time with
water sports. So, who else did you talk to Heather?
Heather: I have Bill Todd with me who is the mission manager,
heís the big man. So how are you doing?
Bill: Super. Everythingís great.
Heather: Awesome. So weíve been enjoying beautiful weather
here, but weíre actually here to do science and research.
Can you talk to me about what weíre doing?
Bill: This is the facility where the Aquarius habitat,
which is the worldís only undersea research habitat,
is right here in Key Largo. Itís about 5 miles off shore.
And itís the closest thing to living in space
that we can find anywhere.
Heather: So Bill, for the folk who are going to watch this
interview, what would you recommend that they study if
they want to be someone as awesome as you: a mission
manager for underwater research
that leads us into Lunar exploration?
Bill: You thatís an interesting question.
You can have a background in all different types of things.
At NASA, we have people that have done such a wide variety
of things in their career before they come to NASA.
Theyíve studied different things. The same old adage is
true, if you have a grasp of the basic sciences.
That truly, truly helps. And if you have the ability to deal
in an operational environment,
and be able to take the science
and apply it to an operational environment.
Those are the things that help us in a project like this.
Evan: But the team at the undersea laboratory wasnít the
only group that Heather got to talk to about their careers.
Heather: I have with Dr. Robert Howard with me.
How are you doing? Robert: Hi Heather,
itís good to see you. Heather: Good to see you as
well. So tell me a little about what you do.
Robert: I do whatís called human factors. Weíre basically
concerned with the interaction of man and machine. I grew up
wanting to be involved in the space program. So from the
time I was five years old, even younger than that.
I knew NASA was where I was going to end up. So, I went
through a lot of NASA programs when I was in college.
I started working for NASA in something called the NASA
scholars which was a combination of scholarship
and summer internships. I actually funded my schooling on
a NASA fellowship and worked summers on a NASA co-op.
Heather: So do you feel like all of those experiences with
internships and the co-op programs really helped you
to get a good foundation for the engineering
and science youíre doing now?
Robert: Oh, they were all part of the puzzle. Every degree
and every summer internship experience, they all combined
together and helped me with what Iím doing now.
Evan: Thanks for sharing your experiences Heather.
It sounds like the people you talk to really enjoy their
jobs. You know Iíve talked to a few of the NASA people weíve
had here on "Our World" too. You might remember Andrea Mosie
from the Lunar Rock laboratory. Her advice to students:
set your goals high. And do your best.
Donít limit yourself. Andrea says the best careers are in
the sciences. And she should know, her background is in
chemistry, math, and geology.
And now she works with moon rocks everyday.
And our friend Erik Weiser reminded me that every single
extra that I have from my cell phone to my computer,
or game box, you name it Ė was developed, engineered, and
built by someone who has a degree in science, technology,
engineering, or mathematics.
And at NASA those same careers help send astronauts to the
International Space Station or collect important data about
climate on our world. I guess the most important thing to
remember is NASA is looking for people with a variety of
backgrounds who study a variety of subjects. And are willing
to try new things. Iíve always loved being an explorer,
but after learning so much about the groundbreaking
discoveries made by NASA scientists, I may be thinking
about a career change. So letís see Globey, I could be a
microbiologist, or a virtual reality technician,
um a meteorologist, ah a pilot,
a model builder, astrophysicist,
educator turned astronaut,
? [music] ?
KIDS: Our World!
.