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good morning i'm pat ryan with the

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public affairs office at nasa's johnson

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space center and we're happy to join you

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with me today is angela bauer she is the

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lead of the facilities operation

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maintenance group

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which is part of the mission operations

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directorate and they are the folks who

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are responsible for

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taking care of everything in these

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buildings that is

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there to help support the people who are

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supporting the folks who are on orbit

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which is sort of an inarticulate way of

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describing what you do but tell us how

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you got to that point tell me about what

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kind of background does

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set somebody up to be in charge of

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maintaining this kind of environment

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well i actually uh graduated with a

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degree in mechanical engineering and

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after i graduated i went to work for a

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couple of years in the petrochemical

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industry but i was always so attracted

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to nasa and always looking for a way to

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get here and so i did finally find a way

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to come and work for nasa and i was

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lucky enough to be a shuttle electrical

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power systems flight controller so we

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controlled all the power systems on the

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shuttle

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but then after a couple of years i was

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given the opportunity to come over and

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manage a large project replacing

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workstations here in the control center

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and i jumped at that opportunity and

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i've been here ever since

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sounds very exciting we'll find out more

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about it and i think we're ready to take

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your questions so go ahead

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okay our first question says how much

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pressure is it to work in mission

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control

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angela how much pressure well it really

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depends on the moment

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most of the time working in mission

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control is something that you've been

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very well trained to do and you sit at

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your console and you watch your data do

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very predictable things and you do

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procedures that you've trained on

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extensively and so it's all very easy

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the pressure comes when something goes

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wrong when something on board breaks and

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all of a sudden you have to jump in and

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you have to fix it and we train our

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flight controllers for that too we do

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extensive training we have a saying that

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we train like we fly and we fly like we

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train

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so we feel that our flight controllers

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are all very capable of handling all

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those but it does make for some exciting

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okay the next one says what is the

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average education of someone in mission

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control and an astronaut

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okay well it's different for flight

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controllers and mission control and

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astronauts not that it has to be

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to be a flight controller all you have

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to have is a science degree so that

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would be either science engineering or

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math and

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most of our flight controllers have

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bachelor degrees we do have some who

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have masters and we have some who have

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phds it really depends on the person and

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the choice that they made in their

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schooling but all that you're required

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to have is a bachelor's degree in

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science and engineering

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most of the astronauts do have advanced

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degrees though of master's degrees and a

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lot of them doctorates as well even the

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pilot astronauts who are in charge of

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driving the spacecraft if you will a lot

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of them have advanced degrees in

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okay the next one says what is the

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additional training for someone working

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in mission control

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well when we bring our our

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new flight controllers in we actually

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have a

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set of classes that right now we're

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calling boot camp it's been called

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different names over the years where

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they spend several months going through

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intensive training on all of the

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different systems that are on the

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international space station and then

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after they get through that then they

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get put into a training flow where we

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have

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smaller trainers that are not in this

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building they're over in another

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building where they can sit with just a

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couple of people and start to do

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troubleshooting on their systems and

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then finally after they've mastered some

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of those basics then they come over here

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and we do integrated simulations where

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we have the entire flight control room

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participating we have computer models

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that pretend that they are the space

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station so we can mimic things and

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conditions on the space station and we

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have a whole group of instructors where

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their whole job all they've been trained

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to do is to teach our flight controllers

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um if our space shuttle program is not

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operating how do we plan on getting

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astronauts to the iss

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well you know we actually knew for for

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quite a few years that the space station

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program was ending or the space shuttle

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program was ending and so we had a long

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long time to plan for it so what we do

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right now is that we have the russians

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send up our astronauts in their soyuz

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spacecraft and so that's been well

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negotiated and they change out their

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how much oxygen do they know to bring

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and have on the iss

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well since we've been doing spaceflight

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for a long time we know how much oxygen

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a typical person needs in a day and so i

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can say for space shuttle we actually

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had to take all of our oxygen and so we

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took it in big tanks but for space

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station they're up there for such a long

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time that we have many different ways of

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getting them oxygen so we have some

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equipment on board that can turn water

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into oxygen we have equipment that when

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activated

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it's basically like a candle that has a

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chemical reaction and releases oxygen

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and we also can send oxygen up in some

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of our resupply vehicles

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how long does it take to get to the iss

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well that also depends on the vehicle

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technically it doesn't take that long to

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get there coming back it takes about two

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hours but going there it takes a lot

