Nothing, You Can't Do Anything With An Electrical Engineering Major. Jk Folks, EE Is One Of The Most

Dragon & Tech Development: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 5 & 6

Six weeks into my spring at NASA I can finally summarize my role. I am basically a project manager. I am working with a wonderful team of developers and flight controllers to green light an app astronauts may use on the International Space Station to facilitate stowage operations. The app runs on a device that would make stowage operations more hands free and enable monitoring from Earth. Stowage operations include unloading visiting vehicles such as the SpaceX Dragon and reloading Japanese HTV vehicles to burn up in the atmosphere. To get app approval I need to set up user tests in space station node mock-ups with participants familiar with space station procedures such as mission control flight controllers and astronauts. I observe user testing for other stowage tools and instruct team members to integrate those lessons learned into the app. I make sure the right talents are involved in the development including folks who work in human factors and those who train astronauts. So far this has been my favorite work tour responsibility wise. Even as a Co-Op my efforts directly correlate with the success of the app’s progress.

Picture above is from NASA’s exhibits in downtown Houston during Super Bowl week. I am wearing a VR headset that gave a 360 degree view of how rocket engines are constructed. A rocket booster of the same module of those on the Space Launch System was perched in the middle of Houston’s Discovery Green. Standing in the middle of the exhibits you could spin around in the circle and see sky scrapers draped in Super Bowl LI banners.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

SpaceX Dragon, a cargo resupply ship is scheduled to launch Sat Feb 18 9:01amCT, watch here!

Science experiments arriving to Space Station on Dragon to be conducted bu astronauts!

Behind the scenes of the SpaceX Dragon launch and Space Food!  

List of launches scheduled at Kennedy Space Center in Florida's Cape Canaveral.

Five minute video of this week's NASA accomplishments.

Real time updates on  NASA's missions.

Apply to be a NASA Intern!

Intern Day One: NASA Is Not Dead

At orientation we were asked to raise our hands if we thought NASA was dead after the Space Shuttle program ended. I admit, I was among the many that raised their hands. Many flashed back to when the last shuttle Atlantis launched summer of 2011. I thought back to my summer internship at NASA Glenn Research Center where I saw a rocket booster, the remains of the Constellation program, draped in tarps and covered with dust in a dark warehouse. Quickly myself and the room of interns came to learn that these preconceived notions about NASA are far from the truth.

During our first day as interns we had the opportunity to hear from Dr. Dava Newman about her new position as NASA Deputy Administrator and Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa brief Newman about the center's accomplishments. Hearing from Newman and Ochoa re-energized our passion for space exploration and reminded us how much NASA has progressed. Curiosity rover descended on Mar's surface August of 2012 not only becoming the fourth rover to land on this robot inhabited planet, but collecting data so we know how to prepare to for a human mission to Mars. Orion is the future Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle designed for the purpose of deep space exploration to Mars and beyond. This past December it had its first test flight launching to into orbit 3,600 miles above the Earth, far above the International Space Station. By being flown that high Orion collected data about radiation waves astronauts will have to pass through while traveling away and back to Earth. Orion also tested a careful decent with four stages of parachutes proving this massive heat shielding vehicle could decelerate at a comfortable pace for astronauts. Although I get impatient about waiting to send humans to Mars so many variables are being tested with Curiosity and Orion to ensure a successful mission.

My first day was filled with meeting fellow peers, getting antiquated with Johnson Space Center and learning that NASA is very much alive.

FIRST Robotics Kick Off is THIS SATURDAY Jan7 at 9amCT! 

3,400 teams made up of over 85,000 students will learn what game their robot will be playing. Within a six week build season students will have to fabricate, wire and program that robot. The game's name, "STEAMworks", has been revealed along with some vague hints. Here is a post with some of my theories and the link to watch the unveiling of the game live.

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

SPACEX STUCK THE LANDING

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket landed on a barge opening doors to reusable rockets on future missions. This is a BIG DEAL as reusable rockets save major moolah. Congrats to all those who worked on it! http://gizmodo.com/spacexs-falcon-9-rocket-just-made-the-first-ocean-barge-1769942283

NASA Co-Op Week 15: Precious Cargo

Six flags of countries who contributed to the International Space Station decorate the flight console. I return to Mission Control watching launch preparations from a new perspective - with Remote Interface Officer. Colloquially called RIO this team of international collaborators were originally dubbed Russian Integration Officer. The RIO flight controller communicated with the Russian team for launch and cargo capture system checks for the Cygnus rocket launch carried by an Atlas V rocket. Cygnus carries over 7,000 pounds of experiments, food and replacement parts to Space Station. cell cultures, bacteria, and microbe satellite experiments are on board the Cygnus rocket. We are calling this event a "Cyg"-nificant launch.

A team of  NASA flight controllers flip-flop working in the Russian Mission Control Center in Moscow and NASA's in Houston. For two months controllers visiting Moscow sit console for eight hours a day, six days a week, and on call 24/7.  By being available to assist with international troubleshooting, answering the right questions, and making right calls at the right time RIO has saved the space station hundreds of thousands of dollars. Ten years ago an hour of an astronaut's time in space was worth $100,000 so that cost has inflated even more now!

