If you like Joanne Loves Science, you can thank Alan Alda
If you have the time, watch Alan Alda (of MASH fame) talk about his role on Scientific American Frontiers, a science TV show that ran from 1993-2007. (BTW, the audiobook version of Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I’ve Learned
In a way, we have Alan to thank for the inception of my website/blog ‘Joanne Loves Science’ and my foray into social media.
My “Dream Job”
Several years ago, as I was standing in front of a section of my “Cell Culture and Concepts of Tissue Engineering” lab class at the University of Illinois, I introduced a video segment from Scientific American Frontiers with Alan Alda. In this program, Mr. Alda traveled to numerous laboratories across the world to inquire about their research, bringing the audience along with him. He figured if the scientists could make their research understandable to him, then the general public would understand it, too!
To my surprise, the sentence “He’s doing my dream job!” tumbled out of my mouth.
Wait a minute!
Inside the International Space Station Control Room
I have attended a few NASA events, including the last shuttle launch and the launch of MAVEN. I visited Johnson Space Center in May 2013, tweeting images and thoughts from my visit. The image above was seen by Jennifer Welsh at Business Insider and included in a post, with my permission.
“Joanne Manaster, a biologist at the University of Illinois-Urbana, tweeted this image of the mission control room that runs the International Space Station.
In the picture, you can see a video link into the station, the video feed from an outer camera on the station, and the station’s route, which you can also find online. Look at all those screens — four each!
You can see the Flight Director, who monitors the technical aspects of the space station’s flight in real time; the CAPCOM, who is the capsule communicator that talks directly to the astronauts on the space station; and the MOD, the mission operations dictorate, who plans, directs, manages, and implements overall mission operations.“
I also saw a retired Soyuz capsule, a mock up of the International Space Station used to train astronauts and some mock-ups of the new Orion capsule that will be our next vehicle to take humans back and forth to space, and with any luck, they will also go to Mars.
If you ever have an opportunity to go to a NASA Social, I highly recommend giving it a chance. It will help you look at our space program with a more informed eye, and every space news story will come alive in your mind.
10 years ago Social Media, Space, Travel, Uncategorized • Tags: Business Insider, Control Room, Houston, International Space Station, ISS, Joanne Manaster, Johnson Space Center, NASA, NASA Social, Orion