On Becoming an Astronaut

Now What? Space Science!

2009-03-02T21:08:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm out of the running. No, I haven't heard officially (which makes me think that something may have happened to my application... you'd think I'd get some sort of official rejection), but I'm pretty sure I missed out this time around. There's always next time.

In the meantime, I've undertaken a new project that will (undoubtedly) be infinitely more entertaining than this blog. I call it "The Space Science Podcast." I've decided to produce it in seasons, much like a television show sans video. The first season has a working title of: "Learn Astrodynamics Without That Pesky Math Part." I hope you find it educational and enjoyable! I'm working on some of the administrative portions right now and hope to have the first episode out in a few weeks... if not sooner!

So What's the Deal?

2009-01-06T22:03:00.002-06:00

What, precisely, is the deal? *shrug* I don't know. Here are the facts:

I have in my possession a postcard from NASA that reads, "We have received your application for the Astronaut Candidate Program. You will be notified of any decisions concerning your applications."

The timeline indicates that we're ending the point where potential candidates are notified and interviewed.

I have not yet been notified.

It would be nice to know, one way or the other, but I guess I'll just wait it out. Perhaps, however, I'll give ol' NASA a call and see if my application has fallen through some cracks.

Ice on Mars? Yes. How much? Lots.

2008-11-21T09:30:00.004-06:00

Whilst this post is not precisely related to my efforts of becoming an astronaut, it does relate to future exploration.

We all know, thanks to Mars Phoenix and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), that there is water ice on Mars. We now know, thanks again to the MRO, that there is a lot of water on Mars... and not just at the poles. An article on Scientific American announces vast subsurface formations of ice at mid-latitudes on Mars, a very important find since human colonization of Mars will likely begin nearer to the equator than the current location of Phoenix.

Why is in situ ice important? There are myriad answers to this question. Most obviously, it provides a source of water for future exploration efforts. Hauling stuff to Mars is expensive, so it's best to use what's already there. In addition, ice can be electrolyzed into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen can be injected into an outpost's atmosphere, and the combination of O₂ and H₂ can be used as fuel to either roam about the surface or head back to Earth (or... and this is really thinking out of the box... as a fuel station on the way out to the asteroid belt and outer planets).

And Now We Wait

2008-08-09T10:18:00.005-05:00

I'm terribly sorry for the delay, folks. I moved recently and have self-imposed a "Do Not Even Put In the Order for DSL Until I Finish Remodeling the Bathroom" policy. So, I write to you today from a cafe in Madison which is inexplicably featuring Grasshopper Day today, replete with story telling and a guy who can mimic pretty much any animal in existence (this guy is up there with Sgt. Jones from Police Academy).

Anyway, I am writing today to inform you that I have been accepted... into the application process. I recently received a postcard from the NASA Astronaut Office indicating that my application was complete and under consideration. In other words, I made it in before the deadline, and at least one person will look at my application. Hooray!

NASA's timeline is somewhat vague about when I'll hear back from them about my status. I suppose the latest will be November when they start interviewing the "Highly Qualified Candidates," though I will likely hear from them sooner. I'll be sure to keep everyone up-to-date on the process.

In other news, I've been invited by the kind folks of Web608 to give a talk on lunar mining. This will be only the second time that I've been requested to speak about my job, the first being a Pi Tau Sigma (mechanical engineering honors society) meeting. I'm really excited to share my experiences and knowledge regarding the engineering discipline required to design for space applications. Of course, Web608 is mainly devoted to web 2.0 stuff, but being a blogger, I suppose I qualify.

Happy Moon Landing Day!

2008-07-20T19:09:00.003-05:00

Thirty-nine years ago today, the whole world, transfixed upon millions of television sets, witnessed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to set foot on any celestial body. Sometimes I wish, despite today's conveniences, that I had been born in one of many earlier eras: seeing this event as a wide-eyed child of the sixties is one such era. To all those responsible for getting the Apollo 11 mission onto the moon and back, I thank you.

Qualified!

