NASA Co-Op Week 17: First Co-Op Tour Wrap Up

Our cheering faces are in an Official NASA Tumblr post. Go Cotern class of Fall 2015! You all can join us at NASA by applying for an internship, Pathways Internship (Co-Op), Recent grad program, Full Time position or become an astronaut!

So you want to work at NASA?

An out of this world career or internship might not be as far out of reach as you think. Check out all the ways you can get involved!

If you’re a student…

Our internships are the perfect place to start! We offer paid internships for spring, summer, and fall semesters to U.S. citizens currently attending an accredited university full time. Learn more at: https://intern.nasa.gov

Seriously considering a job in the Federal civil service? Check out the Pathways Internship Program which allows you to do multiple work tours while you finish school: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/iep.htm

If you’re a recent graduate…

If you’re a U.S. citizen who has graduated from an accredited college or university within the past 2 years (or 6 if you have served in the military), then the our Recent Graduates program is just for you. Accepted applicants are placed in a 1 year career development program with the possibility of an additional year, or even granted term or permanent jobs within the agency. Learn more at: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/rgp.htm.

If you’re a professional…

You can search for our job openings any time at USAJobs.com. Create an account, then use the USAJobs resume builder. Want to make sure your resume maximizes your opportunity for a job at NASA? Check out our Applicant Guide: https://applyonline.nasa.gov/applicant_guide.html.

You can then search for our job openings here: https://nasai.usajobs.gov/.

If you want to be an astronaut…

Astronaut candidate applications are accepted every few years- including right now! Get yours in before the current application closes on February 18, 2016.

Do you have a bachelor’s degree in a STEM field and 3 years of related professional experience? You might be eligible. Find out more and apply online at: https://nasai.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/423817000.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

Soon I will be returning to mission control for my fourth Co-Op tour at NASA Johnson Space Center. I will be joining Inventory Stowage Officers (ISO) team in mission control. ISO ensures supplies and experiments are delivered to the International Space Station, completed experiments return to Earth in one piece and space garbage successfully burns up in the atmosphere and does not land in someone's backyard. Last  mission control Co-Op I sat console with ISO and watched Kjell Lindgren load the Japanese HTV-5 cargo ship with garbage playfully floating through station with the bags of garbage. I have a feeling ISO will be busy after a long pattern of cargo ship failures and the most recent Russian Progress 65 cargo failure (as SpaceX calls it, rapid unscheduled disassembly) transporting a space toilet, updated space suits and Christmas presents for the astronauts from their families. I expect work I will be doing with ISO will include logistics work on what has priority to be sent up to space station and collaborating with scientists about how their experiment with be stored. Additionally, Super Bowl LI in Houston and the Hidden Figures premiere are NASA related events I am looking forward to.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

* Often a live feed of Houston's Mission Control is streamed on NASA TV. My colleagues enjoy trying to catch me picking my nose when sitting console.

* Learn about the programmers behind the Apollo mission in the new movie Hidden Figures.

* Check out everything NASA accomplished in 2016 jam packed in a 3.5 minute video.

* Learn programming with Code.org, Elementary, Middle School, High School and Beyond.

Intern Week 6: A NASA Coincidence

Coincidence

I had barely graduated high school before embarking to NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio for an internship two summers ago. Equipped with my experience captaining a FIRST Robotics team I thought I was fully prepared for anything the engineering world could throw at me. Engineers racing to complete a power system for a multipurpose space habitat greeted me with hardware that needed testing, circuit board designs that needed fabricating, and copious acronyms that made my learning curve spike.

Fast forward two summers and I am now at at a different center, NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), creating crew displays for that same habitat and same hardware. By crazy coincidence my mentor from Glenn came to JSC this week to run the full systems test with the displays my current department made. This system test means a lot to me after being on each end of the development. I was the only person who new the electronics inside of the power system and  the digital guts powering the displays.

Astronaut Lunch

Yes you read that right lunch not launch. I had the gracious opportunity to meet Astronaut Mike Hopkins over lunch! He was on International Space Station (ISS) expedition 36 & 37, took part in two EVAs (extra vehicular activity), he has spent 166 days in space, and just a year ago he was in space. It was wonderful to talk to him about NASA, ways to become an astronaut and celebrity encounters.

Thermo Testing

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that us interns took part in thermo testing of cameras from the ISS in the wee hours of the night. In honor of our assistance our division, the Avionic Systems Division, awarded us will certificates in Team Excellence for "reinforcing the weary EHDC project team during overnight thermo testing." Caleb from: astronomicalwonders.tumblr.com also received this honor.

