1 00:00:07,390 --> 00:00:09,070 My name is Lewis Wooten. 2 00:00:09,100 --> 00:00:10,980 I’m currently the Director of 3 00:00:10,980 --> 00:00:12,980 the Missions Operations Laboratory in 4 00:00:12,980 --> 00:00:14,980 the Engineering Directorate here 5 00:00:14,980 --> 00:00:16,980 at Marshall Space Flight Center. 6 00:00:16,980 --> 00:00:18,980 Our Mission Operations Lab is primarily 7 00:00:18,980 --> 00:00:22,160 focused on the International Space 8 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,900 Station Payload Operations and Integration. 9 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:28,560 Our job is to integrate all the research 10 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,380 with payload developers from around the globe 11 00:00:31,380 --> 00:00:33,910 to ensure that their research is conducted 12 00:00:33,910 --> 00:00:37,510 in a very timely and efficient manner, 13 00:00:37,510 --> 00:00:41,200 so our group works twenty-four hours a 14 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:44,050 day, seven days a week, 365 days 15 00:00:44,050 --> 00:00:46,050 a year. As long as Space Station 16 00:00:46,050 --> 00:00:48,600 is up there and crew is up there, 17 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,040 we are in the Payload Operations and 18 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,660 Integration center here at Marshall. 19 00:00:53,660 --> 00:00:55,570 That’s the primary focus. 20 00:00:55,570 --> 00:00:59,350 We also are beginning to develop the 21 00:00:59,350 --> 00:01:01,350 SLS engineering support center, 22 00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:07,000 which is a center set up for the design 23 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,000 of the SLS when we do 24 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,820 launch and flight operations for SLS. 25 00:01:12,820 --> 00:01:16,360 We will support the team at KSC 26 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,280 and the flight control team at JSC 27 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:21,910 as we launch SLS. 28 00:01:21,910 --> 00:01:24,820 Our group is extraordinarily busy. 29 00:01:24,820 --> 00:01:27,150 We also have some very small projects 30 00:01:27,150 --> 00:01:29,310 that we’re doing mission operations on. 31 00:01:29,340 --> 00:01:32,310 We plan to do the one for ISAT 32 00:01:32,310 --> 00:01:34,240 and also one of the secondary payloads that 33 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,250 will fly on the Expedition Mission 1 34 00:01:38,250 --> 00:01:42,180 for SLS called the NEA Scout. 35 00:01:49,410 --> 00:01:52,290 My education, well, I have a bachelor’s 36 00:01:52,290 --> 00:01:55,330 degree in mathematics, what we call 37 00:01:55,330 --> 00:01:58,190 the pure mathematics, from Fort Valley State 38 00:01:58,190 --> 00:02:02,930 in Fort Valley, Georgia and following 39 00:02:02,930 --> 00:02:05,170 that, I spent two years teaching high school 40 00:02:05,170 --> 00:02:11,120 that was in the mid to late 1970s 41 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,600 in a place called Thomaston, Georgia. 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,600 After that, I went through graduate 43 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:19,600 school at Atlanta University, which is now called 44 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:21,600 Clark Atlanta University; those two 45 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:24,620 universities merged together, I think some 46 00:02:24,620 --> 00:02:25,730 time in the 1990s. 47 00:02:25,730 --> 00:02:28,210 I have a master’s degree in applied 48 00:02:28,210 --> 00:02:33,680 mathematics from Clark Atlanta University, 49 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,380 and after completing that degree in 1980, 50 00:02:37,380 --> 00:02:39,380 I became a member of the Marshall 51 00:02:39,380 --> 00:02:40,540 Space Flight Center team. 52 00:02:40,540 --> 00:02:42,290 I started in the Orbital Mechanics branch here, 53 00:02:42,290 --> 00:02:44,290 and that was a little less than a 54 00:02:44,290 --> 00:02:48,880 year before we actually had the 55 00:02:48,880 --> 00:02:50,340 first Space Shuttle flight. 56 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,010 I grew up in south Georgia on a farm 57 00:03:02,010 --> 00:03:08,420 as a kid, and this was in the 1960s, 58 00:03:08,420 --> 00:03:13,360 and back then schools weren’t integrated and 59 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:16,230 I was one of the first students to integrate 60 00:03:16,230 --> 00:03:19,590 a school there that I went to. 61 00:03:19,590 --> 00:03:25,520 But I’ll never forget this Sunday afternoon. 