This is not a Tribute, it is our Responsibility

Written By Raul Batista

“ I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”John F. Kennedy

Its July 16, 1969 T- 3 minutes, the control room gives the green light, still go for launch. Out at launch pad LC 39A the 363 foot 6.4 million pound Saturn V rocket stands breathing, expelling gases as it anxiously awaits to send three men to the moon for the first time in history. The goal for the Saturn V rocket is 218,000 miles away to the moon. T-80 seconds still go for launch as engineers in the control room anxiously watch their monitors with fingers on the abort trigger. T-57 seconds power transfer from ground to vehicle. T-25 seconds astronauts

call in “Feels Good.” T-8.7 seconds engines ignite as fire followed by a tremendous roar breaks the silence of the anticipated moment. T- 3, 2, 1, lift off, “we have cleared the tower,” is sent from the control room as man makes his journey to the uncharted moon.

Forty years later we at NASA find ourselves still sending man to the heavens. We have endured the losses of Apollo 1, we have learned from the losses of Challenger, we have grown closer as a family and community from the loss of Columbia. Forty years of men and women working together arduously to achieve the once impossible mission of sending man to outer-space.

As a co-op student I have noticed and felt the dedication that my team, branch chief and NASA community have towards the mission at hand. Each day man hours were utilized to ensure

utmost perfection and safety. Drawings are checked, meetings are held, tele-conferences attended bringing communication lines between Kennedy and Glenn, Marshall, all the way out to Dryden, in an effort to unify all under the same goal and moral. The goal ahead is to not only repeat history, but to exceed our wildest dreams to reach Mars and beyond.

It is our responsibility as co-ops to understand the undaunted spirit of the NASA community and to constantly welcome the next challenges. We must look back at our history, for it shows us where we have been and will guide us into the future. We are on the ground floor of the Constellation Program; an opportunity given to a select few. Soon we will find:T- 57 seconds ground power transfers to vehicle power as the towering 321 foot 2 million pound Ares 1 rocket stands breathing, awaiting its moment to once again take man to the moon. T-3, 2, 1 we have lift off.

“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” John Maxwell

From The Editor...

Name: Teressa Specht

Hometown: Santa Fe, NM

School: University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

Major: Electrical Engineering (concentration in Systems and Controls)

Year: Junior, 20 yrs old

Extracurriculars: UNM Hispanic Engineering and Science Org. President (MAES and SHPE orgs combined), Presidential Scholar, ECE Scholar, Muggle Society Co-founder

Hobbies: Reading, traveling, swimming

Center: Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA

Branch: RF, Flight Systems, F-18 Test Bench Project

Tours: 1 (first time at NASA)

Favorite NASA mission: Hubble Space Telescope

Favorite co-op memory: I have had many so far, but one that sticks out in my mind is the first time I heard a sonic boom. I literally jumped in the air! I was in a hangar, so the sound just exemplified in the large space.

Favorite thing about Dryden: I was never around planes growing up, but I have learned so much about them since I have been here. I like being in the hangar working with the equipment and seeing all the different experimental planes. I also like how everyone, from my mentor to the returning co-ops, is really trying to make my experience here a good one.

Co-Op Faces Around Dryden

Dryden Students Learn from Outgoing Center DirectorBy: John Bird

When center director and former co-op Kevin Petersen announced his intention to retire after a 37 year NASA career the co-ops quickly decided that we should give him a memento from all of the current and former co-ops on center to thank him for his continual support of the program. On March 26th, all of the Co-op students at the Dryden Flight Research Center had an opportunity to have lunch with Petersen to present our memento and to learn about his experiences in a career at NASA.

Current co-op student Kate Scoggin took charge of putting together a gift from the co-ops, a multi layered display of pictures of co-ops at work and play dating back through the years since Petersen first came to Dryden. Co-ops from all over the center, many originally hired by Petersen, signed well-wishes and memories on the display to commemorate his career and to thank him for supporting the co-op program.

After finalizing the display we were fortunate enough to receive time during Petersen’s final week to have lunch with him and the new acting center director, another former co-op, where we could present our memento and talk with the two founts of knowledge and experience about both the past and future of the center and to learn what it takes to be center director.

Senior NASA management as he was, Petersen was more than happy to tell of his journey to center director, starting with his receiving a co-op job on only one week’s notice, and experiencing “desert shock” as he moved from Iowa to the Mojave desert. The co-op program, as we learned, was not so different in 1971, bringing in students from across the nation to live, work, play, and learn at NASA (and apparently lose other co-ops while climbing Mt. Whitney).

