Meet: Patricia Currier

Who I Am and What I Do
My name is Patricia Currier, but most of the time, I go by Patty (the old-fashioned spelling with a "y" at the end). My offical title at Kennedy Space Center is payload scientist, which, I found out when trying to impress my family, does not mean a whole lot to people who don't work for NASA. So I will try to explain it better. I work with scientists from colleges and universities around the world to help them fly biology experiments aboard the space shuttle. I help them analyze what they want to do and figure out ways to do it. If I am lucky, the scientist already has some idea, but most of the time, we are starting from ground zero. I like that too--I love puzzles.

I am working on the Astro/PGBA-02 mission for STS-83 (Astro Plant Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus, that is!). This is a new thing for me, because it is about plants in space, and I usually do cell cultures. I am pretty excited, as long as I don't have to eat the spinach and mini-cabbages that they will be growing! The best thing is that most of the planning for the experiment is already done. The engineers and scientists have worked together to build the machine that will house the plants in space, so I don't have to do anything about that this time. I will try to help the team smooth out connections to the many NASA groups working on the shuttle mission, and I will assist the team from the University of Colorado in their laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. I am also working on two other plant experiments, more cell culture experiments, and some developing fish and sea urchin embryos-- all experiments that will fly on the shuttle someday, but not soon, I hope. I'm too busy!

There are lots of things that you can do on Earth that you can't do in space. For example, if you shook a vial of water and sand, you'd let it sit until the sand settled and then remove the water to separate the two. In space, things don't have weight or density, so procedures have to be different. I have to figure out ways of accomplishing the same goal, but through different ways. I work very closely with engineers who build and maintain the automated machines that we use to hold the experiment. A big part of that is to make sure that the goals of the scientist are not overlooked just because it is easier to design something a different way or something is forgotten.

On the same hand, I represent the engineers, too. Many scientists don't know how the system works, and I help bridge the gap between the two, making things easier and well understood by everyone. I design and run tests to make sure that the biology experiment and the hardware are compatible, and help run the actual experiment when the teams start to get ready for the shuttle mission. It can be hard work, because often, if you get a small problem in the system, you've ruined a few years of work, wasted a lot of money, and lost your shuttle opportunity. So we go through an awful lot of testing.

THAT is the exciting part of my job. Most of the time, I am sitting at my computer, talking on the phone, or sorting through paperwork. I have to make sure that safety issues are taken care of, fill out forms for using radioactivity, make lists of chemicals and supplies that we have to buy, make schedules, change schedules (think of me the next time you hear about a launch slip--I'm the one pulling out my hair!), and coordinate events between a lot of people. The best comparison I can make may be like a wedding organizer--the person who makes most of the arrangements and gets yelled at if the roses aren't the right shade of pink. I go to an awful lot of trouble to know exactly what kind of "roses" are wanted, and are being provided.

My Career Journey

In college, I really couldn't decide what I wanted to be. First I was a pre-med, then an unofficial chemistry major (organic chem put an end to that!), then went to biology, and finally, biopsychology. That is, the study of the brain and nervous system. I thought I wanted to get a Ph.D. in it, but wanted to work for a few years to make some money. I got a job in a bone lab at NASA in California (I grew up and went to school near Boston), and my job has been continuing to evolve ever since. I decided a few years ago that I didn't really like doing the research as much as I liked to plan it, so it's a good thing I waited on starting a doctorate program. I got involved in bone cell culture, then started helping to develop shuttle flight hardware with the bone cell culture engineers. Eventually, I got moved from beautiful San Francisco to Kennedy Space Center.

Influences/Advice

I don't feel bad about not having a job in the field of my college major, because I think college is more of a process of learning how to do things, both in teams and independently, than it is about the books and exams. Don't take this as license to slack off--grades are important--they show commitment and an ability to learn.

The best thing that ever happened to me was learning how to read. I was taught by my grandfather when I was a baby. Even though he died while I was young, he gave me a treasure that will last longer than my lifetime. I want to encourage everyone to read every day. And pay attention in English class!

It is probably the most important subject you will ever have. If you can't communicate effectively, you have nothing.

Personal Information

I remember when my sister and I used to tease my mother about turning thirty, and I can't believe that it is going to happen to me this year. I am trying to look on the positive side though. Mr. Not-Half-Bad has not arrived on the scene yet, so I am still single (which my married friends say is a lucky thing for me!). I live with my two cats, Fridge and Duchess, who I talk about just as much as my friends talk about their kids, so we are pretty even on that score. I am working on an MBA at night school, and am now thinking about going to law school when I'm done. I can kind-of speak French, and have recently been trying to learn Russian from those audio tapes that you play in your car. I guess I like learning new things as much as I like to have fun. My desk is ALWAYS messy, and my friends at work are always harassing me to clean it up. Like that will ever happen! I keep hoping that the good fairy of cleaning will come along and stop by my apartment along the way.

I love to cook, although I don't have much time for it lately. My specialties are baked things, like coffee cakes, croissants, cheesecakes, and scones. Whenever I bake, I seem to find a lot of friends. Hmmmm. I love reading cookbooks (I have over 250 of them), and am thinking about writing a cooking column. I think I might style it like Dave Barry's newspaper column because I have a similar type of humor, but the column will tie in different recipes. I am a Jane Austen nut (read one of the best books ever written-- Pride and Prejudice!) and think that I was born 150 years too late. But then again, with my luck, I'd have been the maid scrubbing out the chamber pots instead of the Elizabeth Bennett or Scarlett O'Hara character. I guess I'm better off working with NASA in 1997.

I think that's basically it. I like to participate in projects involving students, but have never done it on-line before. It's a little scary, because you know about me and can see my picture, but you are completely unknown to me. So write and tell me about yourself, or ask me questions. I promise to make the time.

Archived Chats

• June 28, 2000
• September 30, 1999
• May 19, 1999