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 Growing
up on a farm in Nebraska, the nights were dark and the
stars were bright. I read everything I could find on
space, planets, stars, galaxies, and the universe. My
favorite magazine was Science Digest. I bought my first
telescope when I was 15 and especially loved Meteor
showers. I always hoped that one day, I would get a
chance to participate in space exploration.
Just
as in the John Denver song, Rocky Mountain High, I moved
to Colorado in the summer of my 27th year, coming home
to a place I d never been before . I became a Quality
Inspector for Martin Marietta, now Lockheed Martin,
and enrolled in the University of Colorado - Denver.
As my education progressed, I was allowed to move into
increasingly challenging positions. I now have a degree
in Electrical Engineering and additional classes in
Telecommunications and Math. I have worked on many space
missions, including Galileo to Jupiter, Magellan to
Venus, Cassini to Saturn, and Mars Observer to Mars,
as well as both Atlas and Titan rockets. Several Mercury
manned space flight missions were launched on Atlas
rockets and all of the Gemini manned space flight missions
were launched on Titans, built here in Denver.
For
the past 15 years, I have worked in the Training environment,
a field I enjoy immensely. I have taught NASA, Air Force,
Contractors, and LMA Employees about Titan and Atlas
rockets, including Launch Control Systems, Vehicle Test
Language, Electrical and Avionics Systems. I have also
taught Skills courses, Electronics courses, Math courses,
and Telecommunications courses. I tutor math at Green
Mountain High School on Thursday evenings to share the
knowledge I have acquired.
For
the past 15 years, Lockheed Martin Communications Department
has sent me to elementary, middle, and high schools
to represent the company and speak to kids about space
exploration and working in the space industry. Being
a Solar System Ambassador has allowed me to visit even
more schools and touch more minds. I am now a regular
guest lecturer at University of Colorado at Boulder.
I am truly blessed to have a family and an employer
that allow and encourage me to share my knowledge and
excitement about space exploration, and our industry.
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