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longer first of all because we have to

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launch it takes you about eight minutes

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to get to orbit but then we have to

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catch up with the space station

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you also have to make sure that your

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vehicle is correctly oriented and you

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have to make sure that your crew has

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acclimated to to space travel so that

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they're able to do the docking so

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normally for us it takes us between

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three and four days

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the europeans sometimes take a little

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bit longer so it just depends on the

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flight control team and the astronauts

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and

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which company which country is operating

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the vehicle

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do you see robotics as an important part

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of the future of space travel

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robotics is very important we can send

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robots to do things that we wouldn't

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want to send humans to do or that we

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don't have enough humans to do

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so we already use many robots in space

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travel we have a robotic arm on the

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space station

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we also have dexter which is on the

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space station that can do tasks

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and

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in addition to that we also have things

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like our mars rovers that are robots

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that we operate so robotics is very

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important

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discuss the funding for future space

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flight do you think it will be more

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commercialized

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well okay that's two questions first for

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the funding

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you know we are a government agency and

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so our funding depends on whatever

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congress has money to do and how they

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allocate it so

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we only know our funding from year to

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year and we always hope that they'll

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give us more but we won't know um

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for commercialization we are actively

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striving to increase the commercial

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participation in space flight in fact

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we're using some of the money that we

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have in order to

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provide seed money for private companies

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that are currently working on developing

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both cargo ships to help supply the

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space station and some of them are also

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working on future vehicles to bring

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crews to the space station and maybe to

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other destinations as well so nasa is

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investing in that in that as a way to

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could you describe the orion

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multi-purpose vehicle

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could i describe it

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well you know we're getting away from

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having the the space shuttle type of

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vehicle the space shuttle wallet it's

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really cool and very flexible that it

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can go up and down many times is also

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very very expensive to maintain and

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operate and so the orion capsule is more

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like what we had back in the apollo days

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so it's a

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smaller capsule that is easier to launch

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and it enters just like the apollo

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capsule did

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although the it's bigger than the apollo

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capsule and it will be able to carry uh

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four or six astronauts where the apollo

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could only carry three and it's being

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designed to be able to go a lot farther

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hold on just a second

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are there any questions that you guys

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have that we haven't asked already

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if you have a question come on up and

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just stand over here

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please feel free

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this is your chance to talk to mission

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control this might be a once in a

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lifetime thing so please think if you

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have a question

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is there any possibility of speaking

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microphones

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uh is there any possibility of getting

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to mars soon

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or in the future well that depends on

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your definition of soon um

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i definitely think we'll get tomorrow

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sometime in your lifetime um it's not

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going to be this decade right now we

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have got plans for the orion capsule to

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launch and they're they're looking at

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going to an asteroid first and then

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perhaps to mars probably somewhere out

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in 2013 would be or 2030 would be the

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earliest but i think it's definitely

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going to happen there are a lot of

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people who are working on developing on

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working out the issues with propulsion

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that are necessary in order to get a

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spaceship that far away they're also

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working up on the issues that are

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required to be able to sustain a crew i

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mean we could shoot a rocket to mars we

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do it all we do it now but we want to be

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able to have the crew members who are on

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board be able to be safe and to be

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healthy when they get there because it's

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about a six-month trip to get there and

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then there's the amount of time that you

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would be there to do the work to do the

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exploration and then another six months

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to come back so there are are mechanical

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issues and there are also human issues

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that still have to be worked out before

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we could do it in with a relative degree

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what kind of

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problems do you face

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00:09:58,470 --> 00:09:56,800
normally when they're launching