62 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:31,440 It’s hot, humid, and on Sunday afternoons, 63 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,490 generally had to go to church and have dinner, 64 00:03:34,490 --> 00:03:36,250 me and my cousins and our brothers and 65 00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:38,250 sisters spent all our time out in a cow 66 00:03:38,250 --> 00:03:41,240 pasture playing softball having fun. 67 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:42,920 But I’ll never forget on this given 68 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,720 day I wasn’t out there with them. 69 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:49,610 I was inside the house glued to a TV 70 00:03:49,610 --> 00:03:52,310 set, no air conditioning, whatever, 71 00:03:52,310 --> 00:03:54,690 but no one did have it back then. 72 00:03:54,690 --> 00:03:56,520 I’ll never forget that day because that 73 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:02,370 was July 21, 1969, and that 74 00:04:02,370 --> 00:04:06,270 was the day that man landed on the moon. 75 00:04:06,270 --> 00:04:08,920 That touched me in a very, very special 76 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:10,760 way back then. 77 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,040 That was in the afternoon that they 78 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,080 finally landed, it touched down 79 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,080 on the Moon, and it 80 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:21,080 was later, maybe about nine 81 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,500 o’clock that evening when Neil 82 00:04:23,500 --> 00:04:28,770 Armstrong actually stepped out of the Lunar Module. 83 00:04:28,770 --> 00:04:30,380 My folks said, 84 00:04:30,380 --> 00:04:31,870 “Hey, you need to go to bed. 85 00:04:31,870 --> 00:04:33,870 We’ve got to get up in tomorrow 86 00:04:33,870 --> 00:04:35,870 because we work in the fields 87 00:04:35,870 --> 00:04:37,870 during the day and you have 88 00:04:37,870 --> 00:04:39,690 to get up at sunrise" and all that kind of thing. 89 00:04:39,690 --> 00:04:42,080 Anyway, I got up the next day 90 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:44,080 and I was out there, whatever we 91 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,080 were doing in the fields, thinking, 92 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,270 and I’m looking up in the sky 93 00:04:48,270 --> 00:04:50,249 not paying attention to what I’m doing 94 00:04:50,250 --> 00:04:51,510 because I’m thinking about what 95 00:04:51,510 --> 00:04:52,690 in the world are they doing on 96 00:04:52,690 --> 00:04:55,609 the moon right now. 97 00:04:55,610 --> 00:04:58,770 I remember saying to myself, 98 00:04:58,770 --> 00:05:03,180 "Gee, how it would be great to be a part of that." 99 00:05:03,180 --> 00:05:07,090 But from where I was at that time, 100 00:05:07,090 --> 00:05:12,560 I kind of get emotional telling this, 101 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:15,070 but being a part of that was about 102 00:05:15,090 --> 00:05:16,820 as far as the moon itself, 103 00:05:16,820 --> 00:05:20,210 it just wasn’t in the plan. 104 00:05:20,210 --> 00:05:26,090 I said that and I’ll never forget, 105 00:05:26,090 --> 00:05:32,600 it was 1980, April 14th, I came through 106 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:40,170 the Gate 9, but that was the day 107 00:05:40,170 --> 00:05:43,960 that I was starting my NASA career. 108 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,960 It looked like there was some big time 109 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:50,760 warp in between. I asked for 110 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,350 that and now it was happening. 111 00:05:54,350 --> 00:05:56,350 Did I do anything specific, special to 112 00:05:56,350 --> 00:05:58,580 make that happen? 113 00:05:58,580 --> 00:06:02,380 I don’t think so, I just was. 114 00:06:02,380 --> 00:06:05,180 And I remember saying to myself, 115 00:06:05,180 --> 00:06:07,420 because it dawned back on me, 116 00:06:07,420 --> 00:06:10,590 I said, “Thank God that dreams come true.” 117 00:06:10,590 --> 00:06:15,130 So, when I got here, 118 00:06:15,130 --> 00:06:17,830 I didn’t think that I got here on my own, 119 00:06:17,830 --> 00:06:23,090 I had a specific purpose of being here 120 00:06:23,090 --> 00:06:24,690 that changed my whole attitude 121 00:06:24,690 --> 00:06:26,570 about being here. 122 00:06:26,570 --> 00:06:29,410 No, you’re here for a mission, 123 00:06:29,410 --> 00:06:31,410 you are here, so the thing I 124 00:06:31,410 --> 00:06:33,410 said to myself is do not 125 00:06:33,410 --> 00:06:40,150 mess this up because it is a gift 126 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,280 and it has been a gift ever since. 127 00:06:51,970 --> 00:06:56,430 I remember applying for a job 128 00:06:56,430 --> 00:07:01,760 because Bob Shurney said they were hiring. 129 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:03,760 I filled out an application, turned 130 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:08,530 turned it in, and I didn’t hear anymore. 131 00:07:08,530 --> 00:07:11,220 Eventually, I got an offer in the 132 00:07:11,220 --> 00:07:18,560 mail without an interview. 133 00:07:18,580 --> 00:07:22,070 There were other jobs, 134 00:07:22,070 --> 00:07:24,200 I was getting ready to come out of 135 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:25,570 graduate school, I had interviewed 136 00:07:25,570 --> 00:07:27,570 with other companies and 137 00:07:27,570 --> 00:07:28,920 they had offered me positions, 138 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:30,000 but this one just said on this date, 139 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:32,170 would you accept a position 140 00:07:32,170 --> 00:07:35,740 at Marshall Space Flight Center at this grade? 