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Posted by Jacques van Oene on November 20, 2005, 4:47 pm
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November 18, 2005
Dwayne Brown/Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1726/1761)
Kylie Clem
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(281) 483-5111
RELEASE: 05-411
FIRST HISPANICS JOIN NASA'S MISSION CONTROL TEAM
The first person of Hispanic heritage to lead Mission Control is
working shifts as a flight director for the International Space
Station at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. Ginger Kerrick
completed more than 700 hours of training and began active duty in
September.
Fellow Hispanic flight director Richard Jones is in training. He will
be first Hispanic to lead space shuttle teams when flights resume.
Leading a team of flight controllers, support personnel and
engineering experts, a flight director has the overall responsibility
to manage and carry out shuttle flights and station expeditions. A
flight director also leads and orchestrates planning and integration
activities with flight controllers, payload customers, station
partners and others.
Since the beginning of America's space program, only 58 individuals
have directed human spaceflight missions. The Flight Director Class
of 2005 is the second largest ever appointed and the most diverse.
Kerrick earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas. During her master's studies,
she worked as a summer intern and a cooperative education student at
Johnson. Her first permanent assignment was at Johnson in 1994 as a
Materials Research Engineer. Kerrick was the first non-astronaut
spacecraft communicator.
"Today's students will be able to participate in a unique opportunity
that we haven't seen since the Apollo days," Kerrick said. "By the
time they get out of college, we will be on our way to the moon and
Mars. They will be able to do something really different than
low-Earth orbit, which is fun, but not as dramatic as going beyond,
including somewhere that we've never been before."
Jones is a summa cum laude graduate of Texas A&M University with a
bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. He began his NASA career
in 1988 at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., as a cooperative education
student in the Vehicle Engineering Directorate. After graduation in
1991, Jones joined Johnson as entry analyst in the Flight Design and
Dynamics of the Mission Operations Directorate.
Jones said he is eager to face the challenges of being a flight
director as NASA expands its scope of exploration. "It will be an
honor to be sitting in the Flight Director seat and directing the
operations that take us to the Moon and beyond," he said.
NASA embraces diversity as a leadership philosophy and management
practice. The agency is committed to advancing a workplace culture
that promotes open communication and encourages new ideas and
perspectives to achieve the Vision for Space Exploration.
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/home
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
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