Intern Week 7: Touch Screen Spacecraft

For some, touch screens are a gift from the tech Gods allowing easy interaction with devices. For our friends in zero gravity it can be a nightmare...if implemented incorrectly. Shown in studies done on the ISS with iPads touch screen motions that should be avoided include swiping and typing. For an astronaut to swipe or type they must anchor themselves to the wall. With all that monkey motion most prefer to simply use a laptop while anchored. A simple tap of the screen and audio recording replacing typing is an easier way to interact with a device.

While designing displays for the audio system I am mindful of how the crew member will interact with the display. Making it user friendly and reducing interaction to light taps on the screen.

Opportunities interns have in addition to working on tech-intensive projects include listening to lectures from various NASA leaders. This week we heard from Anne Roemer from the Astronaut Selection Office. She shared with us admirable characteristics astronauts should have and basic qualifications you should have so they don't laugh at your application (such as a Masters in a given STEM or education field). We also learned about the reality of becoming an astronaut being informed that only 0.6% of applicants become astronauts.

SCIENCE PACKED WEEK: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 7

The amount of science that occurred this week was so overwhelming that I had to make the title all caps. Five major science related events occurred this week... I was a Judge at the FIRST Robotics Tech Challenge SE Texas Championship, assisted in astronaut user testing, watched a briefing about seven new Earth-like planets found, watched SpaceX Dragon cargo ship dock to the International Space Station, and trained on the job in Mission Control during the Dragon cargo ship unstow.

1. FIRST Robotics Tech Challenge Judging

FTC is like FRC (that I was in back in high school) except FTC robots are 18in x 18in x 18in, rather than 120lb robots we built, and play a different game. This year's game is Velocity Vortex which required students to build a robot in only six weeks that could lift large medicine balls and shoot Whiffle balls at a target. I had a great time at the FIRST Tech Challenge's SE Texas Regional Champs judging teams. It was a challenge to judge teams when there was so much talent to sift through! Unlike Minnesota FRC's one regional these TX FTC folks have to go through three levels of competition to get to the World Championship. Worlds will be held in Houston this year April 19-22.

Volunteer with at a FIRST Robotics event.

2. SpaceX Dragon Launch to Space Station

Launch of Falcon9 carrying dragon cargo to Space Station went wonderfully. Additionally, a stage of Flacon 9 successfully landed ON LAND back in Florida to be refurbished and reused. This private space industry/ US Government/ International effort demonstrates Scott Kelly's quote: "Spaceflight is the biggest team sport there is, and it's incredibly important that we all work together to make what is seemingly impossible possible." Kelly said this when he handed over command of the ISS to fellow NASA astronaut Tim Kopra during his Year In Space Mission in 2016. Despite public belief, spaceflight is a team collaboration (not competition) between government, private and international groups.

3. Astronaut User Testing

In parallel to hands free stowage app development I am "Project Manager-ing" for, I am helping with a similar app on an iPad. This iPad app is going through user testing to get approved and sent up to Space Station. I assisted with user testing including participants from ISO and participants from the astronaut crew office who have flown. The test participants were asked to gather items in the ISS mock-ups and pack them into the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship mock up. I was available for test participants to ask about space station locations. Additionally I made the “play” stowage items that participants gathered and packed.

4. New Earth-like Planets Found

First known system of seven Earth-sized planets has been found! This solar system is called TRAPPIST-1 and the planets are named letters "a" through "g" from closest to furthest from the Star. These planets are one hundred times closer to their star and closer to each other than the planets in our solar system. This means that on the surface of one planet you can see other planets clearly like our moon. Since this star is significantly cooler than ours which leaves three of these planets habitable despite close proximity to the star. At light speed it would take 39yrs to reach this solar system. In 2016 in Chile, researchers used the TRAPPIST telescope to find two of the planets in TRAPPIST-1. In part of a global effort NASA's Spitzer telescope found total of seven reported this week. In the future NASA's James Webb telescope, set to launch in 2018, will take a closer look at TRAPPIST-1.

Check out what the surface of planet TRAPPIST-1d looks like. Find the other six planets in the sky.

Take a 3D tour of TRAPPIST solar system.

NASA's press release about the new found exoplanets.

Full breif/ exoplanet discovery announcement video here, it's only 30mins long with press questions.

