For release: 09/02/03
Release #: 03-149

Profile: Visions of sleek starships power Charles Darby's career

If there's a science fiction movie on television or a new sci-fi flick at the theater, Charles Darby can't wait to watch it. Especially "Star Trek," even reruns. The allure of sleek starships and voyages across the universe inspired Darby to become an engineer at NASA's Marshall Center. Now he's helping NASA develop a facility for studying high-tech materials on the International Space Station. Darby hopes scientists will use the new facility to learn about materials that become part of new spacecraft that take us on distant journeys and products that improve our lives on Earth.