141 00:07:35,740 --> 00:07:44,560 I felt that I was supposed to be here, 142 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:51,080 I want not to mess this up because 143 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,080 it was something that I asked 144 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:55,450 for and it was given to me. 145 00:07:55,450 --> 00:07:57,450 There were people who would say, 146 00:07:57,450 --> 00:08:01,070 you know, you may have a 147 00:08:01,070 --> 00:08:03,070 hard time at NASA because people 148 00:08:03,070 --> 00:08:05,070 are not going to accept you and all 149 00:08:05,070 --> 00:08:08,090 of those things, you will 150 00:08:08,090 --> 00:08:10,090 have a difficult time. 151 00:08:10,090 --> 00:08:12,090 That was completely the opposite 152 00:08:12,090 --> 00:08:14,400 when I got here. 153 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,340 I met some wonderful people, 154 00:08:17,340 --> 00:08:21,070 they took me under their wings, 155 00:08:21,070 --> 00:08:24,830 I worked hard, they respected that, 156 00:08:24,830 --> 00:08:28,560 and they really helped me along the way. 157 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,840 It was a great group of people, 158 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:32,840 and this whole NASA career that 159 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,160 I’ve been in has been one 160 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,830 heck of a ride. 161 00:08:37,830 --> 00:08:41,000 but it all started back on that hot 162 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:48,530 summer day, January 21, 1969. 163 00:08:48,530 --> 00:08:53,060 I think about 1,700 hours when 164 00:08:53,060 --> 00:08:56,040 man landed on the moon. 165 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,230 And I asked to be here. 166 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,200 It is a gift, so I basically say 167 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,200 ask and it shall be given, 168 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:15,200 but when it’s given to you, 169 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:17,200 you need to honor that gift, 170 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,200 respect that gift, 171 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:24,420 not to squander that gift. 172 00:09:32,430 --> 00:09:35,080 The state of STEM in America today 173 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,080 is not where we need to be, 174 00:09:38,110 --> 00:09:40,110 and even in the African American community, 175 00:09:40,110 --> 00:09:44,580 it is even worse. 176 00:09:44,580 --> 00:09:46,580 There are some facts out there on the 177 00:09:46,580 --> 00:09:49,550 Department of Education website 178 00:09:49,580 --> 00:09:54,450 that has a lot of interesting statistics 179 00:09:54,450 --> 00:09:56,450 about where we are, where we’re 180 00:09:56,450 --> 00:09:59,580 going with respect to STEM. 181 00:09:59,580 --> 00:10:02,360 I can say this, that creativity, 182 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:06,830 innovation through STEM is going to be 183 00:10:06,850 --> 00:10:11,189 the driving force, the force that 184 00:10:11,190 --> 00:10:14,710 really moves the American economy. 185 00:10:14,710 --> 00:10:16,710 To say that, to be the force 186 00:10:16,710 --> 00:10:19,600 to move the American economy 187 00:10:19,610 --> 00:10:21,889 I mean that by that four 188 00:10:21,890 --> 00:10:24,890 letter word called jobs. 189 00:10:24,890 --> 00:10:28,289 If we don’t engage in these 190 00:10:28,290 --> 00:10:32,009 STEM activities, we are 191 00:10:32,010 --> 00:10:35,680 going to be left behind. 192 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:40,300 So it’s extraordinarily important 193 00:10:40,300 --> 00:10:42,810 that our future economy, how 194 00:10:42,830 --> 00:10:44,970 we grow as a group, 195 00:10:44,970 --> 00:10:48,230 that it’s effected by involvement 196 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,010 in the STEM activities. 197 00:10:52,010 --> 00:10:57,050 I know that President Obama, when he started, 198 00:10:57,110 --> 00:11:00,220 he realized that we need to 199 00:11:00,220 --> 00:11:03,080 create twenty, over I don’t know 200 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:05,670 how many million STEM jobs in 201 00:11:05,670 --> 00:11:08,710 order to basically look at the American 202 00:11:08,710 --> 00:11:11,180 economy where it will be in 2022. 203 00:11:11,180 --> 00:11:13,180 Now, some investments have been 204 00:11:13,180 --> 00:11:16,060 made there to try to make that happen. 205 00:11:16,100 --> 00:11:19,100 I think he put over 850 million in STEM 206 00:11:19,110 --> 00:11:22,230 education, and actually, there have been 207 00:11:22,230 --> 00:11:24,230 some positive results, but still 208 00:11:24,230 --> 00:11:29,410 there’s a lag from where we need to be. 209 00:11:29,410 --> 00:11:34,080 For instance, the African American community 210 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:37,850 probably makes up eleven percent of 211 00:11:37,850 --> 00:11:46,150 the workforce and they only make up about 212 00:11:46,150 --> 00:11:48,890 four percent of the STEM workforce. 