5. Dragon Cargo Ship Unstow

Conducted on the job training with DISO (Dragon Inventory Stowage Officer) in a Mission Control support room. DISOs are in charge of monitoring the astronaut’s cargo unstow of SpaceX’s dragon cargo ship docked to the International Space Station. Dragon delivered many scientific experiments, food and temperature sensitive items. During unstow astronauts Peggy Whitson and Thomas Pesquet were about an hour ahead of schedule. This crew is extremely efficient and is ahead of schedule for every task, even spacewalks. Pesquet unpacked cold bags where temperature sensitive science is stored and should be unpacked quickly. Whitson retrieved CTBs (Cargo Transfer Bags) from Dragon which included science that needed kept at a particular temperature and pressure. CTBs are White, rectangular, cushiony, sewn bags sealed with a zipper and are used on every flight to contain items.

Unloading items from dragon in an elegant organized fashion is critical because SpaceX must always know its center of gravity. If there is a Dragon emergency in which case dragon cannot stay on ISS and needs to return to Earth the center of gravity is available for accurate trajectory calculations. During my on the job training I followed the procedures sent to crew and recorded changes astronauts made to the procedure. I listened to the voice loops of each of the flight control consoles communicating to each other about the astronaut’s tasks. I was able to confirm “words”, what was spoken over the loop, to the official DISO flight controller as a second check. Sometimes DISO are asked to confirm that an unstow procedure is being completed correctly and sometimes DISO needs to call the Flight Director to point out a stowage item concern.

Robotics Pit Area: Where students repair their robot between matches

NASA Intern Reviews The Martian Movie

Maybe I am biased saying that The Martian is a must see, inspiring, stellar movie because I eat, sleep and defecate space exploration. However I am not here to tell you how great it was cinematically but answer some questions folks are curious about. As a NASA intern can you share some of the accuracies and inaccuracies of The Martain? Understand that many from the space community hang up their lab coats before walking into the theater. With my unhealthy space obsession I was wearing my lab coat complete with googles and a pocket protector.

Dust Storm Astronauts of the Ares III mission are caught in a dust storm so fierce they are forced to scrub the mission and return to Earth early. This catastrophic events sounds socking leaving people to wonder, why would we want to explore such a hostile planet? Fortunately the scenario of a powerful dust storm is not possible due to Mars’ thin atmosphere, 100 times thinner than Earth’s. Mars does indeed  have dust storms, in fact the largest dust storms in our solar system, they could not however knock anyone over. Author Andy Weir was aware of the inaccuracy even thinking of alternate openings but ultimately stuck with the dust storm opening.

Suiting Up Valiantly Mark Watney and the other astronauts quickly suited up to abort, perform tasks, or save a friend. The suits that are currently being used on board the International Space Station take around 15 minutes to don. Before astronauts perform Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs), like a space walk, they start testing and preparing suit a day before. Some activies the astronauts must perform to prep for an EVA include; Pre-breathe 100 percent oxygen for 30 minutes to remove nitrogen from their blood and tissue, Rub the helmet with anti-fog compound, Insert a food bar and water-filled bag, and Check the suit for leaks by increasing the pressure to 0.20 atm above the airlock pressure. Maybe the models of space suits in The Martian have advanced greatly and take seconds to put on. Today’s astronauts would sure be jealous.

Banter Joking between the crew members and sarcasm between NASA members was accurate. Performing missions can get stressful and comments like the astronauts made between each other during Mars rock excavation occurs to relieve tension. But sometimes astronauts simply have a sense of humor. I’m glad The Martian portrayed the human side of NASA.

Mission Control Portrayed as a dimly lit stock exchange room futuristic Johnson Space Center (JSC) Mission Control Center contains dozens of consoles where flight controllers operate mission from. The first big no no is housing employees responsible for critical dynamic troubleshooting in a dark sleepy room. Cinematically it made the labels for the various consoles Flight Director, CAPCOM, ADCO look really cool. Yes, the mission control center in JSC has cool light-up blue console name plates. A second no no is the high number of consoles filling the big room. A flight director would have problems communicating with such a large group especially while systems were failing.

I understand that so many positions in mission control were added to operate the new technologies needed to complete the Mars mission and I thought of a solution. Currently at JSC our front room mission control (FCR, pronounced “ficker”) is what everyone sees on TV with the iconic consoles and big displays. Behind the scenes the Multi-Purpose Support Room (MPSR, pronounced “mipser”) controllers troubleshoot issues and work on procedures as well. MPSRs could reduce the number of consoles needed for a Mars mission. MPSR controllers can still communicate their concerns on audio loops to their FCR leaders.

NASA Family Everyone was cheering to save Mark Watney and bring him home. NASA scientists, engineers, leaders, and the whole community came together working overtime to keep him alive. This sense of “NASA Family” is very real at NASA and is a state of community that you feel even after a few weeks onsite. During Apollo 13 you could sense everyone’s held breath and relief when they returned safely. You could feel a heavy weight and sorrow after the Columbia and Challenger disasters. Pride was presented boldly with waving flags, hugs and cheering after the Moon landing. NASA is a family innovating for the future and striving for more moments to cheer about.