We also learned about the wide array of projects that have been at Dryden in the last 37 years, from the YF-12 (predecessor to the storied SR-71 Blackbird and one of Petersen’s first projects), to the first fly-by-wire aircraft, to the Highly Maneuverable

This is not a Tribute, it is our Responsibility

Written By Raul Batista

“ I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”John F. Kennedy

Its July 16, 1969 T- 3 minutes, the control room gives the green light, still go for launch. Out at launch pad LC 39A the 363 foot 6.4 million pound Saturn V rocket stands breathing, expelling gases as it anxiously awaits to send three men to the moon for the first time in history. The goal for the Saturn V rocket is 218,000 miles away to the moon. T-80 seconds still go for launch as engineers in the control room anxiously watch their monitors with fingers on the abort trigger. T-57 seconds power transfer from ground to vehicle. T-25 seconds astronauts

call in “Feels Good.” T-8.7 seconds engines ignite as fire followed by a tremendous roar breaks the silence of the anticipated moment. T- 3, 2, 1, lift off, “we have cleared the tower,” is sent from the control room as man makes his journey to the uncharted moon.

Forty years later we at NASA find ourselves still sending man to the heavens. We have endured the losses of Apollo 1, we have learned from the losses of Challenger, we have grown closer as a family and community from the loss of Columbia. Forty years of men and women working together arduously to achieve the once impossible mission of sending man to outer-space.

As a co-op student I have noticed and felt the dedication that my team, branch chief and NASA community have towards the mission at hand. Each day man hours were utilized to ensure

utmost perfection and safety. Drawings are checked, meetings are held, tele-conferences attended bringing communication lines between Kennedy and Glenn, Marshall, all the way out to Dryden, in an effort to unify all under the same goal and moral. The goal ahead is to not only repeat history, but to exceed our wildest dreams to reach Mars and beyond.

It is our responsibility as co-ops to understand the undaunted spirit of the NASA community and to constantly welcome the next challenges. We must look back at our history, for it shows us where we have been and will guide us into the future. We are on the ground floor of the Constellation Program; an opportunity given to a select few. Soon we will find:T- 57 seconds ground power transfers to vehicle power as the towering 321 foot 2 million pound Ares 1 rocket stands breathing, awaiting its moment to once again take man to the moon. T-3, 2, 1 we have lift off.

“Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” John Maxwell

Aircraft Technology (HiMAT was his favorite), to the X-29 forward swept wing and beyond. The stories of developing the first remotely piloted vehicles and the safety precautions and technical challenges were fascinating. Such as with HiMAT, where the flight computers were on the ground (they were too big to fit in the plane), and the chase plane carried a safety pilot who could take over and make the HiMAT the world’s coolest toy airplane if anything went wrong.

The experience also gave us a window into what it is like to be center director, with the long hours, constant travel, and never ending string of meetings that led Petersen to retire so that he could spend more time with family. None of us imagined that being center director could be an easy job, but we hardly thought that it would involve spending over half of one’s time away from the center flying to various meetings with other NASA management. The difficulty and frenetic pace of the job led us all to a new respect for our center director and his accomplishments.

Over the course of an hour and a half (30 minutes longer that we were supposed to go, but nobody kicks the center director out of a conference room) we learned a tremendous amount about our center and its history and management. Talking to our outgoing and now current center director we learned not only just how demanding their position is, but also how human and approachable they are. The opportunity was a great one for the next generation of NASA employees to learn from the reflections of the last, and served to reinforce the idea that with a start in the co-op program there is no limit to one’s accomplishments within NASA.

Co-Op Faces Around Goddard

Name: Benjamin “Ben” H. Emory

Center: GSFC Code 542 Mechanical Systems Analysis and Simulation Branch

School: University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Year in School: Ph.D. Candidate, expected graduation August 2009.

Major: Mechanical Engineering: Design, Manufacturing, and Engineering Systems Area

Hometown: Hollywood, St. Mary's County, Maryland currently Odenton, Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Area Currently Working In: Vibroacoustics, Vibration, Dynamics, Control Systems

Number of Previous Co-op Tours: Zero

Hobbies: Cycling, Running, Swimming, Engineering Education Outreach, and Photography

Favorite NASA Mission: Orion and Global Precipitation Measurement Satellite

Favorite Co-op Memory: Having the opportunity to be involved with the crew seat attenuation suspension design for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.

Apollo Night“Houston, we are venting something out into space, it’s defiantly a gas of some sort. It’s got to be the oxygen!”

That’s just one of the numerous quotes from the movie Apollo 13. Each semester at JSC, the co-ops and interns gather for a tradition as old as cracking open a bottle of Champaign to christen a new ship. The tradition is called Apollo Night and it is one of the highlights each semester for many NASA student employees at Johnson Space Center. Apollo Night is a two part event, first a lecture by Mr. Frank Hughes followed by the showing of Apollo 13…the cool part is, we ACTUALLY WATCH IT IN HISTORIC MISSION CONTROL, where all the action occurred in 1970 and where the movie was filmed!