2008-05-18T13:08:00.002-05:00

This past week, I finally became officially qualified to apply for the Astronaut job at NASA. According to the job posting, each applicant needs:

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in engineering, biological science, physical science, or mathematics. Quality of academic preparation is important. Degree must be followed by at least 3 years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience.

On Friday, I completed my third year of, as NASA says, "related, progressively responsible, professional experience." My application is still in the works and should be submitted shortly... it better be, since the deadline to submit is July 1.

A Plea to Senator Obama

2008-03-10T22:19:00.001-05:00

Look up, Senator Obama.

We, as a species, have ascended from microbes in the ocean, onto the firmament at our feet, to the tops of sky-scrapers, past the airplanes above us, into the vast expanses of space, and even to the surface of our own Luna. The human mind has constantly dreamed of advancing into the unknown. Do not, Mr. Obama, take that dream from us.

I, just like many of your supporters, am of the Space Shuttle generation. The idea of accelerating to the heavens in a mere capsule seems outdated and backward. The Challenger explosion, for many of us, was simply a paragraph in a grammar school history book, whereas the Columbia disaster signified the beginning of the end of the Shuttles' lifespan. Every other launch was publicized for 2 minutes on the local news while we were at basketball or band practice. The collective dream of spaceflight has become muddled and unattractive.

Some of us, however, never lost the dream, the hope of one day reaching the stars. We are the next generation of astronauts, engineers, technicians, and supporters of a truly radical idea: that we, a race of bipeds, could possibly set foot that shimmering speck above us known as Mars. Such an incredible goal is entirely within our generation's reach. Imagine the wonder of someone born before the famous flight at Kitty Hawk upon learning of John Glenn's voyage. Now imagine the disappointment of one born in 1973 who will not see a lunar landing until he or she lives more than a half of a century. Fifty years, Senator Obama, is not an acceptable respite from a project as monumental as this.

Through my years of education and training, I have come to be an aerospace engineer. I did this not because our society lauded such a profession. No, I chose this path because it was my dream. I was teased and tortured in school simply because I was smart. I was ostracized and ignored because I would rather build a model rocket than light a bottle rocket. Yes, this country can use a boost in education, but without a poster of a space-walking astronaut hanging in their bedrooms, the children of America will inadvertently undermine your investment in them.

So I ask you, Senator Obama, as you continue your campaign for the presidency, to consider the ramifications of one of your lesser-known policies. While improving education is important, it is a fruitless endeavor when at the cost of the manned space program. We do not dream of sending robots to other worlds, much like we do not dream of automating the removal of a brain tumor. We relish in the idea of humanity triumphing in the face of tremendous odds. We need astronauts and rocket scientists, Senator. It does not take a brain surgeon to understand this.

So, I've Decided to Learn Russian

2008-02-08T17:59:00.001-06:00

My good friend Tom pointed me to a USA Today article entitled For NASA, 'The Right Stuff' takes on a softer tone. Boy, did it get me excited. The essence of the article explained that "steely-eyed test pilots" are no longer the desirable astronaut candidate. Instead, NASA is "looking for those who can play well with others in the close quarters of the International Space Station." Sign me up.

The author goes on to explain many of the characteristics a future astronaut might require: some diplomacy, a handle on Russian, a scientific mindset, and familiarity in a machine shop. Well, I like to think that I possess all of those skills, save the Russian part. So, I've decided to learn Russian.

Things are going quite well. I started just the other night after visiting the library for a beginner's course on CD. I can now say, among other things, "I understand Russian well." It remains to be seen how long it will be before that particular sentence is useful to me.

Vote for Space!

2008-01-28T11:04:00.001-06:00

We're all pretty cognizant of the presidential candidates' views on many of the issues: Iraq, the economy, immigration, health care, etc. Indeed, if you don't know their positions, each candidate's website covers these. But there's a problem with this... no one talks about space science or exploration.