Little Catches *Good the time delay in communication between Mars and Earth was accurately explained. *Why was that astrophysicist wearing a heavy coat at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and Johnson Space Center in Texas? *Our NASA Centers do not yet look that pristine, in fact a lot of them contain asbestos.

Sources My experience and… https://youtu.be/m2bkJQah_dE http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-suit6.htm http://stao.ca/gr6space/livinginspace/Donning%20a%20spacesuit%20_article.pdf http://www.space.com/16903-mars-atmosphere-climate-weather.html

NASA Co-Op Week 7: Astronaut, Rovers & Robots

One wheel off the edge of a cliff ten of us were jam packed in a rover sweating like dogs.

Robonaut, Valkyrie, Modular Robotic Vehicle and Small Pressurized Rover are the electrical explorers we visited during a Johnson Space Center robotics tour. Waiting in NASA's Rock Yard was a speedy electric vehicle and a crater climbing rover. MRV is an electric drive vehicle that is has high maneuverability that would score big in drifting competitions. We all got to ride in the Small Pressurized Rover which wasn't really small at all. This giant monster truck looking rover took us in and out of  lunar like creators and up a steep Mars like hill. The operator drove us to the edge of the hill and asked, "All right, are you ready to go down?" Grasping to our seats we were all white knuckled. Backing up the rover the operator laughed, "Going down that hill would have wrecked the vehicle". For those few seconds the inside of the rover became even more sauna like. In The Martian movie you will see a modified version of the Small Pressurized Rover that Mark Watney drives around.

Robotnaut is the humanoid robot you see on the news all the time that works in the International Space Station (ISS). Flexing muscles and articulating fingers Robotnaut showed off for us. Robotnaut is very strong able to lift over 20lb of weight in manners that would make arm day miserable. However, Robotnaut is also very delicate able to sense the wight of a nickle on its fingertips.

Valkyrie is a full bodied humanoid robot designed to perform human tasks in conditions unsafe for humans. The idea for Valkyrie came after the Fukushima Accident where more damage could have been avoided if valves were closed near the site, a task a robot could do. Valkyrie is also being designed for low gravity exploration like Mars or Lunar exploration.

Astronaut Michael Fossum talked us student this week too. He flew two Shuttle Missions and a six month long mission to the International Space Station. Before he was in space Fossum engineered ways to repair the shuttle during space walks to prevent any pieces from breaking off. During the space walk  Fossum navigated over to the tiles on the space station and sealed spaces and breaks with cocking substance. He mentioned when you look "down" in various directions during a spacewalk you can either see the surface of Earth or a black nothingness.  Fossum also was the first to capture a time-lapse of Northern Light and the first astronaut to operate Robotnaut on the ISS.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

Read about the Small Pressurized Rover and its future missions

Learn about Valkyrie's future endeavors

Watch Astronaut Mike Fossum operate Robotnaut

Robotnaut's younger sibling Robotnaut2 operating switches on the ISS

Human like hand motions by Robonaut2

Start your career with NASA and tune into a Virtual Career Fair and hear about internship, fellowships and scholarships October 8th 12pm-3:30pmCT

Intern Week 8: Pool, Control & Opportunity

Neutral Buoyancy Lab Tour A familiar faint smell of chlorine wafted in the air as we entered the Sonny Carter Training Facility. We stared at a vat  containing 6.2 million gallons of water, enough to fill nine Olympic swimming pools. Looking into the lagoon, 1:1 scale International Space Station (ISS) mock-ups were resting 40 feet below. Divers went about their daily routine escorting astronauts to various modules. Astronauts practiced EVAs (Extra Vehicular Activities) learning how to repair parts of the modules. Divers would retrieve tools astronauts drop and hold a camera up to their work for instructors to see. We saw where practice EVA suits are assembled and where modules are constructed before being submerged.

Mission Control Once again we return to Current and Historic Mission Control. Apollo 11 and 13 were among the great missions flown with less computing power than your smart phones. Controls were analog and sending messages via pneumatic tubes was common.

NASA Co-Op This week I was accepted into NASA Johnson Space Center's Pathways Internship Program, what NASA calls their Co-Op program. What does this mean? I will be sworn in as a U.S. Government civil servant and switch between semesters studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Minnesota Duluth and working at NASA. My NASA updates will continue throughout my experience.

Data from: McCarthy, Niall. "Some Tech Internships Pay More Than $75,000 A Year." Statista The Statistics Portal. N.p., 5 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.