281
00:10:00,389 --> 00:09:58,480
if there are any

282
00:10:01,750 --> 00:10:00,399
are there any problems in launching

283
00:10:03,829 --> 00:10:01,760
there are occasionally problems in

284
00:10:05,910 --> 00:10:03,839
launching

285
00:10:08,550 --> 00:10:05,920
right now all of our launches are done

286
00:10:09,910 --> 00:10:08,560
by the russians and so they control all

287
00:10:11,190 --> 00:10:09,920
of that so i can tell you a little bit

288
00:10:12,550 --> 00:10:11,200
about some of the problems that we would

289
00:10:14,870 --> 00:10:12,560
have during the space shuttle when we

290
00:10:16,870 --> 00:10:14,880
were in control of that launch um and

291
00:10:19,190 --> 00:10:16,880
actually problems were very rare we we

292
00:10:20,949 --> 00:10:19,200
do so much testing that

293
00:10:22,230 --> 00:10:20,959
it's uncommon

294
00:10:23,590 --> 00:10:22,240
most likely

295
00:10:25,030 --> 00:10:23,600
probably if we looked at what the most

296
00:10:27,030 --> 00:10:25,040
common failure would be it would be that

297
00:10:28,870 --> 00:10:27,040
we lost a piece of telemetry not that

298
00:10:30,870 --> 00:10:28,880
something actually happened on board but

299
00:10:32,550 --> 00:10:30,880
for some reason that transducer stopped

300
00:10:34,230 --> 00:10:32,560
working and by telemetry we're talking

301
00:10:36,150 --> 00:10:34,240
about information data that's coming

302
00:10:37,750 --> 00:10:36,160
down right a number that tells us how

303
00:10:39,750 --> 00:10:37,760
many volts a certain piece of equipment

304
00:10:46,310 --> 00:10:39,760
has or how fast a certain piece of

305
00:10:51,350 --> 00:10:48,870
so since uh rocking is basically a

306
00:10:54,069 --> 00:10:51,360
controlled explosion is there any chance

307
00:10:57,430 --> 00:10:54,079
of using a nuclear blast to

308
00:10:58,949 --> 00:10:57,440
go into deep space in the future

309
00:11:01,110 --> 00:10:58,959
well we're always looking at advanced

310
00:11:04,230 --> 00:11:01,120
proposal propulsion i haven't heard

311
00:11:06,150 --> 00:11:04,240
anything about using a nuclear blast

312
00:11:08,949 --> 00:11:06,160
to get into space actually most of our

313
00:11:11,269 --> 00:11:08,959
efforts right now are looking at

314
00:11:13,670 --> 00:11:11,279
using

315
00:11:16,790 --> 00:11:13,680
rockets that have less energy but end up

316
00:11:18,230 --> 00:11:16,800
spitting it out at a longer time so that

317
00:11:21,430 --> 00:11:18,240
you would be able to go a farther

318
00:11:23,990 --> 00:11:21,440
distance with less fuel there's a former

319
00:11:26,389 --> 00:11:24,000
nasa astronaut named franklin chang diaz

320
00:11:28,389 --> 00:11:26,399
who is really in the lead in developing

321
00:11:30,550 --> 00:11:28,399
this kind of engine where you would

322
00:11:32,870 --> 00:11:30,560
carry enough fuel to be able to make a

323
00:11:36,230 --> 00:11:32,880
just a little thrust that would push

324
00:11:39,829 --> 00:11:36,240
your vehicle along and on a

325
00:11:41,990 --> 00:11:39,839
on a regular basis but because in orbit

326
00:11:44,550 --> 00:11:42,000
and out beyond earth orbit you don't

327
00:11:47,430 --> 00:11:44,560
have the resistance you don't need very

328
00:11:49,590 --> 00:11:47,440
much push in order to get it going and

