“I’m old enough that I watched Mercury and Apollo missions. That’s when a kid’s dream went from becoming a doctor when you grew up to becoming an astronaut. Everyone wanted to be an astronaut. Which, I realized, was way out of scope for me. I thought I’d never have anything to do with the aerospace program, but it was a cool thought. I ended up working on the Shuttle Program, and I was just wide-eyed the entire time. And I never had any desire to leave aerospace. It was always something new, always something different. I wanted to be involved, y’know? This is exploration. There’s no more land to explore. Instead of going across oceans, we’re going across space. And I can be a part of that.
“My very first project was literally on a bar napkin. And I was given three dimensions: the top, the bottom and the length between. My manager gave me this and said, ‘Here, make me something like this. Order whatever you need to do it.’ And I thought, ‘Well, this is going to be a great job!'”
— Terry Teal, Facilities and Asset Management (Boeing), Michoud Assembly Facility
Image Credit: NASA / Aubrey Gemignani
Interviewer: NASA / Thalia Patrinos