213 00:11:48,890 --> 00:11:52,130 That’s an improvement from the 1970s, 214 00:11:52,130 --> 00:11:54,130 like two percent, but it still is not 215 00:11:54,130 --> 00:11:58,899 comparative and representative of the population 216 00:11:58,900 --> 00:12:02,000 of where that group is. 217 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,810 So, STEM is extraordinarily important and 218 00:12:05,810 --> 00:12:08,290 it is important to our economy and 219 00:12:08,290 --> 00:12:11,190 it is it important how we play into 220 00:12:11,190 --> 00:12:13,190 the future economy, but we need 221 00:12:13,190 --> 00:12:17,600 to change the stigma around STEM. 222 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:22,560 People say, “We don’t study that stuff 223 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:26,870 because it’s hard.” 224 00:12:26,870 --> 00:12:31,160 Well, if you tell young people something 225 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:32,810 is hard, it will be hard. 226 00:12:32,810 --> 00:12:34,830 When I played basketball in high school, 227 00:12:34,860 --> 00:12:36,860 there used to be a poem we would recite, 228 00:12:36,890 --> 00:12:38,589 “it’s all in the state of mind.” 229 00:12:38,590 --> 00:12:40,390 It was kind of one of the things that 230 00:12:40,390 --> 00:12:42,390 said if you like the win but don’t think 231 00:12:42,390 --> 00:12:43,990 you can, the more that there’s a 232 00:12:43,990 --> 00:12:45,990 chance that you won’t. 233 00:12:45,990 --> 00:12:49,880 It’s all in the state of mind. 234 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:56,000 The thing is that we have to teach our 235 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:00,570 young people that it is not hard, you know. 236 00:13:00,590 --> 00:13:03,340 I remember teaching high school mathematics 237 00:13:03,340 --> 00:13:07,430 and I taught actually twenty-five years, part-time 238 00:13:07,430 --> 00:13:09,430 at Alabama A&M University, I taught 239 00:13:09,430 --> 00:13:12,300 calculus, and one of those things I would hear 240 00:13:12,300 --> 00:13:16,530 consistenly was why do I need to learn this stuff 241 00:13:16,530 --> 00:13:20,910 I’m never going to use this anywhere. 242 00:13:20,910 --> 00:13:27,230 I think that, I used to say learning mathematics 243 00:13:27,230 --> 00:13:34,830 will help change how your brain is wired, 244 00:13:34,830 --> 00:13:37,920 how you think about things, it will 245 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,080 change the way you look at things. 246 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:43,670 Learning science, technology, those things 247 00:13:43,670 --> 00:13:45,670 change the wiring diagrams in your mind and 248 00:13:45,670 --> 00:13:49,630 therefore it makes you become more 249 00:13:49,630 --> 00:13:53,690 of a problem-solver and an innovator. 250 00:13:53,690 --> 00:13:56,920 Whether you use that or not, but it is 251 00:13:56,920 --> 00:13:59,190 how you condition your mind. 252 00:13:59,190 --> 00:14:05,900 At a very early age, our young people’s minds 253 00:14:05,900 --> 00:14:10,410 need to get conditioned to think scientifically, 254 00:14:10,410 --> 00:14:13,360 to think mathematically. 255 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,350 I was looking at like in China and they 256 00:14:16,350 --> 00:14:19,690 were saying American has made some progress 257 00:14:19,730 --> 00:14:23,590 our tenth graders now perform at the same 258 00:14:23,590 --> 00:14:26,170 level that third graders are performing 259 00:14:26,170 --> 00:14:29,140 at in China with respect to mathematics. 260 00:14:29,140 --> 00:14:33,710 You can’t tell me third graders in China who could 261 00:14:33,710 --> 00:14:38,940 develop a mathematical capability that now our 262 00:14:38,940 --> 00:14:40,940 tenth graders are doing and that 263 00:14:40,940 --> 00:14:42,940 we can’t do the same. 264 00:14:42,940 --> 00:14:45,380 It’s not about the level of difficulty, it’s about that. 265 00:14:45,380 --> 00:14:48,780 Some of STEM is just marketing too. 266 00:14:48,780 --> 00:14:51,120 How do we market STEM? 267 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:55,140 How do we let people know that it’s now 268 00:14:55,140 --> 00:14:57,750 a sexy and exciting thing to go into? 269 00:14:57,750 --> 00:15:02,170 There used to be a thing when I was a 270 00:15:02,170 --> 00:15:05,720 member, there would be a whole study about 271 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,750 how you deal with math and anxiety 272 00:15:08,750 --> 00:15:11,650 that is the fear of math. 273 00:15:11,650 --> 00:15:15,110 So many young people have developed math 274 00:15:15,110 --> 00:15:18,930 anxiety based on their first exposure to it. 275 00:15:18,930 --> 00:15:22,830 Who was that first teacher that taught me this? 276 00:15:22,830 --> 00:15:26,860 A lot of times in elementary school, teachers are 277 00:15:26,860 --> 00:15:32,450 a generalist, they teach all subjects, 278 00:15:32,450 --> 00:15:35,980 and they have to teach some mathematics but 279 00:15:35,980 --> 00:15:39,260 they have an anxiety about it themselves and 280 00:15:39,260 --> 00:15:41,260 they pass that anxiety a lot of times 281 00:15:41,260 --> 00:15:43,150 on to our young people. 282 00:15:43,150 --> 00:15:45,150 The things we need to do in the African 283 00:15:45,150 --> 00:15:48,610 American community is still lagging in this 284 00:15:48,610 --> 00:15:51,590 even though yeah, we’re making some 285 00:15:51,590 --> 00:15:54,970 progress, but it still has a long way to go. 286 00:15:54,970 --> 00:15:59,190 Even though twenty-seven percent of the 287 00:15:59,190 --> 00:16:01,720 African Americans who do study STEM are 288 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,980 learning it from Historically Black Colleges and 289 00:16:05,980 --> 00:16:09,340 Universities and even though Historically Black Colleges 290 00:16:09,340 --> 00:16:11,340 and Universities only make up three 291 00:16:11,340 --> 00:16:13,340 percent of the universities in the country, they’re 292 00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:17,420 producing twenty percent of the African 293 00:16:17,420 --> 00:16:20,440 Americans in the STEM program. 