Over 80 co-ops attended one of the two Apollo Nights held on April 7th and 15th. The Spring 2009 Apollo Night began with a very special lecture by Frank Hughes. Mr. Hughes retired from NASA as Chief of Spaceflight Training in 1999 after spending more than 33 years at JSC. During his years on site, Mr. Hughes played a critical role in the training and

development of all US space missions since 1966. He enlightened us with his experience and knowledge of the Apollo 13 mission and how the director of Apollo 13 used NASA’s “Weightless Wonder”, a modified KC135 aircraft, to film the zero gravity scenes in the movie. We began the motion picture after hearing firsthand what occurred during the Apollo 13 mission.

A few co-ops would describe the the viewing of the Apollo 13 movie in such a historically rich environment as truly special. Co-op Megan Pendleton said, “Watching Apollo 13 in Historic MC seriously gave me goose bumps to know I was in the same room where it all happened. It was unforgettable!” Another NASA Co-op, Austin Lovan, was also amazed. He stated, “Apollo movie night is one of the most memorable experiences I've had thus far as a co-op.” There was also a first time viewer of Apollo 13, Co-op Stephanie Johnston, and boy was she excited! “I never saw the movie before this week, and I have to say watching Apollo 13 for the first time in the room where half the action in the movie happened was amazing! (I even got goose bumps!)”

Well there you have it. If you are planning on coming to JSC sometime in the future, plan it around Apollo Night. It is an unforgettable experience! But for now, “So long, Earth. Catch you on the flip side.”

Johnson

Frank Hughes speaks to the JSC co-ops at Apollo Night

Name: Jake AndersonCenter: JSCSchool: Georgia TechYear in school: 4th YearMajor: Aerospace EngineeringArea currently working in: DS62/Guidance & Control Systems Group (GNC Flight Control) Number of previous co-op tours: 3Hobbies: Running, playing piano, Atlanta Braves baseball Favorite NASA mission: Apollo 8. This is arguably the gutsiest move made by NASA in its history - to change the flight from an Earth-orbiting mission to a lunar-orbiting mission only 4 months prior to launch. The success of this mission demonstrated for the first time the capability of a vehicle to leave Earth orbit. In doing so, we got images of the Earth the we'd never seen before. The crew also did something pretty cool during a Christmas Eve broadcast that's worth reading about if you haven't heard about it.Favorite co-op memory: Finding out on my first day of work that I was going to be working in Flight Control.

Building a Community of ScholarsBy: Cody Kelly

Supporting the development of a new generation of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students, the NASA Johnson Space Center (NASA\JSC) has partnered with the state of Texas to support the Community College Aerospace Scholars (CAS) program. Every spring semester, upwards of 40-50 community college students travel from across the state to the center to participate in the creation of fictional aerospace corporations intending to develop a Martian rover for unmanned exploration.

NASA/JSC co-ops provide a mentoring aspect to the program, becoming the CEOs of each company while being a role model for the students interested in STEM fields. I recently had the distinct pleasure of mentoring twelve students as they worked for three days on their robotic rover projects while also touring various JSC facilities. Students built rovers from a pre-selected set of parts, always watching their hypothetical budget and earning budget increases with the successful completion of certain tasks such as geological analysis and collecting the most “Martian” rocks. Competition grew among every team, and many of the students said that the atmosphere created by the program made them even more interested and

excited about the engineering and science fields. The enthusiasm displayed by these visiting

students was more than enough to make you realize that NASA has an important part in the creation of the next generation of engineers, scientists, and explorers who will join us on the journey back to the moon and onward. Having the chance to impact fellow students in such a way not only makes you feel good, but allows you to reach out and actively shape the future of an agency at the forefront of our nation’s next great leaps into the unknown.

I encourage you to visit the program website:https://aerospacescholars.jsc.nasa.gov/CAS to find out more about the program, and look into the possibility of similar programs at your local and regional space centers.Cody Kelly is an Aerospace Engineering student at the Texas A&M University in College Station, Tx.

Co-Op Faces Around Johnson

JSC Co-op Launch Trip By: Jared Daum

What is one of the best parts of a NASA Co-op tour? Launch trips!

The STS-119 launch was planned for early in the year and by the time the long term delays had passed, the hordes of JSC coops interested in making the 16 hour trek was whittled down to the four of us: myself, Austin Lovan, Kyle Inman, and Mike Vandewalle. The launch was scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 and it was that Sunday. We still couldn’t decide whether we wanted to hustle out, see the launch, and hustle back or make a trip out of it (after all, I did use up all of my credit hours when I was sick a few weeks earlier). At the last minute we decided to make it quick and try to get back for some work and a Dr. Chris Kraft lecture on Thursday. Little did we know that our planned 48 hour excursion would turn into a week long extravaganza.