RIO introduced me to their mascot, a groundhog named Phil. One of the first Russian American collaborations took place on a Groundhog Day. Phil's collar is decorated with pins from various missions. The plush Ground Hog was hibernating under the console but has been kidnapped and escorted around the Red Square.

An odd anecdote I learned is that there is a survival hand gun stowed away on the Soyuz capsule. It is used if the Soyuz makes an emergency landing in an unexpected area and the astronauts need to defend themselves from bears or wolves. That's pretty hard core!

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED Watch the Cygnus cargo launch Dec 3rd 4:55pmCT: http://www.ustream.tv/NASAHDTV Accomplishments this week at NASA: https://youtu.be/t3_5ahJ0-Lw Apply for a NASA Internship & Scholarships NOW: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/main/ NASA Co-Op applications: http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/opportunities.htm NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars: http://nas.okstate.edu/ncas/ Join an aspirations in computing community: https://www.ncwit.org/programs-campaigns/aspirations-computing

100 Million X-Rays: NASA Co-Op #2 Week Three & Four

Jupiter orbital insertion, FIRST robotics coach visit and humidity sensor test prep have filled these past two weeks.

Drafting a fluid schematic complete with themocouples and pressure gauges I learn some fluid dynamics not expected to acquire as an electrical engineering and computer science major. The humidity sensor will be tested three ways - for 0% humidity with evaporating liquid nitrogen (Yah!), for ~ 50% with ambient room humidity down here in Houston, and >50% with ambient air being pulled through a water filled bubbler. Sensors will systemically be scattered to collect data and determine with a hefty amount of PV=NRTing if the humidity sensor works. After learning PV=NRT can only be used when you are certain the amount of water and vapor are equal to derive humidity we came up with the simple three part test matrix explained above.

My high school FIRST Robotics coach came to Johnson Space to tour some spacefaring robots, propulsion test center and space station mock ups (exact replicas of what is in space) at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility! We also visited Houston’s Natural Science Museum and biked on Galveston.

Within a second of what was expected the Juno Spacecraft performed her tasks successfully and inserted into Jupiter’s orbit. This basketball court sized spacecraft will be exposed radiation equivalent to a human receiving 100 million X-Rays in a year. Juno also captured the first demonstration of celestial harmonic movement hypothesized by physics. Powered by solar energy this Juno is unique because most crafts that travel this far are radioisotope thermoelectrically powered. A critical part of this insertion was turning the solar arrays back toward the Sun post insertion.

WAYS TO GET INVOLVED

Watch…

Juno Media Briefing: https://youtu.be/I6uUEYOzipw

Juno Insertion: https://youtu.be/zfIqnpqPFbI

Juno Post Insertion Media Briefing: https://youtu.be/LH_uPWU5V3o

Apply for a NASA Internship: https://intern.nasa.gov/ossi/web/public/guest/searchOpps/

Apply for a NASA Co-Op (check back as it is updated as soon as one opens): http://nasajobs.nasa.gov/studentopps/employment/opportunities.htm  

Robotics, Simulation & Future: NASA Co-Op #3 Week 8&9

Robotics: Many NASA interns and Co-Ops got hooked on STEM disciplines by participating in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics. In fact there is a robotics team that meets at NASA Johnson's Space Vehicle Mock Up Facility, the Robonauts. There are four levels for FIRST Robotics; Junior Lego League for ages 6 to 10 (JrFLL), Lego Robotics League for 4th to 8th grade (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge for 7th to 12th grade (FTC), and FIRST Robotics Competition for 9th to 12th graders (FRC). There are still FIRST Robotics events you can take part in.

Search for FIRST Robotics events pick “Event” and use filters such as dates, program type, county and zip code.Volunteers apply through the Volunteer Information and Matching System and need to pass a background check. Once you are accepted into a position the volunteer coordinator will supply you with the necessary training.

WATCH TEAMS COMPETE LIVE (every Thur - Sat through weekend of April 27th, 2017).

Robot my FRC team made

Robot the team who builds here, Robonauts, made.

This year’s FRC game.

Simulation: A group of us toured the Systems Engineering Simulator (SES) lab a part of NASA Johnson's Robotics Engineering division. Astronauts visit SES to practice docking Orion, capturing the SpaceX Dragon cargo ship, and driving a Mars rover. They simulate realistic physics and scenarios with in house software (Unreal Engine couldn't cut it). The have simulations with the International Space Station, Japanese Cargo Vehicle (HTV), Dragon, Cygnus, Orion and future space exploration vehicles.

Future of NASA: Center Director Ellen Ochoa, Deputy Director Mark Geyer and Associate Director Melanie Saunders hosted an All Hands where they shared with NASA Johnson employees essentially our state of the union. Ochoa described that NASA of priority and interest of the new administration. Per the request of the administration, NASA is conducting a study to weigh the risks of adding a manned crew to Space Launch System and Orion Space Craft's EM1 test. This study is expected to conclude late March.

Mural of NASA’s past present and future.