Who I Am

"Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself - and thus make yourself indispensable." - Andre Paul Guillaume Gide.

Howdy, my name is Jennifer Jones and I just started working for NASA Johnson Space Center in January 1997. I am a Co-operative Education student from the University of Illinois. That means that while I am still in college, I will alternate semesters between working here and taking classes at the U of I. For the next few months, instead of learning about physics and aerodynamics in the classroom, I get to experience their applications first-hand at JSC! If you want to find out more about the cooperative education program here, or just see some cool pictures of my friends, you can visit our web page at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/coop/.

What I Do

This semester I am working in the Flight Dynamics and Design Division. The people in this division determine the shuttle's trajectory - the path that it flies around the Earth. We tell the shuttle when to burn the engines in order to move the orbit to where we want. This is important because the shuttle may need to move in order to avoid debris - "space garbage." Also, we may have missions where we need to rendezvous with another spacecraft like the Hubble Space Telescope, or the Mir Space Station. In order to help keep track of the shuttle, our division has three positions in the Mission Control Center. The Flight Dynamics Officer and Trajectory Officer are responsible for trajectory control in all three stages of flight - ascent, orbit, and entry. The Guidance and Procedures Officer works with the execution of crew procedures and proximity operations - like when the pilot must maneuver the shuttle very close to a satellite or to the Mir.

Influences

When I was in third grade, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on launch. At the time, I was very upset that something terrible like this could happen, and since then I have known that I wanted to help design the spacecraft that send people into space, and do everything I could to make it safe and prevent another tragedy like the Challenger. It doesn't seem so long ago that I was in Mrs. Dodd's fourth grade classroom taking timed math tests. At first I hated when she would hand out the papers with about 50 math problems on it and then start her stopwatch. I always got so nervous, and tried to work really fast, but I didn't usually finish first. But with a little practice of my multiplication tables and other math problems, I didn't have to worry so much about the tests. After that, I used to enjoy the challenge of trying to get all the problems correct, even if I didn't finish first. Looking back, I feel fortunate to have had so many teachers throughout school that encouraged me in math and science, and helped me to work up to my full potential.

Personal Information

Growing Up in Rock Island, Illinois

I grew up in Rock Island, Illinois, which is located three hours west of Chicago. My hometown is on the Mississippi River where it forms the border between Illinois and Iowa. For a little trivia - this is the only place where the Muddy Mississippi flows east to west. Until I moved to Champaign to attend the University of Illinois, I lived with my mom, dad, and my sister Lisa who is 17. This year my family also has a foreign exchange student from Belgium named Olivier staying with them. When I am home, we all love to do things together outside like riding our wave-runners on the river, or playing tennis. I also love to play the piano, eat pizza, and look at the stars.

When I was younger I changed my mind many times about what I wanted to do when I grew up. At one time I wanted to be a magician like David Copperfield and would put on magic shows for my family. Then I decided to become a veterinarian and practiced on my friends' stuffed animals.

During my four years at Alleman High School in Rock Island, Illinois, I played varsity tennis and ran on the track team. I also participated in many other activities such as the Drama Club and National Honor Society. I kept very busy, but I always made time for events such as math tournaments and competitions of the Junior Engineering and Technical Society. When I graduated, I knew I wanted to study aerospace engineering, so I chose to attend the University of Illinois. There I have met many people who have encouraged me to work towards a position in the aerospace industry.

Living in Houston, Texas: 80 Degrees in January

Now I live in Houston, and I am still trying to get used to the idea that it can be 80 degrees in January. If I was in Illinois, I would probably be snow skiing at this time! I'm not complaining, though, because I really love it here. I have made lots of new friends from all over the country, and we always have a great time. Thanks to them I bought a new pair of roller-blades and now we play roller-hockey every week. We also take trips (New Orleans during Mardi Gras was a blast!), go camping (in February on the beach!?), do indoor wall-climbing, and watch movies. (We were first in line for the new release of Star Wars!!!)

What I Like About My Work

As I mentioned earlier, since grade school I have wanted to design and fly spacecraft, and to help make those voyages of exploration into space as safe as they could possibly be. Now that I am actually here at JSC as part of the team, I can see what a tremendous task that actually is. It does take a whole team to fly a successful mission, and I am excited to be a part of the action.

I love it here so far. I am part of a great team at Johnson Space Center, and we work with people from other Centers in order to make each shuttle mission a success. I used to regret that I wasn't able to work at NASA during the great Apollo Era when men were walking on the Moon. I thought that those years must have been the most exciting of this century. Now I realize that new chapters are continually written in the history of space exploration. I wouldn't trade my time here now for anything, because who would want to miss these coming years of continued shuttle missions, space station assembly, and possibly human exploration of Mars! The universe is filled with wonderful opportunities, and as an engineer in the space program, I am prepared to open more doors for the future. Forceful dreamers and brilliant thinkers have brought us to the edge of a new frontier. Each day finds us a step ahead of the last, and I look forward to adding my own indispensable leap for mankind.