On Tuesday we headed east, immediately following the seemingly longest day of work of the tour. With four spry young men in one vehicle, we had no problem getting all the way out to the Cape in one overnight drive full of jokes and honks from envious passersby. Once we arrived Wednesday mid-morning, the lure of the beach was stronger than the urge to get

cleaned up, so that’s where we headed. It was sunny and so beautiful that we hit the beach and forgot the sunscreen. We played in the sand, breathed the fresh air, and played Frisbee with some locals and before I knew it, I was as red as the rock lobsters I was about to eat. Just as I was about to bite into my first tasty treat, my phone lights up with a text message from my mentor back at JSC. Launch scrubbed due to a leak during fueling. It looks like we aren’t going to get back to JSC on Thursday.

Luckily, we had contacted some KSC coops and interns before we left home. They invited us over for dinner that night to make up for the scrubbed launch. We had a great time meeting other coops and comparing assignments and activities and snagging a few group photos.

To make a long story short, the launch date kept being pushed back further and further, and each time the calls to ask our mentors if we could stay became harder and harder. It was looking like we weren’t going to see the launch. But, to make lemonade out of lemons, we took the extra time to explore the area. We visited the KSC visitor’s center, Air Force Space and Missile Museum, and got a tour of the VAB from KSC co-op Laila

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Rahmatian. We even found some time to hang out with a sailor on the beach. What made the day even better is that we found out that the shuttle would probably launch on Sunday and that we were going to see it!

The launch was incredible. The sun had just set, so the towers were glimmering with lights. As the countdown reached zero we could see giant clouds of smoke and water vapor, but the air was calm and everything was silent around us. It was about the time that the shuttle began clearing the tower that the rumble of the SRBs began to shake us. The oohs, ahhs, and cheers of the crowd gave us shivers as the dimly lit shuttle passed into the sun, shining amazing colors and leaving a shadow that could be followed all the way down to the ground. The SRBs could be seen falling with the naked eye down range while the trail of the shuttle above the pad blazed orange and blue (go Illini). But, just as

quickly as the launch had happened, we were in the car headed straight back to the office in 16 hours.

Jared Daum is an Aerospace Engineering student at the University of Illinois, in Urbana, Illinois.

STS-127 Processing: Rollover and LiftWritten By Brett Pearce

The Vehicle Assembly Building is the focal point for processing activities here at Kennedy; within this cavernous building, the Orbiter, External Tank, and Solid Rocket Boosters combine to form the Space Transportation System. The last major processing step prior to rollout is to bring the Orbiter over from the Orbiter Processing facility and mate it to the waiting SRB and ET stack. This is a complicated ballet of steel that began at 7:00 AM. The Shuttle is picked up by the OTS (Orbiter Transfer System), a massive multi-wheeled vehicle used to move the Shuttle.

After being rolled into the VAB, the Shuttle is attached to what is known as the “sling”, an L-shaped structure that will support the vehicle as it is rotated into the vertical and then lifted up into position. The first stage of the lift entails the 325 ton crane and the 175 ton crane working in concert to bring the vehicle to a vertical orientation. Once vertical, the after portion of the sling is removed, and the vehicle is prepared for the lift. Its rotated approximately 40 degrees to fit through the space in the VAB Stacks, and then is lifted over 450 feet into the air. The vehicle is moved through the gap in the Stacks, rotated into the proper orientation, and is then lowered into position to complete the procedure. It takes approx. 24 hours to go from rollover to a hard mate. The lift is conducted when there are a minimum of people in the facility for safety reasons.

Brett Pearce, Laila Rahmatian, and Brittany Griffin observed the lift from various locations in the VAB. After clearing their presence with the appropriate authorities and receiving the requisite briefings for these operations, the three spent 5 ½ hours in the VAB observing the operation from various levels in the VAB, from the floor up to the top of the stacks. It was a rare and stunning experience to see the vehicle upended and suspended in mid-air, 450 feet closer to the stars.

Kennedy

Kennedy Space Center 30th Annual All American Picnic 2009Written By Corrie Lamkin

Kids running, balloons splashing, magic shows and astronaut sightings. These and a myriad of other fun and fascinating activities were all present at the 2009 KSC All American Picnic on March 7, and the Kennedy Space Center co-ops were out in full force. Some volunteered to help with rock climbing, basketball games, the three legged race, balloon toss, and tug-of-war, while others came out to enjoy the fun in the sun. But regardless of the motivation for attending, the results were the same and everyone had a blast participating in this annual event. Not just meant to be festive, there were also numerous educational activities present such as the Central Florida Animal Reserve, who showed off their white tigers, and the National Space Society Florida Space Coast Chapter, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the “creation of a spacefaring civilization.” It was an interesting and entertaining day for all ages and backgrounds.