The complete neglect given to space exploration is a bit odd for a country founded on principles of expansion and discovery. Yes, there are some important short-term issues at hand, but getting off this fragile rock and learning about our universal surroundings should be something for which we continually strive. Whereas I personally hope human exploration gets a boost — it is, after all, the impetus for this blog — both NASA and private space companies deserve our respect and funding for all kinds of research, with or without the human element.

You can help. As part of the January 30/31 presidential debates, politico.com has offered the internet community a chance to submit and vote for questions to be asked during the debates. Until recently, space-related questions had dominated the "most popular" section. Now, however, dull and already-answered questions have pushed the space-related questions out of the top positions. While the issues of immigration, Iraq, and the economy still hold value, it's time to hear something new out of the candidates' mouths. In short, I ask all of my readers to do the following:

Visit the Politico website.
Click "Vote for Questions Now" and select one of the parties' debates.
Click the "Most Popular" tab.
For every space-related question, be it about NASA or private spaceflight, click "vote for this question."
Repeat from step 2, but choose the other party's debate.

Thank you for taking the time to do this, and please forward this blog posting to all of your friends who you think would care to hear something new and exciting in the debates. If anything else, by voting for space-related questions, you can help put the candidate's on their toes: how much time do you really think they've invested in answering space questions? You can either send your friends the URL in your navigation bar or just click the envelope-with-the-arrow below. Thank you!

Moving On

2008-01-22T20:40:00.000-06:00

You might say that I've "quit." I think I've moved on.

For a number of reasons, I've decided to withdraw from my Engineering Mechanics Master's program. I realize that this action may seem like giving up. In some ways, I suppose it is. But I made the decision with good intentions in mind.

All my reasons intertwine in many ways, so it's hard to say that any one particular aspect has more importance than another.

I'll start with my performance: it was not good. Due to the "unflattering" grades I received in a few classes, another semester got added to my expected graduation date. Having spent the majority of my life in the top academic tier, I found this experience to be personally devastating. I know that I'm better than the grades recorded; that's not to say I deserved higher marks, however. I should have done better, and that leads into my second reason for leaving the university: time.

Working 40 hours a week while simultaneously attaining a post-graduate degree seems to be one of those things I simply can't manage. I don't even think I could have done the same thing in my undergraduate years. In this sense, I have become aware of the sheer amount of will that some others have to complete such a feat. Give me an 80 hour week or a 20 credit semester, but not half of each.

Finally, I have doubts as to whether the information I learned was truly worth its price. The classes offered to me at a Master's level simply did not have the practical value that I expected. Sure, there were a number of things I learned throughout the process, but the combined financial and mental toll didn't balance things out.

I'd like to sign off with a heartfelt expression of appreciation to all of you who have provided support throughout this grad school process. You know who you are: thank you.

Coming soon: the beginnings of the application.

New NASA Website

2007-12-05T10:24:00.000-06:00

Just a quick post today... you may be interested in seeing NASA's new website. I'm very impressed by the updates: new look and feel, better navigation, and hints of Web 2.0 with its social bookmarking links and tag cloud. Well done, NASA. It's a huge step up in my humble opinion.

Not Beauty, but Geek

2007-12-02T22:10:00.000-06:00

You only get one go at life, right?

So this weekend, I decided to take a chance: to apply to be on the show "Beauty and the Geek." It was easy enough; I simply showed up at the casting call at our University's book store, filled out a form, and enjoyed a nice conversation with my interviewers. Apparently, I caught their attention, since they cut the interview short and offered me a callback for the next day. Well, I showed up at the callback and (I hope) rocked their collective socks off. Yes, I'm a geek, but I'm also, I like to think, a pretty likable guy who would portray us geeks in a good light.

If I make it onto the show, here is my promise: to show to the (TV-watching) world that being smart is not a shameful attribute. If I don't make it onto the show, I'll just keep blogging here. Sure, the audience may not be as big, but I like to think of it as a more intimate conversation.

I'll be sure to keep you posted. Until then, geek on!

Crushing Blows

2007-11-12T19:23:00.000-06:00

Rarely in our lives do our eyes rest on something so awe-inspiring that our jaws lie agape. Even more infrequently must we raise our hands to protect our wide-open mouths from rock shrapnel. This past Friday, I had such a moment.

