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[ Music ]

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>> Aviation has always
been, since I was a kid,

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it was a dream for me.

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I would see airplanes
fly, and it was just,

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I was amazed how an airplane,

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how such a big object
could fly like a bird.

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You know, my earliest memories,
it was probably when me

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and my family were
flying back to Mexico,

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and I vividly remember
the pilot saying,

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feel free to come take
a look at the cockpit.

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And I was just amazed
at how many buttons

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and gauges were in there.

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And I think I created a love
for aviation ever since then.

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I'm Jose Manuel Rodriguez,
friends call me Manny,

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and I'm a crew chief
for the G-III at NASA.

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Prior to this, I was
working for a repair station,

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a charter company in Burbank,
California, and they catered

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to a lot of movie stars
with executive jets,

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and so my experience

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with Gulfstreams helped me
obtain a job here at NASA.

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A lot of the duties as
a crew chief is mainly

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to manage the aircraft
maintenance --

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scheduled maintenance
of the aircraft along

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with any troubleshooting,
repairs to any systems.

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Also, if there's any
support that needs to be done

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to any modifications
or to any projects

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that are ongoing
on the aircraft.

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So it's more of a management
role, but you do have

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to take accountability
for everything

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that is being done
on the aircraft.

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So here at NASA Armstrong,
we operate 2 Gulfstreams.

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The G-III is a low-wing,
twin-engine aircraft.

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It is pressurized, and it's
the transport category.

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It's certified up to, to
fly up to 45,000 feet.

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Safety obviously plays
a big role in aviation.

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You know, being a crew
chief, you have to make sure

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that everybody's
following proper protocol.

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You got to make sure
everybody's on the same page,

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everybody communicates,

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and everybody is doing
the job properly.

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[ Airplane Sounds ]

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You know, the pilots
depend on this aircraft.

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Not only the pilots.

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Any missions that are
being done at the time.

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For instance, the solar eclipse.

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We did a mission with
the solar eclipse.

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The unique part about
outfitting the Gulfstream for,

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in preparation for the solar
eclipse was these optical-grade

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windows that we were using.

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They were manufactured in-house.

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It gave us the ability to record
and transmit live video footage

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of the solar eclipse
from the NASA aircraft

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so that people could view

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through the NASA TV
live video footage,

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high-definition viewing,
photography and recording.

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So one of my roles in this solar
eclipse was mainly coordinating

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between pilots, and
camera crew, and personnel.

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>> Get your glasses on.

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We're going to look
out here and--

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>> Along with NASA
administrators

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that we had onboard that were
witnessing the solar eclipse.

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So obviously, lives
are at stake.

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Make sure that everything
was hooked up correctly,

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make sure all the equipment was
set up in place, and make sure

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that the crew was ready
for when the moment came.

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>> All right.

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You're on condition.

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>> It's incredible.

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>> Because we only had one
shot to film it, right,

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and it was a short window
that we had to film,

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so we had to make sure that
everything was good, so--

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>> See the ring around it?

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>> Yeah.

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>> Everything turned out
good, and lots of people got

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to view this live footage,
which was pretty amazing.

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>> So cool.

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>> What I love about
our heritage,

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our culture is we're
very family oriented,

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so family plays a
big role in my life.

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I like, on my days
off, on my time off,

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I like to spend time
with family.

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I have 3 little ones, and so
I try to spend as much time

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and do activities with them.

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I believe that if you
have a good upbringing,

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a good childhood, it'll
instill good moral values

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as a human being.

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My parents, they always tell
friends and family, "Man,

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my son, I can't believe
my son works for NASA,

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and he fixes airplanes
for NASA, right."

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That's their biggest thing.

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You know, like, I enjoy
every day working here,

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and it just gives me a sense
of pride being able to help,