There was music and dancing and car shows and cook-offs, along with plenty of food and fun for everyone involved. We co-ops rock climbed, raced with our legs bound together, jousted and tossed balloons at each other, all for that chance to win the coveted prize of a gift card to Wal-Mart or Blockbuster (an essential to every co-op who needs groceries for the upcoming week or a movie to relax with after a hard day’s work). We ate Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q and homemade desserts from the dessert contest (we even had a winner in our midst, this very author for my Peanut, Chocolate and Cinnamon Cookies!). Magic Dove Magic Shop gave a lively show full of simple magic and comedic twists while astronaut Kenneth Ham, who flew space shuttle Discovery on STS-124, signed autographs and gave advice to his worshipping fans (namely us co-ops).

“It was really great being able to see all of my co-workers come with their families.It has made my time here at KSC more enjoyable and creates family/friendship connections. Kinda reminds me that work is not just work but about having fun and enjoying where you work

with the people around you,” said Laila Rahmatian,a Civil Engineering student from Purdue University.

This picnic was a wonderful event for all the co-ops here at Kennedy Space Center. It was an enlightening experience to get to see all of our colleagues out of the office in a relaxed environment and to take part in the fun and games with them. It was also a great bonding experience for the co-ops and interns themselves, and turned into a wonderful memory for us all. I look forward to attending it again someday and hopefully having just as much fun as we all did the first time around.

Riding Waves NASA Style

Written By Jake Gamsky and Corey Schafer

Each year hundreds of college students migrate to the warm and sunny beaches of Florida’s coast. For one week each spring these students forget the numerous formulas and facts they have unconsciously memorized prior to their week away in this sandy paradise. They drive hundreds of miles down cold, vacant highways to relax, tan, ride waves, socialize, discover the Florida cuisine, and to make memories in their one week of freedom. After the week expires they clean the sand off all their items and precious souvenirs and sadly pack their bags to return home, careful not to rub their sunburn. However, the Kennedy Space Center group of co-ops and interns are the privileged few able to enjoy a full semester of marvelous weather and exciting beach activities.

Many of the current KSC co-ops/interns hail from central or northern states such as New York, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia. During this semester those regions had some of the worst winter storms in decades. These fortunate individuals escaped the cold and blustery northern temperatures for the glorious sunshine and mid 70’s of Florida. Due to their fortunate circumstances the KSC co-ops/interns jumped at their first opportunity to explore and relax on the beautiful beaches of Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.

The first weekend of the semester finally arrived and the group was itching for the salty breeze and calming, harmonious sound of the waves crashing into the pristine beach sand. They eagerly entered the beach and felt the soft, warm, sand grains in between their toes. The sun felt amazing on their skin as they spread out their towels to take in some rays.

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Flocks of seagulls soared above them as the cool ocean breeze drowned out any worries remaining in their minds.

This trend continued for the next few weekends. The KSC co-ops/interns regularly met at the beach to read, relax, and reconnect with each other over the past weeks events. Then, on a particularly clear and gorgeous, hot March morning Raul Batista, Jake Gamsky, Brittany Griffin, Kerri Freer, Kelley Jones, Matt Noyes, Laila Rahmatian, Corey Schafer, and Matt Swanson met for breakfast before an exciting day at Cocoa Beach. This day was different then the preceding weekends of casual relaxation. Today, they were going to attempt to surf!

After renting boards and finding a spot on the crowded beach, they forced themselves into the still icy-cold Atlantic Ocean. For many of the students this was their first attempt at the challenging sport of surfing, and what better place to try then Cocoa Beach, home of Kelly Slater, 9-time World Surfing Champion. The first few attempts were painfully embarrassing. Stinging face plants and backwards tumbles ensued while they found their balance and learned the proper technique. However, these future engineers and scientists did not quit amidst the adversity. With each attempt they improved until they were riding waves every three or four tries. The first feeling of catching a wave on a surfboard is very powerful. You pop up and feel a fresh wind in your face, see the Florida sun glimmering in the soft blue sky, experience the salty ocean water spraying in all directions, and undergo shear excitement as you speed towards the beach.

All the co-ops and interns had an amazing day of surfing, swimming, tanning, tossing the rugby ball and watching a number of other entertaining spectacles that took place at Cocoa Beach that day. Since the surfing event was such a success, the students are planning other group beach activities such as scuba diving, cruise rides, and deep-sea fishing.The co-ops and interns working at the Kennedy Space Center are very grateful for the opportunity to work for such an outstanding organization with an extensive and rich history. The location of KSC is simply icing on the already flavorful, chocolate cake. The close proximity to Florida’s beaches and terrific weather has allowed the students to participate in an array of activities not available at other centers. They have definitely made the most of their opportunity to work in the Sunshine State.

Intern Faces Around Kennedy

Matthew NoyesSchool: Rochester Institute of TechnologyYear in School: 3rdMajor: Computer Science

Currently Working In: Constellation Launch Control SystemWork Highlights: I am currently constructing some of the data displays that will be used by flight engineers in the firing room during the launch of an Ares vehicle.