Now, because I signed an NDA, I can't get into specifics. Suffice it to say, I visited a company that produces equipment used in the mining industry. Common sense would dictate that such a company would have test equipment designed to analyze the mechanics of their products. For an entire minute, I could have cared less about numbers indicating forces and displacements: there was a machine merely feet away showering rock everywhere. It was a demonstration that would humble any engineer who is used to using screws as small as those found on eyeglasses and is normally specifying intricate rounded corners on exotic metals. This was steel crushing rock. This was awesome.

Just after the demonstration ended, the little man in my head turned off the giant Inject Adrenaline valve, giving me a few more minutes of gradually-subsiding head rush before I returned to planet Earth. It was at this point that I realized a very important and hard truth. The machine I designed and helped to build needs to do exactly that. The valve re-opened.

It's going to be an interesting couple of months as this project comes to a head. Once my company releases the design to the public (and we get our patent stuff in line), I'll show off some pictures here. You won't be let down.

Where has Brad gone?

2007-11-05T21:09:00.000-06:00

Breathe deeply, my dear friends; breathe deeply. I still exist, and I still wish to become an astronaut. Things, as "things" are wont to do, have gotten a wee bit crazy in my life.

First and foremost, I have decided to bump up my hour commitment at work from 80% (or 32 hours) to the standard 40-hour week. Coupled with my 6 hours of classwork (and associated travel time), my leisure time has taken a considerable hit. Working on the weekends is now the norm rather than the exception.

So why have I decided to take on a hellish schedule? An obvious answer might be money. And while the extra padding in my wallet is nice, the true answer lies in my workload. Put simply, I noticed that my employer needed some extra work from me. Since working hard only gets so far, I offered to work an additional 8 hours each week. I'm still adjusting to the new schedule, but no one ever got anywhere by taking it easy.

In more specific terms, I have certainly been up to plenty of shenanigans. Halloween is, shall we say, an important Madison holiday. Aside from the typical children under 12, pretty much everyone between the ages of 18 and 30 dons a costume. I tend to take pride in making an original costume that is truly unique. This year, I used my basic knowledge of circuitry to make a ghost costume. This was not any typical ghost costume, mind you: it was a Pacman ghost costume. Beneath the white sheets, I wired up both red and blue LEDs to simulate Blinky's in-game appearance. By my side, my lovely girlfriend Marie dressed up as Ms. Pac-man. We were a hit, especially when we chased each other, turning only at right angles.

More recently, I served as a technical judge for a LEGO tournament last weekend. The participants, aged 9-14, displayed some serious creativity and ingenuity. I can only hope that all of us judges imparted some sense of excitement for the engineering field. The world would do well to encourage them in their pursuit of the sciences.

I close this post with yet another example of my perpetual undertakings: my current location. I am presently in Pennsylvania on a business trip. Rather than sitting in a conference room listening to a paper's exposition, I get to assemble parts of my design into a working rock-crusher. And not just any rock-crusher... no, no, no. This behemoth is a prototype for a lunar-based autonomous mining machine. While I can't delve into specifics due to company secrets, let me assure you that you will not want to get in its stone-obliterating way.

It is here that I now sign off. Thanks for reading. I will strive to keep you abreast of my activities on a more-regular schedule.

Lesson Learned

2007-10-13T00:13:00.000-05:00

I promised the readers of this blog some content each day over World Space Week, and I failed. All I ask is that you take it easy on me: I'm very new to this whole blogging thing. So what have I learned? Unless the content is already written or my full-time job is blogging, don't give date-specific promises. Due to Murphy's Law, stuff like work and school are bound to get in the way. Now I've learned.

On a more related note, I will shortly (see how I avoided a specific date? I'm learning!) write about the topics originally intended for World Space Week. These include tangible benefits of the space industry, why we need space science, and looking to the future. I also have a number of other topics I'd like to broach, but I'll save those for later.