294 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,800 All of those things need to be paid attention to and 295 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:30,280 these things need to change because our future 296 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:34,030 is based upon our ability to innovate, our ability 297 00:16:34,050 --> 00:16:38,549 to solve really challenging problems, and 298 00:16:38,550 --> 00:16:43,270 STEM is a requirement in order to do that. 299 00:16:43,350 --> 00:16:53,199 I think STEM, like anything, it starts in the 300 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:58,760 home and it starts early, in the beginning to make 301 00:16:58,790 --> 00:17:05,060 children and young people comfortable with certain things. 302 00:17:05,090 --> 00:17:08,570 Young people are incredible. 303 00:17:08,570 --> 00:17:11,000 Their ability to learn and to adapt and to 304 00:17:11,030 --> 00:17:14,460 pick up things is amazing. Their minds are 305 00:17:14,460 --> 00:17:16,440 they pick up things relatively quick. 306 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:20,670 I’ve seen like six-month- old, seven-month-old babies 307 00:17:20,670 --> 00:17:23,690 working an iPhone, they know how it works, 308 00:17:23,690 --> 00:17:25,840 it’s intuitive, and they just grab it and go, 309 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,380 all this technology. It just depends on 310 00:17:29,380 --> 00:17:35,660 how the sort of steps is, how do we make learning 311 00:17:35,660 --> 00:17:41,860 how do we make it fun? I remember my 312 00:17:41,860 --> 00:17:46,720 granddaughter, she started reading around the age 313 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:53,589 of three, and it wasn’t because she was special 314 00:17:53,590 --> 00:17:57,310 or anything, but the things we played and the 315 00:17:57,310 --> 00:18:02,520 games we did in a part of her fun process, as 316 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,040 a part of what she enjoyed doing, and 317 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:09,810 learning became a part of that, okay. 318 00:18:09,810 --> 00:18:13,350 So, we start early, we take steps, then 319 00:18:13,350 --> 00:18:17,350 we have to make sure that as they enter 320 00:18:17,350 --> 00:18:22,040 elementary school and middle school that 321 00:18:22,100 --> 00:18:25,150 we have a curriculum that is designed to 322 00:18:25,150 --> 00:18:29,740 promote this kind of thinking and learning. 323 00:18:29,740 --> 00:18:33,950 And we have to market it in such a way 324 00:18:33,950 --> 00:18:40,430 and message it in such a way that that they 325 00:18:40,430 --> 00:18:45,890 actually gravitate toward it. Young people, I 326 00:18:45,890 --> 00:18:48,710 look at them and they can pick up a brand 327 00:18:48,710 --> 00:18:50,710 new video game or whatever and they go. 328 00:18:50,710 --> 00:18:53,800 They can grab these things and go just rapidly. 329 00:18:53,800 --> 00:19:01,710 So, it’s how we actually give them a 330 00:19:01,710 --> 00:19:04,790 little more insight on the things behind the 331 00:19:04,790 --> 00:19:07,240 technology they’re using, for them to 332 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:11,350 understand it, and that starts changing how 333 00:19:11,380 --> 00:19:14,570 they mentally think about things. I don’t 334 00:19:14,570 --> 00:19:18,550 want to call it brainwashing, but it’s conditioning 335 00:19:18,550 --> 00:19:20,550 the mind, changing the wiring in the 336 00:19:20,550 --> 00:19:24,300 brain to think a certain way, to look at things 337 00:19:24,300 --> 00:19:27,830 systematically, to look at how we solve 338 00:19:27,830 --> 00:19:31,850 problems and how we actually do that. Those 339 00:19:31,850 --> 00:19:33,850 are the steps. As they get through middle 340 00:19:33,850 --> 00:19:37,080 school and high school, so often as you 341 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,320 get through high school, it you haven’t 342 00:19:40,330 --> 00:19:42,680 done a certain amount of things, you’ve 343 00:19:42,700 --> 00:19:44,700 actually written off a lot of things and 344 00:19:44,700 --> 00:19:49,420 it becomes a little late then to change it. 345 00:19:49,420 --> 00:19:53,610 Our colleges also, how we set our curriculums 346 00:19:53,610 --> 00:19:58,500 and how we do things. I remember my nieces and 347 00:19:58,500 --> 00:20:02,580 nephews, my niece would make straight As 348 00:20:02,580 --> 00:20:05,520 because it was important to her to make straight 349 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:12,410 As, it was a sense of pride. Her brothers, who 350 00:20:12,410 --> 00:20:15,090 are extraordinarily smart, didn’t see the value 351 00:20:15,090 --> 00:20:18,090 of making straight As. What does that 352 00:20:18,090 --> 00:20:23,290 do for me, it’s not fun, it’s not entertaining 353 00:20:23,290 --> 00:20:28,250 to me. For her, it was just if you make straight 354 00:20:28,250 --> 00:20:31,470 As you get the ribbon and the little thing, that 355 00:20:31,470 --> 00:20:33,930 was important to her. To them, that wasn’t 356 00:20:33,990 --> 00:20:37,610 important to them because I’m not having 357 00:20:37,610 --> 00:20:40,920 fun doing that. So the kids, how we can 358 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,840 make, and relate how kids learn differently 359 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:54,130 fun or more acceptable or more enjoyable. 