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Meet: Adam Dershowitz
International Space Station Flight Controller
Attitude Determination and Control (ADCO)
NASA Johnson Space Center
My
Journals
Who I Am
and What I Do I am a flight controller for space station Attitude Determination
and Control (ADCO). This means that I am responsible for making sure that
the space station is where we want it to be, and that it is pointing in
the direction that we want it to point. Every command that is sent to
the space station is done by following a procedure, so these days I am
helping to develop some procedures to follow and I also write some software
and other tools that we flight controllers can use to help understand
what the space station is doing at all times. I have worked here, at Johnson
Space Center (JSC), for about a year and a half now. I came to JSC to
work on the Interim Control Module of the space station. This module was
built in case the Russian Service Module did not dock with the International
Space Station (ISS) like it should. Now, since there was a successful
docking, I have started working on other ADCO tasks.
Career Journey
After I graduated from Stuyvesant High School,
in New York, I went to MIT. This was a really exciting place to be. I majored
in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, since I have always loved
airplanes and spacecraft. I just could not get enough of MIT, so I not only
stayed and got a master's degree, but I also stayed and got my doctorate
degree. At that point, I stayed on at MIT and did some postdoctoral work.
I finally left to come to work at JSC. For my master's degree thesis, I
worked on airplane ice detection. I have two patents for that research.
Then for my doctorate thesis, I worked on sending weather information up
to airplanes, and how pilots make decisions resulting from that information.
After that I worked on a few different things as a post doc, including a
robot that can wear a space suit to test how the suit would affect an astronaut
who is wearing it. While I was at MIT, I also taught several classes and
seminars. I love to teach things to other people.
Growing Up
I grew up in New York City. New York is a really
fun place because there are always things to do and something is always
going on. But I also enjoyed going to upstate NY and spent many weekends
and summers there. While there, I was able to hike and swim in the summer
and ski in the winter. While growing up, what was most important to me
were the people around me. I am very close to my family and am still friends
with many of my friends from back then.
I always wanted to fly. The first thing I did when
I got my learner's permit to drive a car was drive out to Teterborough
Airport, in New Jersey, where I took an introductory flight in a Cessna
152. It was a few years before I was able to pursue it any more, but I
got my pilot's license when I was about 20. Since then I have added a
bunch of ratings, so I am now a flight instructor, and can fly gliders
and multi-engine airplanes, as well. I don't get to fly as much as I would
like to, but I do have some fun now and then flying aerobatics. I do still
do some flight instructing, but not enough to keep me happy.
My Family
My parents, my sister, and my cousins still live
in NY, while I live in Houston. I don't get to see them as much as I would
like to. But Houston is a good city, with some fun things to do. My girlfriend
and I like to eat out, and there are many fine restaurants in Houston. I
have one pet, a ferret named Buddy. He likes to get into anything that he
can, so I have to warn all my guests not to leave their bags or purses around,
unless they don't mind having a few things stolen.
Future Plans and Goals
The other exciting career event that happened recently is that I had an
interview to become an astronaut. Although I have not been selected, just
having the week-long interview was pretty exciting. Maybe I will have
better luck the next time I apply.
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