329
00:11:53,030 --> 00:11:49,600
you continue to build up the momentum

330
00:11:55,030 --> 00:11:53,040
with every new impulse and you can go a

331
00:12:06,230 --> 00:11:55,040
great distance in a relatively short

332
00:12:11,829 --> 00:12:08,470
how do you choose the astronauts that go

333
00:12:13,590 --> 00:12:11,839
up to the space stations

334
00:12:15,670 --> 00:12:13,600
and that's really a question for the

335
00:12:18,069 --> 00:12:15,680
astronaut office

336
00:12:19,430 --> 00:12:18,079
i know that they do a lot of screening

337
00:12:20,870 --> 00:12:19,440
on their astronauts when they pick them

338
00:12:22,550 --> 00:12:20,880
to be candidates in the first place and

339
00:12:23,990 --> 00:12:22,560
then astronauts go through about two

340
00:12:25,990 --> 00:12:24,000
years of training once they get selected

341
00:12:27,509 --> 00:12:26,000
so they go through one year where they

342
00:12:28,949 --> 00:12:27,519
do astronaut candidate training which is

343
00:12:31,110 --> 00:12:28,959
kind of generic training and then they

344
00:12:33,030 --> 00:12:31,120
do about another year of

345
00:12:35,269 --> 00:12:33,040
vehicle specific and mission specific

346
00:12:36,550 --> 00:12:35,279
training and so i would imagine that

347
00:12:38,069 --> 00:12:36,560
their choice of who they're going to

348
00:12:46,150 --> 00:12:38,079
pick depends on how well those

349
00:12:51,269 --> 00:12:48,069
do you ever think we'll like officially

350
00:12:55,190 --> 00:12:53,030
personally i do think that we will live

351
00:12:57,670 --> 00:12:55,200
in space um

352
00:12:59,910 --> 00:12:57,680
nasa is always trying to put ourselves

353
00:13:01,590 --> 00:12:59,920
at the front of the space technology

354
00:13:04,389 --> 00:13:01,600
we're trying to do the new things that

355
00:13:06,550 --> 00:13:04,399
nobody else has done before and as we

356
00:13:08,389 --> 00:13:06,560
figure out more more ways to travel in

357
00:13:10,629 --> 00:13:08,399
space then we end up giving that

358
00:13:12,790 --> 00:13:10,639
information over to other people such as

359
00:13:15,430 --> 00:13:12,800
commercial partners so that they can

360
00:13:17,190 --> 00:13:15,440
then use that information to make a

361
00:13:20,230 --> 00:13:17,200
commercial venture a company that can

362
00:13:21,829 --> 00:13:20,240
then capitalize on that and make space

363
00:13:23,910 --> 00:13:21,839
travel accessible for

364
00:13:26,310 --> 00:13:23,920
for all people so i do believe that

365
00:13:27,590 --> 00:13:26,320
we'll get technology to the point that

366
00:13:29,829 --> 00:13:27,600
we can give it over to commercial

367
00:13:32,069 --> 00:13:29,839
partners and they can make space tourism

368
00:13:33,590 --> 00:13:32,079
a real option and in the meantime you

369
00:13:35,990 --> 00:13:33,600
know there are people living in space

370
00:13:38,230 --> 00:13:36,000
right now there are six people on board

371
00:13:40,550 --> 00:13:38,240
the international space station uh three

372
00:13:42,790 --> 00:13:40,560
of them have been living there since

373
00:13:45,350 --> 00:13:42,800
late november the other three actually

374
00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:45,360
today is the 100th day that the other