Long story short, again I apologize for the broken promises. However, never fear. I still have plenty of material I'd like to share with you. Please feel free to engage in conversation in the comments of each post, whether you agree whole-heartedly or vehemently disagree. Thanks!

Shame

2007-10-08T23:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't get around to posting on Monday. Work and homework and group projects got in the way. So, at the suggestion of a loyal reader, I added some hover comments to the pictures in my previous post. These captions should help out any lost readers.

A Selection of Images

2007-10-07T22:16:00.000-05:00

Instead of inundating you with another eloquent essay regarding space, I will instead offer a few images that I find to be quite beautiful. These are all NASA pictures, so no copyright notices necessary.

Why We Need Space Exploration

2007-10-06T22:41:00.000-05:00

Look up and tell me what you see. OK... bad idea. You're reading this on a computer, and so you're probably indoors. The next time you step outside, though, take a moment to ponder the limitless expanse above us. Assuming no clouds or trees block your view, you are essentially looking in a line trillions of miles long. Moving your head ever so slightly to one side, and you are looking down an entirely different line. Space basically goes forever, and the drive that brought Christopher Columbus to the Americas similarly drives us to venture into the unknown that is space.

If the ideal of exploration doesn't appeal to you, perhaps species survival will. I won't be so bold as to say that we are living on borrowed time, but chances are good that, in the long run, Earth will experience a catastrophic event. Asteroids, comets, volcanoes, and global warming all pose similar threats to human existence. Should something like this occur, the human species would do well to have inhabited other worlds.

Finally, we have the short-term benefits of such exploration. Already, we have seen many tangible benefits of space exploration, including GPS and satellite-based television. I will delve into these in a post later this week. There are many other areas where microgravity and orbiting the Earth may have an enormous impact: chemistry, materials science, biology, communication, the list goes on. Whereas our airplanes can simulate microgravity for sub-minute durations, building equipment in space adds a new dimension to microgravity science.

Yes, exploration is in our blood, as is survival. We also, however, have a giant laboratory above us. It would be a shame for us to forget about it. One of the many mandates of government is to pay for public works: projects that are simply too large of a burden for any single non-governmental entity to manage. As of now, using space exploration is one of these duties.

Astronautic Achievements

2007-10-05T21:02:00.000-05:00

The space programs around the world surely stand on the shoulders of giants. If not for the bravery and determination of the men and women before us, many of the space-related accomplishments that we take for granted simply would not have happened. Following is a short list of some of the most spectacular and world-changing astronauts of this short Space Age.

Yuri Gagarin
While many Americans may know that the Russians put a person in space before the US, they may not know that gentleman's name: Yuri Gagarin. On April 12, 1961, Yuri transformed the Space Age into the Manned Space Age. Oh, and he has a 130 foot monument made of titanium dedicated to him.

Gherman Titov
Mr. Titov is truly an inspiration to me. He was, and still is, the youngest person in space. On August 6, 1961, a 25 year-old Gherman spent just over a day orbiting the Earth.

Aleksei Leonov
Flying free is what Aleksei Leonov did that makes him special. Aleksei became the first person in human history to actually be in space. Without a ship around him, Aleksei spent 12 minutes in the presence of absolutely nothing. He then went on to command the Russian side of the very first US-USSR joint mission.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
We all know these two men were the first to land on the moon. For about one day, they were the only inhabitants of an entire world. Yes, the moon is smaller than the earth, but try thinking of it this way: Neil and Buzz were the only two people on an area larger than Europe, South America, and Australia, combined. Now that's desolation.

Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev, Vladislav Volkov
These three men were the first to inhabit a space station orbiting over 100 miles above the earth. They spent 23 days performing very meaningful scientific experiments that progressed our understanding of extended stays in microgravity. Those 23 days, however, proved to be these men's last, as their returning spacecraft accidentally vented all of its air during descent, suffocating the cosmonauts.

Bruce McCandless II
What Aleksei Leonov did, Bruce McCandless took to the next level. On February 7, 1984, Bruce became the first person to be completely freely floating in space sans tether. Utilizing a maneuvering unit that he helped design, McCandless ventured into the void of space on his own and came back, twice.

