Blog

Today was way better than I could have ever expected! Orientation day as a JSC NASA intern! Every one of the interns is really cool and super smart. They told us today that the 18 of us were selected from over 4000 applicants! Crazy. I feel even more privileged. Just to be included in these people is an honor.

We launched paper rockets that we built from scratch. Team Rockinators (name courtesy of Rihab) came in second. Obviously the competitive side of me was not satisfied with that result but we’ll come in first next time.

Had my first tofu burrito at Chipotle with Isabelle, Matt, Scott, Mike, and Ryan after work (how can you even call working at NASA work!?). Not too bad.

We were going to meet some of the co-ops at Fuddruckers but Ryan and I were early and felt like a beer so we went to Boondoggles. I found out his grandfather worked at KSC back in the day and that’s where he got his space bug.

Tomorrow the work begins.

Later,
Flux.

In just under one month NASA’s next generation space vehicle will fly on her maiden test voyage.

Check out the “Trial by Fire” video that explains the Orion spacecraft’s first test mission – Exploration Flight Test 1 or EFT-1. This launch is scheduled for 4 December 2014 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

This flight will be the first one to send a human-rated spaceflight vehicle beyond low Earth orbit in over forty years! Many people (including myself) have never seen a spacecraft designed to carry humans leave our own “backyard” of 250 miles above our planet. It’s an exciting time!

In order to share the experience with as many people as possible NASA has invited 150 of their social media followers to cover the event live. I am one of the lucky ones to be able to share it with the world via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a number of other outlets. We hope to make it feel like you’re there as well.

Keep your eyes on these places to experience the excitement:

I’d like to thank NASA for this incredible opportunity to witness history and I’d like you to come along with us for the ride.

(Graphics courtesy of Aimee Crane of NASA)

Passion – it has a number of definitions:

We all have a number of passions, right?

Four years ago today a childhood passion was reignited after living for a couple weeks with some people I did not know and had never met but with whom I shared the same passion – spaceflight. The STS-133 NASA Tweetup for the final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery brought us together for over 115 days. Bonding with people who have the same child-like wonder and excitement was truly a life-changing event.

Since seeing a crumbled piece of Skylab on TV at the Miss Universe pageant I have wanted to fly in space and work in the space industry. Thanks to the incredible people I have met and professors who have taught and helped me in the past four years, I now have that opportunity.

I have accepted an internship opportunity at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Yes, THAT Houston, but it is definitely NOT a problem.

The internship is ISS Avionics and Software Assurance Analyst and it runs from 26 January 2015 until 15 May 2015. I’m sure that sixteen weeks will fly by in no time.

It is an exciting and, to be honest, scary situation. Basically putting a stable, awesome, and well-paying job of fourteen years on hold, and leaving behind absolutely incredible teammates and bosses, for intern pay and the unknown. Also leaving my friends and family and the only place I’ve every lived.

Some may think it to be a foolish move. This time and place in my life affords me the chance to be a little unconventional.

I’ll probably be the oldest intern in the group, but we’ll teach each other, and just like my friends from STS-133, I’m sure we all have the same passion – spaceflight.

Don’t be afraid to follow your passion! As the old proverb goes, do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Who knows, maybe I’ll be the oldest in another elite group of trainees in the near future.

See you soon Houston!

I recently returned from my first trip to Germany. Given that I am of German decent I’ve always wanted to go to Germany. My friends invited me to run the Hamburg Airport Race so I figured it was a good excuse to visit my ancestors homeland.

The trip was great! I finished the race in a respectable time. I also visited Cologne which is the home of DLR and the European Space Agency’s European Astronaut Center. Thanks to some great people (and now whom I consider friends, Romain and Andgie) I received VIP treatment and got to step inside the same training modules that the ESA astronauts use for training.

Thanks to everyone at ESA for their hospitality.

I also recently started my last undergraduate semester. It’s been a long time coming but well worth all the work.

By the end of December I will have obtained my Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science!

While finishing up the undergraduate degree I have been heavily researching the Masters programs at USC and UND. I’m still up in the air. I’m planning a visit to both campuses and I have to have my applications in by the middle of December so I’ll need to make that final decision soon.

After that decision and completing my Fall semester courses I’ll look forward to attending UIS Commencement ceremonies in May 2015.

YAY!

Talk to everyone soon.

Cheers,
Flux.

So much for writing more here. It’s been almost a year since the last post however I’ve been busy with school and obtaining my private pilot certificate.

The light at the end of the tunnel is my undergraduate degree in computer science. Just like this image that I took of the first Space Shuttle launch I saw in person in 2010. That launch occurred in the year that kicked off this amazing journey back to finishing my degree and beyond. I never thought I would be in the process of preparing for a Masters or Ph.D.

If all goes well I’ll obtain my Bachelors degree in December of this year (2014). I’m taking some refresher courses in calculus and physics in the fall semester. These classes will get me back up to speed for my pursuit of an advanced degree.

My current plan is the masters program in Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southern California. Check out the class list! http://astronautics.usc.edu/academics/degree_programs/ms/ – some amazing things to learn!

Go big or go home, right?

I hope you all have a great summer and I’ll see you in orbit 😉

Flux.