360 00:20:54,130 --> 00:20:59,850 As we move forward, then we’ll creating more 361 00:20:59,850 --> 00:21:02,690 of those going to college taking certain classes 362 00:21:02,690 --> 00:21:05,540 and they won’t be viewed, they won’t view 363 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:09,060 and say I don’t want to be an engineer, I don’t want 364 00:21:09,060 --> 00:21:13,740 to be a physicist because that’s hard. I’m not 365 00:21:13,740 --> 00:21:16,850 saying they all need to be scientists, physicists, 366 00:21:16,850 --> 00:21:22,480 engineers, all jobs are important, but I do 367 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,080 not want someone not taking a job or going into 368 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,120 a field because they think it’s hard. 369 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:31,550 They need to go into a field based on what 370 00:21:31,550 --> 00:21:33,550 they really want to do, not 371 00:21:33,550 --> 00:21:35,550 what they think is easier to do. 372 00:21:42,770 --> 00:21:47,770 I must admit, my parents were great mentors. 373 00:21:47,770 --> 00:21:50,930 They weren’t educated people, but they 374 00:21:50,930 --> 00:21:53,190 believed in hard work, they believed in 375 00:21:53,190 --> 00:21:57,030 committing yourself in doing that. But, I 376 00:21:57,030 --> 00:22:00,730 remember when I integrated the school in 377 00:22:00,730 --> 00:22:05,960 the late 1960s, my school was small and I 378 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,180 didn’t have a Black teacher in high school, 379 00:22:09,180 --> 00:22:11,760 there wasn’t a Black teacher at my high 380 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:13,760 school the whole while. The teachers were 381 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:18,310 fine, but we really didn’t have a close 382 00:22:18,310 --> 00:22:22,920 connection, so after that, I went to a Historically 383 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,440 Black College and University and that 384 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:28,400 was my first time actually seeing a lot of 385 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:32,380 Black professionals, being from the rural and 386 00:22:32,380 --> 00:22:35,960 whatever. I’ll never forget this person because 387 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,460 this person played such a key role in my 388 00:22:39,460 --> 00:22:41,460 life: she was the chairman of our mathematics 389 00:22:41,460 --> 00:22:44,850 department and her name was Dr. Richie 390 00:22:44,860 --> 00:22:49,610 White. She used to tell people, "This is my 391 00:22:49,610 --> 00:22:58,180 adopted son. I really believe that I haven’t 392 00:22:58,180 --> 00:23:04,190 gotten a job or anything early on that she 393 00:23:04,190 --> 00:23:06,190 didn’t play a role in. I believe she had a 394 00:23:06,190 --> 00:23:08,190 significant role in me getting a job at NASA 395 00:23:08,190 --> 00:23:13,880 without an interview. When I went to 396 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:18,070 graduate school, she made sure the application 397 00:23:18,070 --> 00:23:21,000 was filled out and she filled out part of 398 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,090 it. She just basically said this is what I 399 00:23:24,130 --> 00:23:26,959 want you to do. Maybe God put her in 400 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,940 my path to guide me and lead me, and she 401 00:23:30,940 --> 00:23:35,640 pushed me extremely hard, she taught me 402 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:38,760 a lot of things a little boy from the country just 403 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:43,560 didn’t know about life, how to behave here, 404 00:23:43,590 --> 00:23:47,380 how to go there, all those sorts of things. And 405 00:23:47,380 --> 00:23:56,920 I remember she said, “Look, you have the 406 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:02,520 confidence to know the things you do not know 407 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:07,940 but to learn the things that you don’t 408 00:24:07,990 --> 00:24:11,260 know. Those things that you don’t know, 409 00:24:11,260 --> 00:24:16,270 be okay with that, but never put yourself in a 410 00:24:16,270 --> 00:24:18,949 situation saying I can learn the things that I do 411 00:24:18,950 --> 00:24:23,070 not know. This is about confidence, so 412 00:24:23,070 --> 00:24:26,070 don’t be fearful of this or fearful of that. 413 00:24:26,070 --> 00:24:30,260 A lot of things in life you don’t know, fine, but 414 00:24:30,260 --> 00:24:33,410 what keeps you from learning those things 415 00:24:33,410 --> 00:24:35,410 if you want to. You can’t believe somthing is 416 00:24:35,430 --> 00:24:38,310 too hard for you to what, learn or know. 417 00:24:38,340 --> 00:24:41,430 There are books out there, there are people 418 00:24:41,430 --> 00:24:44,170 out there, it is all about how you view 419 00:24:44,170 --> 00:24:50,130 the world.” She was an extraordinary 420 00:24:50,130 --> 00:24:55,370 mentor and helped me with a lot of things. 