Favorite NASA Memory: Standing at the base of launch pad 39A, upon which was mounted shuttle Discovery for STS-119, looking up and thinking “I finally made it.”

How I Came to be at NASA: Each year, my uncle (Paul Ferretti) and I get together to design and implement robots. We have constructed robotic arms, sonar- and touch-enabled pathfinding robots, and perhaps our best work, a remote-manipulated tankbot with controllable claw gripper and a 180 degree field of view from a steerable camera mount. It was during this time that I grew attached to the software side of robotics, particularly artificial intelligence and computer vision, and how it’s advancement could benefit mankind. Over the years I have felt that space exploration is one of the most promising futures of robotics, and that contributing to it in any way would not only be incredibly cool, but also add to our body of scientific knowledge in the long run. More than that however, is that to be part of this team, who so valiantly pushes the boundaries of the human imagination and inspires future generations to cast their gaze toward the stars, is for me the greatest feeling in the world.

Other Hobbies: In addition to robotics, I have also been heavily involved in the theatre; I have performed in over 10 shows, holding lead roles in "The Music Man" and "Fiddler on the Roof." I also enjoy model rocketry and airplane construction, scuba diving, a good math problem, and the occasional game of chess.

Salsa LessonsWritten By Kelley Jones

It’s dark, you see a ghostly figure glide quickly across the floor to pause and reaches for you, you then find their hand and freeze. Then in an instant you feel a warmth and a bright light shines onto the figure, your partner, and then finally you the sound that causes your body to follow, aaaand… 1,2,3… 1,2,3… 1,2,3…cha cha cha. Although many people have experienced a dance performance, at Kennedy we have taken the stage on a much smaller scale. Every Tuesday evening at the Crown Plaza in Melbourne, Florida free salsa lessons are given to whoever wants to join. Not only do they provide lessons but they also have a contest where anyone can get up with a partner and strut their stuff.

On a Tuesday evening three coops took this challenge Laila Rahmatian, Raul Batista, and Kelley Jones (yours truly). After many turns and hip sways it was down to Raul and I and Laila and her partner who was a navy seaman who was home for a visit (how can you beat that!). In the end the audience cheered almost just as loud as the seaman’s family and friends for us so we tied and each of us were given gift certificates to a nice sushi restaurant. We returned again to just enjoy the ability to have a place to learn and to release the stress of the day. The art of dance in my experience is the best way to have fun and relieve stress in a positive way.

The Grande FinaleWritten By Laila Rahmatian

Watching a launch is something that every coop and intern dreams of one day seeing in their young lives. With only 8 missions left before the Shuttle program turns into the Constellation program, the desire to see a shuttle launch has become more and more of a demand. It is an absolutely breathtaking event to witness whether you are 3 miles or 100 miles away. For many of us, previous launches had been viewed on the television and were a slight let down, but on March 15th 2009 at 7:43 pm, the wait was finally over.

Originally supposed to launch on February 12th, space shuttle Discovery was postponed for over a month due to technical difficulties. Due to this delay, many of the KSC coops and interns had the opportunity to see the shuttle roll out onto the pad, walk around the shuttle and even into the clean room, peaking inside the orbiter door. Seeing the shuttle a finger tip away was something I never imagined I would experience before I got here, it is almost like you don’t believe it until you see it!

Launch Day:Many of the interns and coops arrived

4 hours early to get a good spot near the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), which is the closest any employee can get to see the grand finale. The closest any person can withstand the launch is 3 miles. Any closer and you had better run or else you are faced with toxic fumes, unbearable vibrations and acoustic sounds, debris, and much more. So there we were, standing close to the VAB, across from the VIP stands where the astronaut families were waiting to see their loved ones go up, and a feeling of excitement, worry and anxiousness filled the air. A lot of things could go wrong in these last few minutes, however keeping your figures crossed is sometimes a necessary part of life. Countdown:

10 minutes before launch we all got our cameras and video recorders ready. Some employees even had their loved ones wait over the phone so they could listen to the live action. Text messages were being sent like crazy informing friends and family members (who could not get on center but were on the beach watching) we had T-minus 5 min.

After watching the spectacular launch we were anxious to see the safe return of the STS 119 crew. The landing was scheduled on Saturday, March 28th and a group of interns and coops carpooled to the headquarters building where the busses were ready to take us to the landing strip.

Once we arrived at headquarters, we soon learned that the first landing attempt was scrubbed due to cloud coverage. However, we did not let our spirits dampen and decided to wait for further information. During our wait we all took more pictures and talked and socialized amongst each other all the while expressing our excitment about the upcoming event.

About an hour later, we received good news from mission control that the clouds seemed to be clearing up. We rushed out to the buses and drove to the runway. While the clouds still hung over the runway, nothing cloud damper the excitement of the crowd as it eagerly awaited the shuttle to land. The bleachers were crowded with space enthusiasts anxious to see the return of the STS-119 crew.

