Episode 11: Mark Willsey
04.18.07
: Mark Willsey, NASA co-op student
(0:00) Intro
(0:20) Interview with Mark Willsey. Purdue University electrical engineering major Mark Willsey describes the co-op experiences leading to an offer for full-time NASA employment in Mission Control.
NASA Cooperative Education Projects →
NASA Johnson Space Center co-op bio: Mark Willsey →
(7:24) A
lecture on Cassini's expedition to Saturn → is May 8, 2007, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
(8:16) The application deadline for the
Phoenix Student Interns Project → has been extended to May 9, 2007.
(9:05) End
Send your comments or questions to:
educationpodcast@nasa.gov
> Back to top
Transcript
Deana Nunley: This is NASA Student Opportunities -- a podcast connecting high school and college students with learning opportunities inside America's space agency.
Episode 11. April 25, 2007. I'm Deana Nunley. Thanks for joining us today.
NASA cooperative education projects are designed to combine academic studies with on-the-job training and experience, and give students an opportunity to work at a NASA field center while completing their education. Mark Willsey is a senior at Purdue University majoring in electrical engineering. He completed five cooperative education tours at Johnson Space Center between 2003 and 2006 -- splitting his time between mission operations and engineering.
Mark Willsey: During the engineering tours I was able to work on projects such as the electric tractor, which is a prototype tractor for the one that's going to be used on future lunar and Mars missions. There are a lot of different opportunities in engineering. I really enjoyed it, but I would definitely say I preferred my two tours in the Mission Operations Directorate. The first one, I was able to work in Mission Control as the flight controller for the shuttle's electrical systems. During that tour, I was able to sit in the shuttle cockpit simulators and look at the buttons the astronauts were throwing on actual missions. That way, you see when you're on console how long it's going to take them. You got a lot of neat simulations where you were able to train as an actual flight controller. And the idea is that during your first four co-op tours -- in my case, because I was doing five -- but in your first couple of co-op tours, you get an idea of where you would most like to go.
Another co-op tour I did was in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which is a big pool where the astronauts simulate their extravehicular activities. They're also called EVAs, or spacewalks. During my time at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, I was able to be the liaison between the configuration crew. I guess I should first explain how the work is done at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. There's a group of astronauts and test conductors who have the timelines of the spacewalks, and I communicated between them and the configuration crew who actually set up the underwater space station and space shuttle for the daily EVAs.
So at the end of those first four co-op tours, I decided the group I would most prefer to work in would be the flight controller group for the electrical power systems. So the last summer, the summer of 2006, I spent my fifth and final co-op tour down there. In that time, I realized that was definitely the place I would like to get a full-time job, and, fortunately, at the end of the summer they offered me a job. I will be starting full-time in July of this year, which I'm really excited about.
Deana: Tell us more about being a flight controller and the job that you're going to have.
Mark: I'm excited. Seeing Apollo 13, it's a lot like that. Being in Mission Control is one of the coolest places in the world to be. You're sitting there and watching real-time data come down during a mission. It's a dream. It's living the dream, as I like to think of it. It's going to be really exciting with the shuttle up and flying. We've got about three and a half years from when I start, and I hope to get three different certifications, so that before the end of the shuttle program I hope to be working as a flight controller in the front room of Mission Control as maybe a lead electrical flight controller. It's really exciting, though.
Deana: And you've already gained some experience during your co-op activity.
Mark: For example, in the STS-121 mission this past year that launched on the Fourth of July, I was able to sit in Mission Control and observe, and I actually got to participate as much as possible, while watching the data and trying to find things. For example, there was a case where we were trying to find out when we had turned on one of the lights, and I was able to look through some of the past data and find an increase in current that correlated to the time that we had turned on the light. That was used for calculation in the amount of cryo consumption, or energy consumption, that we were managing. You get to do real work as a co-op, even in the flight control world. I'm looking forward to getting certified so I'll be the guy that gets to be making the flight calls to the flight director or to the lead electrical flight controller.
Deana: Is there an adrenaline rush that goes along with doing that type of work, making real-time decisions?
Mark: Oh, yeah. I've had a few times where I've been able to talk on the loops. And every time I do that, it's just, you get all excited and sometimes you just hope you don't mess up because everybody can hear it. It's definitely an adrenaline rush. Every time I walk in the doors to Mission Control, the front doors -- they're just so cool -- it says "Mission Control Center" right on the front. You swipe your badge. You walk in there. You just feel like this is where I'm supposed to be. I'm doing something really cool. It's almost as if you're walking onto a game field, like if you've ever played any kind of sports. I get that same feeling every time I walk into Mission Control. It's a game field.
Deana: What's the best part of working with NASA?
Mark: I had just imagined just being there, working in Mission Control, just being one of the coolest things. Working with astronauts, being able to communicate with them -- they're great people. I really enjoy all the people who work at NASA. They're a lot like me. It's nice to be around people who share the same enthusiasm that you do about the space program. One of the things I didn't really consider when I moved down to Texas for the first time was the social life. The people down there are just great. I really loved the people. Just hanging out with them and going places with them has been a lot of fun, too.
Deana: What attracted you to the space program?
Mark: Growing up, first grade, I guess my parents had a little to do with it. My room had a big space mural on it. My toys, I had a space shuttle with detachable solid rocket boosters and an external tank. It's been something that I grew up with. Come about fourth grade, I developed a big interest in NASA. Every homework assignment or book report always had to do with the space shuttle or something with NASA. Then, as a freshman in high school, I was able to go to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., which really helped fuel the fire to be involved with NASA once I had graduated. I ended up going back again to Space Camp as a junior in high school. Our class took a trip there. Those are all factors that just really fueled my passion and enthusiasm to get down here and work for the human space program. It's my favorite place to work -- one of the best places to be.
Deana: You can learn more about NASA's cooperative education projects and some of Mark's co-op activities by following the links in this week's show notes. Go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast and click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast.
[Music]
Since its arrival and insertion into orbit around Saturn in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has been providing unprecedented images and surprising details of the planet and its rings and moons. Carolyn Porco, the Cassini Imaging Team Leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo., will present a lecture on the expedition to the ringed planet. It's on May 8, 2007, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. A planetarium show, Cosmic Collisions, begins at 7 p.m., and the lecture begins at 8 p.m. The event is free, but tickets are required. For more information, go to
www.nasa.gov/podcast. Click on the NASA Student Opportunities podcast and follow the link in this week's show notes.
We have an update on a learning opportunity mentioned in last week’s podcast. The application deadline for the Phoenix Student Interns Project has been extended to May 9, 2007. This project gives students and teachers a unique opportunity to become part of the science team for the Phoenix Mars Lander Mission. A link to more information is available in this week's show notes.
We want to hear from you. If you have questions or comments about NASA learning opportunities, send an e-mail to:
educationpodcast@nasa.gov
Thanks for listening.
NASA Student Opportunities is a podcast production of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
› Listen now