375
00:13:50,069 --> 00:13:47,760
three have been in space

376
00:13:53,829 --> 00:13:50,079
there is one russian cosmonaut who lived

377
00:13:56,069 --> 00:13:53,839
in space for over 430 days without

378
00:13:57,829 --> 00:13:56,079
coming back to the earth so we are

379
00:13:59,990 --> 00:13:57,839
living there now we're not living there

380
00:14:03,269 --> 00:14:00,000
for as long as we will in the future

381
00:14:06,949 --> 00:14:05,030
is there any possibility of going back

382
00:14:08,310 --> 00:14:06,959
to the moon

383
00:14:10,150 --> 00:14:08,320
well there's always a possibility of

384
00:14:12,389 --> 00:14:10,160
going back to the moon

385
00:14:14,470 --> 00:14:12,399
when the president made the decision to

386
00:14:16,389 --> 00:14:14,480
refocus the constellation efforts we

387
00:14:18,629 --> 00:14:16,399
decided that we were going to instead

388
00:14:21,189 --> 00:14:18,639
focus on going out to an asteroid and

389
00:14:23,430 --> 00:14:21,199
then to mars so we don't have any plans

390
00:14:25,350 --> 00:14:23,440
to send people to the moon right now

391
00:14:26,949 --> 00:14:25,360
we're always looking at what kind of

392
00:14:28,949 --> 00:14:26,959
rovers and robotics we could do at the

393
00:14:30,470 --> 00:14:28,959
moon and actually one of the

394
00:14:32,550 --> 00:14:30,480
the activities that's operated out of

395
00:14:35,670 --> 00:14:32,560
this building is a program called desert

396
00:14:37,030 --> 00:14:35,680
rats where we do a simulation of what it

397
00:14:39,829 --> 00:14:37,040
would be like on the moon that go out to

398
00:14:42,949 --> 00:14:39,839
the desert in arizona and they uh

399
00:14:44,710 --> 00:14:42,959
test spacesuits and and rovers to see

400
00:14:48,230 --> 00:14:44,720
how they work so we're constantly

401
00:14:50,389 --> 00:14:48,240
striving for that and nasa has a pair of

402
00:14:52,949 --> 00:14:50,399
of spacecraft orbiting the moon right

403
00:14:55,670 --> 00:14:52,959
now the the grail mission uh just sent

404
00:14:58,310 --> 00:14:55,680
two spacecraft that are mapping uh moon

405
00:15:00,550 --> 00:14:58,320
so we have we haven't send people back

406
00:15:02,629 --> 00:15:00,560
just yet but uh we are still going to

407
00:15:03,590 --> 00:15:02,639
the moon

408
00:15:05,829 --> 00:15:03,600
okay

409
00:15:08,150 --> 00:15:05,839
are you looking into fusion reaction for

410
00:15:09,829 --> 00:15:08,160
energy

411
00:15:12,310 --> 00:15:09,839
fusion reaction

412
00:15:14,150 --> 00:15:12,320
are we looking into that for energy not

413
00:15:16,470 --> 00:15:14,160
that i well i'm not sure i don't know

414
00:15:18,870 --> 00:15:16,480
that nasa is yeah there are people who

415
00:15:21,269 --> 00:15:18,880
are but that's that seems to be still

416
00:15:22,870 --> 00:15:21,279
quite a bit of ways away i know in

417
00:15:24,389 --> 00:15:22,880
mission control we're not focusing on it

418
00:15:28,389 --> 00:15:24,399
right now that's not in one of your

419
00:15:32,150 --> 00:15:30,949
when apollo 13 claimed the moon for the

420
00:15:35,110 --> 00:15:32,160
usa

421
00:15:37,030 --> 00:15:35,120
uh is it possible that other countries

422
00:15:38,310 --> 00:15:37,040
that we will be sharing the moon with

423
00:15:40,629 --> 00:15:38,320
other countries

424
00:15:42,389 --> 00:15:40,639
i think that's entirely possible you for

425
00:15:44,949 --> 00:15:42,399
for us the moon was our goal back in the

426
00:15:46,790 --> 00:15:44,959
60s and we achieved it and i see no

427
00:15:48,629 --> 00:15:46,800
reason why other countries wouldn't want

428
00:15:50,629 --> 00:15:48,639
to have that same goal and achieve it

429
00:15:52,310 --> 00:15:50,639
just like we did yeah when when apollo

430
00:15:54,310 --> 00:15:52,320
11 was the first

431
00:15:55,910 --> 00:15:54,320
mission to land on the moon and and they

432
00:15:58,629 --> 00:15:55,920
planted an american flag but they didn't

433
00:16:00,470 --> 00:15:58,639
really claim it for america and uh

434
00:16:02,550 --> 00:16:00,480
you're remembering apollo 13 that was

435
00:16:11,590 --> 00:16:02,560
the mission that uh circled the moon but

436
00:16:15,030 --> 00:16:13,189
how many missions have you helped get

437
00:16:19,430 --> 00:16:15,040
into space

438
00:16:21,509 --> 00:16:19,440
we had 130 135 space shuttle missions

439
00:16:23,670 --> 00:16:21,519
that that flew right then we also had

440
00:16:26,389 --> 00:16:23,680
all of the apollo missions and all the

441
00:16:28,790 --> 00:16:26,399
gemini and mercury missions uh as well

442
00:16:30,230 --> 00:16:28,800
as all of the launches to the

443
00:16:32,150 --> 00:16:30,240
international space station the group

444
00:16:34,150 --> 00:16:32,160
that's on board right now is expedition

445
00:16:37,350 --> 00:16:34,160
number 30

446
00:16:39,910 --> 00:16:37,360
and there are crews uh

447
00:16:41,670 --> 00:16:39,920
who aren't even gonna launch for another

448
00:16:48,550 --> 00:16:41,680
two and a half years who are already

449
00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:53,110
are there any other questions