As the clock counted down the anticipation grew; necks were craned up to the sky trying to see glimpses of the shuttle among the clouds. Boom Boom!!! The two rapid sonic booms caught everyone by surprise, causing hearts to jump into throats. The orbiter suddenly appeared in the sky looking like a bird with a brick on its back. As it came to its final descent the orbiter crossed the tree line and suddenly more than the tail fin was visible. The falling brick glided over the tarmac as if it was a model gracefully walking down a clothes runway and we all gasped as it rolled past us, it was such a beautiful sight. Cheers erupted and everyone headed back to the buses with light hearts knowing that the crew had arrived home safely.

At last the Grand finale. ”T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Lift off! We have lift off. “In that moment, our faces lit up. It was so beautiful, the shuttle was alive! A few seconds

later the sound of the shuttle roar caught up to us. We all froze in awe and excitement. We never could have imagined seeing something like this up close and in person. There we stood, rooted to the ground, our only thoughts trying to reconcile the idea that this rocket that was firing up into the sky at 17,500 miles an hour was within our touch only a few days ago, and now it was heading into space. The sunset casted a shadow as it touched the clouds, the smoke glowed with white, gold and red. Looking around my surroundings and seeing people’s faces smile with a feeling of accomplishment made me realize how proud everyone really is to be part of the vision NASA is trying to attain. I turned my face back to the sky, and with hundreds of others, I looked into the sky until the shuttle was no longer visible.Afterwards we took plenty of photos with the shuttles leftover debris in the background. It took a while until they cleared, but the sky was absolutely beautiful and clear. By far it was the best launch experience ever.

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The Landing Written By Laila Rahmatian and Jennifer Dowling

Yuri’s nightWritten By Kelley Jones

“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars…or sailed to an uncharted land…or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.” Helen Keller

On the night of April 4, 2009, an astronaut was maneuvering by a star that caused the vehicle’s capsule to reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so unbearably scorching that the sweat was dripping off the skin and it was getting more and more difficult to catch a breath of the limited artificial air that filled the tiny compartment. Then, when the capsule was finally maneuvered beyond this intense source of heat and traveling at gastronomical speeds into the colossal nothingness of space, the temperature swung wildly in the opposite direction and became a cold so penetrating that the astronauts’ body began to convulse. At that point it became too much to bear. Just as she was about to move toward her fellow crew members for warmth, she looked over and realized no one was feeling these extreme temperatures. Was some something wrong with her, was she getting sick? No she couldn’t be, she was in quarantine before launch and so was her crew, so what was happening? Then, all of a sudden, out of the silence that had surrounded her and her crewmates in their tiny capsule floating through the emptiness of space, a very distinct laughter was heard and the astronaut was snapped back to reality and realized that she was not in space at all, but was in fact at Redheads in Port Canaveral with her friends and coworkers all watching as she was blatantly entranced by the spell of the nightly entertainment for Kennedy Space Center’s celebration of Yuri’s Night. The hypnotist had six volunteers sitting in a row, and only one was caught under the charm of the hypnotists voice, me.

As history has shown time and time again, man has not been able to just let the unknown remain at peace, and on April 12, 1961 the first human being was launched up and beyond into the unknown, unchartered heavens. Yuri Gagarin, a man from the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (later renamed Gagarin) in the then Soviet Union, knew his destiny from a very young age. He knew that he was meant to explore that majestic, blue blanket above our heads, and at the age of 27 years old it came true as he not only became the first person to be launched into space, but also to orbit the Earth. This was the beginning of our efforts to uncover the great mysteries of the sky and as a result became one of the most exciting times in our nation’s history. Just a few months after this momentous achievement, the President of the United States of America challenged us, as a nation, to accomplish the impossible.

“I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

John F. KennedyMay 25, 1961

Kennedy Space Center hosted a celebration to commemorate the accomplishment of Yuri Gagarin that helped get this country’s space program to where it is today on April 4th, 2009. If it was not for this feat of the Soviet Union’s we, as the people of the United States, would not have been able put aside our differences and bind together to make the impossible possible. We would not have had the determination and the dream to do what no one had ever done before- take a step on the moon. Now, here we stand as the first and only country to put a human being on a land mass outside our home planet. As a result of this fact, it was a night of good company, pizza, hypnotizing, dancing and celebrating the first step of our journey into space and pondering on the next. After the journey into space, my friends, colleagues and I grooved across the dance floor to a mix of pop, rock, and oldies. After hours of fun, we had all danced our feet sore and our stomachs empty, so a group of us headed to Steak n’ Shake for some sandwiches and milkshakes, not ready for the celebration to be over. Finally, we dragged our exhausted bodies to our beds for a night of dreams on what was to come. What a great way to celebrate the beginning of humanity’s exploration of the dangerous unknown beyond our home planets’ atmosphere.