Yang Liwei
Proving that Russia and USA were not the only nations interested in spaceflight, China put Yang Liwei into orbit aboard the Chinese-designed and Chinese-launched spacecraft Shenzhou 5. Despite mission parameters that hearkened back to the US Gemini and Russian Vostok missions, Yang's flight on October 15, 2003 signified the entire world's desire to do what the US and Russia had been doing for decades: exploring the limits above us.

Mike Melvill
Melvill's mission was simple: get to space and come back. On June 21, 2004, he became the 443rd person to do so. Melvill, however, did this aboard a privately-built, privately-funded, and privately-launched spacecraft. No longer are the US and Russia in a race to get to space. The space race is now in the hands of the private industry.

I'm sorry to report that all of these record-setting astronauts are men. Yes, I could have listed the "First Woman in Space," but I think that belittles the issue at hand. Women simply haven't been given opportunities to beat out the men. Perhaps the first person to set foot on Mars will be a woman.

Twice Over, or Happy Birthday Sputnik

2007-10-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

Fifty years. That's the entirety of my life, twice over. Eighteen thousand two hundred sixty two days have passed since Sputnik I advanced the human race from mere aviators into explorers of the infinite. What, precisely, has happened to us in the intervening years?

We have, I'm sorry to say, lost our ambition for space. I'm told that Americans in the late 1950s became awestruck at the faint radio signal emanating from Sputnik's antennae. There was a palpable sense of national urgency to "beat the Russians." That spirit began its ascension with the creation of NASA, continued with the rock-star-like Mercury Seven, and climaxed with Apollo 11's landing on the Moon. It took only twelve years to go from Russia's first step into space to America's first step on the Moon.

Since those days, however, the idea of space has faded into obscurity. Despite repeated launches over the years, the names and visages of today's astronauts, cosmonauts, and taikonauts are completely invisible to the public eye. Why do we continue to give copious amounts of screen time to the likes of Paris Hilton and Flavor Flav? Instead, it seems that the only requirement for attention to space activities is loss of life.

My intent is to break this mold. The first step for me is to publicize my astronaut application process through this blog. Once selected for duty, I will continue updating this blog, but I will also try to reach out to the most important people in the space program: children with dreams. They are responsible for the next fifty years. I hope that by the time my body is accelerating at a terrifying pace towards the dark void of space, the world will once again look up in awe. Garnering a scant 15 second clip on a cable news station would be a greater failure than not making it into the astronaut program.

OK. Time for me to get off my soapbox. I encourage you to read tomorrow's entry, where I will pay homage to some of the past astronauts.

Coming Up

2007-10-01T23:21:00.000-05:00

This Thursday, October 4, marks the beginning of World Space Week. As a result, I will share a post with you each day. Get excited!

Tact

2007-09-26T00:12:00.001-05:00

I hope it seems obvious that I would like to reach as many people as possible on this blog. I'd like to reach the NASA employees responsible for deciding the fate of my application; I'd like to reach young students to show them that we geeks can achieve great things; and I'd like to reach anyone who has even the slightest admiration for the heavens above.

In all this reaching, I'm sure some of my coworkers will stop by this site. It is for them that I write this particular post. It is for them that I wish to be tactful.

I love my current job; I really do. Truthfully, I enjoy working with the peers and superiors that I see every day. I do not go out of my way to find better employment, but when something with the title "Astronaut" comes up, I hope they do not fault me for applying. Precious few opportunities like this come about in our daily lives. I have no intention of missing this one.

First Week

2007-09-23T18:04:00.001-05:00

I am sore. Lots. After months of doing little to keep my body in shape, this request-for-astronauts has definitely lit a fire under my... well, you know. Basically, instead of playing video games, watching movies, and refreshing digg, I've been working out. Twice this week, I went to karate practice and twice I've gone bicycling. It's not much, but it's a start. Over the next few months, I'll explain why I'm doing this. I'll also keep you up-to-date on my workout schedule, but that's more for my benefit.