421 00:24:55,370 --> 00:25:01,750 The way I ended up at NASA was I was in 422 00:25:01,820 --> 00:25:06,130 graduate school and the dean of the graduate 423 00:25:06,130 --> 00:25:09,350 school, she called, I got a call one morning 424 00:25:09,350 --> 00:25:12,580 because Mr. Shurney used to talk to the dean 425 00:25:12,580 --> 00:25:17,040 of the other school in Fort Valley that I 426 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,350 went to, they were good friends, and he said 427 00:25:20,350 --> 00:25:23,940 that Marshall Space Flight Center is hiring 428 00:25:23,940 --> 00:25:26,440 and do you have some students down there 429 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,130 that are interested in, that can apply for a 430 00:25:29,130 --> 00:25:32,280 job. He told her and she said immediately, 431 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:37,460 “Yeah, Lewis is up in graduate school and 432 00:25:37,460 --> 00:25:41,360 he’s about to get out.” She said call him. 433 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:44,500 I called Mr. Shurney and Mr. Shurney said fill 434 00:25:44,500 --> 00:25:48,210 out a 171 Form, do this, make sure you address 435 00:25:48,210 --> 00:25:50,720 the things that you’ve had and such and 436 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,400 such. I did all of that and then all of a sudden 437 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:57,780 it was later that I got an offer without, like 438 00:25:57,780 --> 00:26:01,020 I said, an interview. I met Mr. Shurney when 439 00:26:01,020 --> 00:26:04,380 I got here and Mr. Shurney was an 440 00:26:04,390 --> 00:26:07,230 amazing man. He actually was the chief 441 00:26:07,270 --> 00:26:10,420 designer of the tires that go on the Lunar 442 00:26:10,420 --> 00:26:12,940 Rover; he actually basically said that the design, 443 00:26:12,940 --> 00:26:16,290 that they needed a design that was 444 00:26:16,290 --> 00:26:22,240 very lightweight, flexible, yet still could go 445 00:26:22,250 --> 00:26:26,190 across the surface. He said a steel band with 446 00:26:26,190 --> 00:26:29,340 aluminum wire mesh would be a solution, 447 00:26:29,340 --> 00:26:31,640 and he was actually the chief designer for 448 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,060 that. He also designed the waste disposal 449 00:26:35,060 --> 00:26:37,820 system that we actually used on Skylab that 450 00:26:37,820 --> 00:26:42,040 kind of determined how we use the toilet in space. 451 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:47,309 He verified that works with a KC-135 aircraft 452 00:26:47,310 --> 00:26:50,980 where they do zero g and it actually 453 00:26:51,020 --> 00:26:56,050 worked. That same system, the concept 454 00:26:56,050 --> 00:26:58,600 was used on Space Shuttle and it also is 455 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:00,950 used on the International Space Station today. 456 00:27:00,950 --> 00:27:03,450 I didn’t work with Mr. Shurney directly, but 457 00:27:03,450 --> 00:27:06,970 he’s a reason I got to the Marshall Space 458 00:27:06,980 --> 00:27:09,960 Flight Center. Once I came to the Marshall 459 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:14,020 Space Flight Center, I was in the Orbital 460 00:27:14,050 --> 00:27:17,870 Mechanics branch and I worked with a very 461 00:27:17,890 --> 00:27:21,800 brilliant man named Dr. Larry Mullins. 462 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:26,609 He actually taught me a whole lot about orbital 463 00:27:26,610 --> 00:27:30,220 mechanics and about these things and we 464 00:27:30,220 --> 00:27:34,030 became a great partnership because I know 465 00:27:34,060 --> 00:27:37,270 how to write computer software and we 466 00:27:37,270 --> 00:27:39,590 know how to solve equations and I could 467 00:27:39,590 --> 00:27:42,290 understand all the equations and then I could 468 00:27:42,290 --> 00:27:44,430 turn that into software. Then I ended up teaching 469 00:27:44,430 --> 00:27:46,899 him how to write software and we 470 00:27:46,900 --> 00:27:50,280 did a lot of wonderful things, but he’s the 471 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:56,430 one that I think that, from a technical 472 00:27:56,460 --> 00:28:00,540 perspective, mentoring me and got me where 473 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:04,970 I’m going. He alleviated all those things 474 00:28:04,970 --> 00:28:07,170 that people say that people wouldn’t embrace 475 00:28:07,210 --> 00:28:10,520 you, people wouldn’t support you, and 476 00:28:10,580 --> 00:28:13,920 that was completely opposite. Larry wasn’t 477 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,940 African American, Mr. Shurney was, but 478 00:28:16,940 --> 00:28:20,820 there have been others that actually have been 479 00:28:20,860 --> 00:28:25,010 a great benefit to me. Mr. Axel Roth was 480 00:28:25,010 --> 00:28:28,160 one of them, Ms. Carolyn Griner was one of 481 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,810 them, Ms. Ann McNair was one of them, a 482 00:28:30,810 --> 00:28:33,510 lot of those people have been actually amazing 483 00:28:33,510 --> 00:28:36,390 and very supportive through my career. 484 00:28:42,950 --> 00:28:46,810 I look at it this way, I didn’t really want to 485 00:28:46,810 --> 00:28:51,220 teach high school mathematics, but at the 486 00:28:51,220 --> 00:28:57,200 time, it was a job that I needed, but I’m a 487 00:28:57,230 --> 00:29:01,100 strong believer in you get the things that you 488 00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:05,710 need to. It’s not about what you want but what 489 00:29:05,710 --> 00:29:10,520 you need. I look at every situation I’m in 490 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:15,110 as an opportunity. I’m here for a reason, 491 00:29:15,180 --> 00:29:19,580 what am I to bring and what am I to receive? 