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Capeside Spotlight: An Intern’s First Launch SightBy Matt Noyes

At Kennedy Space Center, every launch is unique. Some carry man to places never dreamed by our forebears. Others further the progression of scientific knowledge. Often, most attention is paid to the former, and Kennedy is well known for its integral role in human spaceflight. Launch Complex 39 is by far the most well known launch site, having contributed to both the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, both of which have already pushed the limits of human imagination and innovation. The complex will soon support the Constellation program’s goal of returning man to the lunar surface to lay the groundwork for worlds beyond. In short, when most people think of Kennedy Space Center, it is seen as the gateway for mankind to physically make its presence known in the universe.

But there is much more here than manned space flight. Indeed, most launches consist of satellites, telescopes, rovers; tools that serve as data collectors for our scientists here on Earth to facilitate our communications and national defense. Unfortunately, these “capeside” launches—those vehicles that launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS)—are sometimes overshadowed by Shuttle’s own indescribable beauty and significance in human achievement, but they are no less integral to scientific progression, nor less beautiful.

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is a 45th Space Wing detachment from Patrick Air Force Base. The station, in addition to functioning as an Air Force base, controls a 10,000 foot runway for military heavy aircraft and “Missile Row”, a string of launch pads that had been used for the Titan and Atlas rockets that gained the name in the 1960s.

One of the more recent missions there included the launch of the Kepler telescope, and was particularly special to me, as it would be my first ever witnessed launch event, shared with a group of other NASA interns and co-ops. Named after Johannes Kepler, the German mathematician best known for his laws of planetary motion, the telescope will trail behind the Earth recording periodic transits of alien suns by their planets, in an effort to find a world in the universe similar to our own. The telescope was launched March 6, 2009 at 22:49:57, and as both the first launch I have seen with my own eyes, at nighttime, it was absolutely breathtaking. Spotlights shining bright, cleaving the rapidly darkening sky—black as pitch, save for the lustrous orb of the moon overhead—the view was perfect and unobstructed from my littoral vantage point. As the countdown drew to a close and its engines ignited amidst the cheers and applause of my fellow NASA interns, my vision began to fade with its sun-like brightness, almost completely obscuring the rocket itself. In complete silence the machine lunged from the pad, clearing the tower and piercing the clouds in a fiery arc, higher and higher and faster and faster. As the sonic blast finally reached us, a great vibratory force could be felt in my bones, a small tribute to the vehicle’s great power. Suddenly, engine cutoff, and several small boosters jettisoned, briefly flickering like dying embers as they plummeted miles and miles to the ocean below. The second stage roared to life, blasting off into the distance. The crowded beach was full of cheers and excited chatter as a NASA Huey hovered overhead, the roar of the rotors nothing compared to the percussive explosion of a Delta II.

Kepler was so far now, and traveling at such great speed, that it had the appearance of falling out of the sky. No larger than a dim star, it gently faded into the background of the endless galaxies and suns that it would soon observe. It was over in 3 minutes. But the real story that historians will speak of in future generations had just begun.

Since NASA’s founding, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station has played a significant role in the exploration of space. Knowledge learned from the probes and satellites it has launched will lay the groundwork for the future of human spaceflight, particularly that of Mars. The Kepler launch reminded me that there is much more to human spaceflight than manned missions, of astronauts in bulky suits “going where no man has gone before.” With our limited technology, we are only just beginning our last great journey. It is the robotic explorers and scientific instruments we create today that give us the knowledge we need for the future that will change the way man thinks about the heavens.

I take great pride in the fact that I had the very good fortune to

begin my short tenure at Kennedy Space Center during a very busy launch schedule. I have seen several launches, all of them Capeside, except for STS-119. Never did I tire of the brilliant inferno, nor the riveting roar of the rocket engines, nor my great pride I have for working for this great team. I cherish every launch I see, because I cannot even fathom the amount of dedication we must have to make these dreams real. Every rocket here is carried to the stars above by the hard work and dedication of the engineers, scientists, and support personnel that together have the power to cross the boundary of what those that came before us thought possible. I cherish the wonderful people I shared those experiences with, because one day we may just work together to make the next generation of space flight a reality. Mankind has proven again and again that no bound can imprison it forever and that in time, we will prevail and one day our children will stand on the surface of an alien world and look again to the stars as we do today, hunting, thirsting, for the next challenge to come our way.

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Philip HarrisProject Lead, Johnson Space Center

Corrie LamkinCACiN May Manager, Kennedy Space Center

Raul BatistaEditor-In-Chief, Kennedy Space Center

This month's CACiN was put together by the CAC Team at the John F. Kennedy Space Center in

Cape Canaveral, Florida.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space CenterKennedy Space Center, FL 32899

www.nasa.gov