450
00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,389
come on gabby

451
00:16:59,509 --> 00:16:58,150
do you remember how many space shuttle

452
00:17:01,509 --> 00:16:59,519
missions you worked how many of those

453
00:17:02,829 --> 00:17:01,519
did you help put into space you know i

454
00:17:06,309 --> 00:17:02,839
didn't

455
00:17:11,510 --> 00:17:06,319
count a dozen or so probably yeah it was

456
00:17:14,150 --> 00:17:12,549
okay

457
00:17:15,909 --> 00:17:14,160
what kind of problems

458
00:17:17,990 --> 00:17:15,919
are not problems like what kind of

459
00:17:20,230 --> 00:17:18,000
things do you have to do to prepare to

460
00:17:22,630 --> 00:17:20,240
go up into space

461
00:17:25,270 --> 00:17:22,640
you mean if you're an astronaut

462
00:17:27,270 --> 00:17:25,280
no like for your mission control

463
00:17:29,190 --> 00:17:27,280
well okay so we start our flight

464
00:17:30,310 --> 00:17:29,200
controllers out with generic training

465
00:17:33,430 --> 00:17:30,320
where they

466
00:17:35,669 --> 00:17:33,440
do training on basic simulations and

467
00:17:37,669 --> 00:17:35,679
basic procedures that we go through and

468
00:17:39,590 --> 00:17:37,679
then about six months out we start with

469
00:17:42,070 --> 00:17:39,600
what we call flight specific training

470
00:17:43,909 --> 00:17:42,080
where we actually rehearse every single

471
00:17:46,390 --> 00:17:43,919
major activity that's going to happen on

472
00:17:49,029 --> 00:17:46,400
orbit and so we probably have about

473
00:17:50,390 --> 00:17:49,039
15 to 20 of those type of activities

474
00:17:51,990 --> 00:17:50,400
that involve the entire flight control

475
00:17:53,669 --> 00:17:52,000
team and

476
00:18:01,990 --> 00:17:53,679
they increase in frequency as we get

477
00:18:07,909 --> 00:18:04,310
how many rockets have blown up during

478
00:18:11,990 --> 00:18:09,029
well okay so if you're going to talk

479
00:18:14,150 --> 00:18:12,000
about manned space flight i only know of

480
00:18:15,590 --> 00:18:14,160
one that's blown up and that was

481
00:18:17,590 --> 00:18:15,600
challenger

482
00:18:20,150 --> 00:18:17,600
we we had another accident with an

483
00:18:21,990 --> 00:18:20,160
apollo rocket but that didn't blow up

484
00:18:23,830 --> 00:18:22,000
it was on the pad and if you're talking

485
00:18:26,150 --> 00:18:23,840
about the other rocket rockets that get

486
00:18:28,710 --> 00:18:26,160
sent up most of those are handled by

487
00:18:30,789 --> 00:18:28,720
the department of defense or through

488
00:18:33,190 --> 00:18:30,799
another company which is united launch

489
00:18:34,789 --> 00:18:33,200
alliance which is a combination of

490
00:18:36,710 --> 00:18:34,799
lockheed martin

491
00:18:38,230 --> 00:18:36,720
and boeing and so i don't know how many

492
00:18:39,669 --> 00:18:38,240
they've had blow up but they're the ones

493
00:18:45,190 --> 00:18:39,679
who do most of the actual rocket

494
00:18:51,110 --> 00:18:47,990
what is nasa's ultimate goal

495
00:18:53,510 --> 00:18:51,120
as far as space travel

496
00:18:55,830 --> 00:18:53,520
well nasa is always trying to explore so

497
00:18:58,230 --> 00:18:55,840
our goal is to get as far away from this

498
00:19:00,310 --> 00:18:58,240
planet as possible and to do so in a

499
00:19:03,029 --> 00:19:00,320
safe manner so we're constantly striving

500
00:19:05,430 --> 00:19:03,039
to do new science that lets us figure

501
00:19:07,909 --> 00:19:05,440
out exactly how people are going to be

502
00:19:09,750 --> 00:19:07,919
affected by long time long term space

503
00:19:10,870 --> 00:19:09,760
travel how equipment's going to be

504
00:19:12,870 --> 00:19:10,880
affected

505
00:19:15,110 --> 00:19:12,880
more effective ways to do things so that

506
00:19:16,390 --> 00:19:15,120
we can get to farther places with less

507
00:19:18,070 --> 00:19:16,400
mass

508
00:19:19,990 --> 00:19:18,080
less energy

509
00:19:21,510 --> 00:19:20,000
so i think nasa

510
00:19:22,950 --> 00:19:21,520
long term is going to try and go as far

511