492 00:29:19,620 --> 00:29:24,110 There’s always those things there. I’m 493 00:29:24,110 --> 00:29:27,000 here for a reason; I’m either here to give 494 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,840 something, I’m here to receive something, or 495 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:33,570 both. Don’t shy away from it, and actually, 496 00:29:33,570 --> 00:29:36,640 I enjoyed it much more than 497 00:29:36,660 --> 00:29:39,960 I thought I ever would. 498 00:29:40,010 --> 00:29:43,389 It’s the same thing that works with projects 499 00:29:43,390 --> 00:29:46,080 and things, how you start out things makes 500 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,700 a difference. You don’t have to go in and be 501 00:29:48,700 --> 00:29:51,930 a bully or whatever, but you need to go in 502 00:29:51,930 --> 00:29:54,430 being prepared. You need to make sure that 503 00:29:54,430 --> 00:29:57,580 you have a handle on the situation and 504 00:29:57,580 --> 00:30:04,190 then that starts the framework to build 505 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:08,790 on. We don’t have much of that problem here 506 00:30:08,790 --> 00:30:11,390 in the professional world because most 507 00:30:11,390 --> 00:30:14,550 professionals come in there, but I learned get 508 00:30:14,550 --> 00:30:17,090 control of your classroom, get control of it early, 509 00:30:17,090 --> 00:30:18,990 they may think you’re being a little 510 00:30:18,990 --> 00:30:21,470 rigid up front, but establish the rules, stick 511 00:30:21,470 --> 00:30:25,230 by them, enforce them, then after a while, 512 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,270 things will go better. I learned that a lot. Then 513 00:30:28,290 --> 00:30:31,430 once you get that kind of level of control 514 00:30:31,450 --> 00:30:34,480 of your classroom, then you can begin to teach, 515 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:36,970 then learning begins to take place 516 00:30:36,970 --> 00:30:39,660 because that’s why you’re there, not 517 00:30:39,660 --> 00:30:41,350 to be a disciplinarian but to teach. 518 00:30:41,350 --> 00:30:44,060 But basically, the reason so many people 519 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,290 don’t do it is because of what it pays. I taught 520 00:30:47,290 --> 00:30:51,480 part-time as an obligation at Alabama A&M 521 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,190 University for twenty-five years and 522 00:30:55,190 --> 00:30:58,460 people said why did you? I promised Dr. 523 00:30:58,500 --> 00:31:01,080 White, who actually mentored me 524 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,150 throughout, because she had this goal for me 525 00:31:04,180 --> 00:31:08,990 which was get your PhD, go eventually 526 00:31:08,990 --> 00:31:11,140 become a dean at a university, maybe become 527 00:31:11,140 --> 00:31:13,400 president of some college. That was her 528 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:15,180 goal, that was her drive, she was driving me 529 00:31:15,180 --> 00:31:18,010 down that path. When I got ready to leave 530 00:31:18,110 --> 00:31:22,710 Atlanta University, I had a job there and they 531 00:31:22,730 --> 00:31:26,159 said well and I said, “No, I really don’t 532 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,040 want to go back to school right now, I want 533 00:31:29,060 --> 00:31:32,009 to apply some of the stuff I’ve learned.” 534 00:31:32,010 --> 00:31:35,370 They said, “We’ll get you enrolled in a PhD 535 00:31:35,390 --> 00:31:38,120 program at Georgia Tech and you can teach 536 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:41,350 here.” I said, “That sounds wonderful, but I 537 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:44,800 really want to see how this stuff really 538 00:31:44,810 --> 00:31:48,100 works in the real world.” I got here, got 539 00:31:48,110 --> 00:31:52,000 excited, but out of obligation to her I said I 540 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:55,340 promised I would teach, so I went and taught 541 00:31:55,340 --> 00:31:58,290 at Alabama A&M part-time. That itself 542 00:31:58,310 --> 00:32:04,390 too, and some of the people I taught work out 543 00:32:04,420 --> 00:32:09,810 here today, and it was more beneficial 544 00:32:09,850 --> 00:32:14,729 actually me doing that than it actually was 545 00:32:14,730 --> 00:32:18,000 an obligation from me to her. You know, 546 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,210 teaching at the college level is different than 547 00:32:21,210 --> 00:32:24,440 teaching at the high school because you 548 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:27,270 don’t have to worry about things as much with 549 00:32:27,270 --> 00:32:29,270 getting control of your classroom, I 550 00:32:29,270 --> 00:32:31,730 mean, they’re paying to be here, fine. But it’s 551 00:32:31,750 --> 00:32:34,690 still that connection back to students and 552 00:32:34,690 --> 00:32:41,000 teaching. 553 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,670 I will say this, I’ve heard it, and this is a true 554 00:32:43,670 --> 00:32:46,550 fact, you never learn anything until you 555 00:32:46,550 --> 00:32:51,470 have to teach it. The best away to learn is to 556 00:32:51,470 --> 00:32:57,200 teach something, and that to me, gave me a 557 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,590 sort of platform and an insight to young people 558 00:33:01,590 --> 00:33:04,860 and to teaching a subject and learning