00:19:26,549 --> 00:19:22,960
as they can right now they've set their

512
00:19:30,150 --> 00:19:28,710
how does nasa work with department of

513
00:19:31,190 --> 00:19:30,160
defense

514
00:19:33,190 --> 00:19:31,200
you know we actually have some

515
00:19:34,310 --> 00:19:33,200
department of defense folks who are on

516
00:19:35,590 --> 00:19:34,320
site with us

517
00:19:37,830 --> 00:19:35,600
we used to do a lot more with them

518
00:19:39,830 --> 00:19:37,840
because back in the

519
00:19:41,909 --> 00:19:39,840
middle days of shuttle there were actual

520
00:19:43,909 --> 00:19:41,919
department of defense missions and so we

521
00:19:46,549 --> 00:19:43,919
had one of the flight control rooms was

522
00:19:47,990 --> 00:19:46,559
actually locked down and was very secret

523
00:19:49,590 --> 00:19:48,000
because it had department of defense

524
00:19:51,430 --> 00:19:49,600
assets in it

525
00:19:54,549 --> 00:19:51,440
these days we do interface with them

526
00:19:57,029 --> 00:19:54,559
some but most of our involvement is with

527
00:20:00,230 --> 00:19:57,039
either universities or

528
00:20:02,470 --> 00:20:00,240
commercial companies that have payloads

529
00:20:04,149 --> 00:20:02,480
but there are people from

530
00:20:06,789 --> 00:20:04,159
branches several branches of the service

531
00:20:08,390 --> 00:20:06,799
who work here in a variety of places not

532
00:20:09,990 --> 00:20:08,400
only astronauts

533
00:20:12,630 --> 00:20:10,000
but there are other people who are

534
00:20:14,870 --> 00:20:12,640
assigned by the army or the navy to come

535
00:20:17,430 --> 00:20:14,880
to nasa to work in flight control

536
00:20:21,190 --> 00:20:17,440
positions and in other places around

537
00:20:25,830 --> 00:20:23,590
do you have a question

538
00:20:28,149 --> 00:20:25,840
what's the furthest a robotic spacecraft

539
00:20:30,549 --> 00:20:28,159
has gotten away from the earth

540
00:20:32,390 --> 00:20:30,559
just left the solar system

541
00:20:33,909 --> 00:20:32,400
yeah the voyager

542
00:20:35,990 --> 00:20:33,919
i'm not sure if that's the farthest

543
00:20:36,950 --> 00:20:36,000
we've gone or the furthest whichever is

544
00:20:39,909 --> 00:20:36,960
correct

545
00:20:42,149 --> 00:20:39,919
but uh early uh robotic spacecraft that

546
00:20:48,310 --> 00:20:42,159
were launched back in the 60s have have

547
00:20:53,270 --> 00:20:50,149
what is your favorite part about working

548
00:20:57,350 --> 00:20:55,750
that's a hard question because honestly

549
00:20:59,190 --> 00:20:57,360
i love everything um

550
00:21:01,270 --> 00:20:59,200
probably my favorite thing to do here at

551
00:21:02,950 --> 00:21:01,280
nasa is to do events like this and take

552
00:21:05,110 --> 00:21:02,960
people on tours because when you're

553
00:21:07,190 --> 00:21:05,120
doing your job even though it's space it

554
00:21:08,390 --> 00:21:07,200
tends to still be processing paperwork

555
00:21:10,870 --> 00:21:08,400
to get monitors replaced and

556
00:21:12,390 --> 00:21:10,880
workstations replaced and update code

557
00:21:13,669 --> 00:21:12,400
and when you get an opportunity to do

558
00:21:15,029 --> 00:21:13,679
something like this or to bring people

559
00:21:16,630 --> 00:21:15,039
through mission control it reminds you

560
00:21:18,310 --> 00:21:16,640
how cool it really is yeah working

561
00:21:20,230 --> 00:21:18,320
working in this room is pretty cool

562
00:21:22,549 --> 00:21:20,240
getting to sit at one of these consoles

563
00:21:24,390 --> 00:21:22,559
and listen to all of these people talk

564
00:21:26,710 --> 00:21:24,400
about what's going on in the space

565
00:21:28,230 --> 00:21:26,720
station and and how we're making sure

566
00:21:30,230 --> 00:21:28,240
that we stay on the plan for what we

567
00:21:32,950 --> 00:21:30,240
want to do or how we're going to try to

568
00:21:34,950 --> 00:21:32,960
resolve some issue that's come up and

569
00:21:41,110 --> 00:21:34,960
and being right here in the middle of it

570
00:21:44,630 --> 00:21:42,390
um

571
00:21:48,390 --> 00:21:44,640
do you use guys like still send animals

572
00:21:51,669 --> 00:21:49,830
you know i think there have been some

573
00:21:53,590 --> 00:21:51,679
payloads recently that were sent up that

574
00:21:55,029 --> 00:21:53,600
did involve rats i know when i was

575
00:21:56,390 --> 00:21:55,039
working as a shuttle flight controller

576
00:21:58,630 --> 00:21:56,400
we had to account for the amount of

577
00:22:01,430 --> 00:21:58,640
oxygen the rats would consume

578
00:22:03,669 --> 00:22:01,440
but we haven't sent

579
00:22:04,789 --> 00:22:03,679
primates up in many many years we did

580
00:22:06,310 --> 00:22:04,799
that in the beginning because we weren't

581
00:22:07,909 --> 00:22:06,320
sure what the effects would be of human

582
00:22:09,510 --> 00:22:07,919
space flight on humans and so we wanted

583
00:22:10,950 --> 00:22:09,520
to be very cautious but

584
00:22:12,390 --> 00:22:10,960
these days the only animals that go up

585
00:22:16,789 --> 00:22:12,400
are going to be part of us in an

586
00:22:21,029 --> 00:22:18,950
what happens when an astronaut gets sick

587
00:22:23,430 --> 00:22:21,039
up in space

588
00:22:25,830 --> 00:22:23,440
well we actually have a whole team down

589
00:22:28,310 --> 00:22:25,840
here called the flight surgeons who take

590
00:22:30,230 --> 00:22:28,320
care of astronaut health and they carry

591
00:22:32,230 --> 00:22:30,240
a lot of medicine with them up in space

592
00:22:34,230 --> 00:22:32,240
and we have a capability for them to do

593
00:22:36,470 --> 00:22:34,240
private medical conferences where they

594
00:22:38,630 --> 00:22:36,480
can call down and talk to or have a

595
00:22:40,390 --> 00:22:38,640
video teleconference with the flight

596
00:22:41,669 --> 00:22:40,400
surgeons to discuss whatever ailment

597
00:22:44,230 --> 00:22:41,679
that they have

598
00:22:45,990 --> 00:22:44,240
our astronauts are also trained in many

599
00:22:47,909 --> 00:22:46,000
of the standard medical procedures that

600
00:22:49,909 --> 00:22:47,919
you would expect from say an ambulance

601
00:22:51,510 --> 00:22:49,919
crew so if something critical were to

602
00:22:52,870 --> 00:22:51,520
happen then they have the capability of

603
00:23:00,549 --> 00:22:52,880
responding to it as long as it's

604
00:23:05,350 --> 00:23:02,310
i heard somewhere that like

605
00:23:07,270 --> 00:23:05,360
astronauts can like swell up in space

606
00:23:09,830 --> 00:23:07,280
how does that happen

607
00:23:11,830 --> 00:23:09,840
well in space there's no gravity so on

608
00:23:13,270 --> 00:23:11,840
the earth all of your fluids are pulled

609
00:23:15,190 --> 00:23:13,280
constantly towards your feet and your

610
00:23:16,710 --> 00:23:15,200
body does account for that in some ways

611
00:23:17,830 --> 00:23:16,720
i mean by the end of the day you are

612
00:23:19,669 --> 00:23:17,840
going to have more fluid at your feet

613
00:23:21,350 --> 00:23:19,679
than your head but overall it stays

614
00:23:23,270 --> 00:23:21,360
pretty constant but when you're in space

615
00:23:24,870 --> 00:23:23,280
there's no gravity so the fluid just

616
00:23:26,950 --> 00:23:24,880
accumulates in your body and it's not

617
00:23:29,190 --> 00:23:26,960
pulled down towards your feet so they do

618
00:23:30,630 --> 00:23:29,200
tend to have puffier faces when they are

619
00:23:33,350 --> 00:23:30,640
in orbit but it changes when they get

620
00:23:39,110 --> 00:23:34,870
is there any other questions that we

621
00:23:44,470 --> 00:23:40,549
i think you've got you've asked some

622
00:23:48,710 --> 00:23:46,549
all right wonderful dowell middle school

623
00:23:51,029 --> 00:23:48,720
this is uh michael harrigan from the

624
00:23:53,590 --> 00:23:51,039
digital learning network um did you want

625
00:23:56,230 --> 00:23:53,600
to say a final goodbye thank you to uh

626
00:23:57,510 --> 00:23:56,240
pat ryan and angela bauer for all their

627
00:24:05,269 --> 00:23:57,520
great answers

628
00:24:09,590 --> 00:24:07,430
goodbye hey it was great to talk to you