[ Linda/NASAQuest - 0 - 09:38:27 ]
Welcome to the October 2 chat with Lonnie Moffett. Please read Lonnie's profile at http://quest.nasa.gov/space/team/moffett.html before joining the chat so that your questions will reflect his occupation.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 1 - 09:39:58 ]
Don't miss the Classroom Connect lesson helps. See the main Classroom Connect STO page at: http://quest.nasa.gov/space/events/cc Click on the Classroom Today link.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 2 - 08:19:32 ]
Thank you all who have already placed questions into this chat room. I can see them even though they do not show up on your screen. We will be chatting live with Lonnie Moffitt in about 1/12 hours. At that point the questions will be posted to the chat room.

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 4 - 09:55:50 ]
Lonni Moffitt is online early, so if you're out there with questions, let us hear from you.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 9 - 09:58:14 ]
Hello, my name is Lonnie Moffitt and I have worked in the Astronaut Office for the past 10 years as a support engineer to the astronauts. Currently, I am a manager of approximately 35 engineers who support the astros. I am very happy to answer any questions that I am able to.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 11 - 10:04:12 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] What exactly do APU's do?
Hi Mr. Thomas. APU actually stands for Auxillary Power Unit. We have 3 APU's on-board the Shuttle that supply hydraulic power to the vehicle. This power operates any of the mechanical devices such as payload bay doors, elevons, and ailerons, etc used to fly the shuttle in the atmosphere. Each APU is a turbine which operates on liquid hydrazine (a very caustic fuel) and turns a shaft at about 72,000 RPM. There is a gear reduction box on each APU which reduces this torque to about 3,500 RPM. Each of the 3 APU's are "in charge of " one hydraulic system. It is really a delight to work with the astronauts. You get to know them on personal basis and become real good friends. Some of my best friends are astros. They are a really smart bunch of folks and very good at what they do. I especially like working with the military pilots. I guess my strongest subject in school was mathematics and my weakest was English.

[ TimMcCollum - 12 - 10:06:10 ]
Charleston Middle School, Charleston, Illinois signing on. Good morning Mr. Moffitt. We'll have our questions in a few moments.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 13 - 10:08:50 ]
RE: [Brian] Lonnie, You're career profile is amazing - you've done so much! I'd like to first ask if you could share one or two of your favorite (or most exciting) events in your career.
Hi Brian...I guess the most fun thing I have had would have been just about 3 or 4 weeks ago. I got to go to the Kennedy Space Center and be with the STS-106 crew when they were practicing their countdown for their mission. I got to go up and walk around the shuttle on the pad and go into the big part that covers the payload bay and look into the payload bay with the crew. We were in 'bunny suits'. I also got to be with them when they trained driving the M113 tank, which they use to escape the launch pad in the event of a needed evacuation. I got to ride in the tank...that was a blast.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 18 - 10:13:22 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] What did your office mate say space is like?
Nick...my office mate was Scott Altman...You probably saw him fly F14's in the movie TopGun. Tom Cruise was in his backseat. He is a great guy and a good friend. He flew on STS-90 and then again on STS-106 as the pilot on both occasions. He says that flying in space is a real experience. The feeling of total weightlessness is something that is totally awsome and cannot be described. He said it was really cool to sleep weightless or as we say, "in zero g".

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 19 - 10:14:31 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] Did you always like math when you were in school?
Yes, Nick, I always did like Math in school and I was blessed with some awfully good and dedicated math teachers. As a matter of fact, I taught math in public schools for a number of years back in the '70's.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 20 - 10:16:08 ]
RE: [Cindy] I ahve aquestion here I need to know all the scientists involved in the Sojourner Rover mission and the role the played in it! please reply as sson as possible.
Cindy, I am sorry that I cannot oblige your request here. The Sojourner is not something we here at the Johnson Space Center had anything to do with. I suggest you e-mail someone at the Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) out in California....good luck.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 25 - 10:19:09 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] What did you do on the Gemini program?
When I first started working in the space program in 1965, I worked in the Gemini program. As a young mathematician, I was involved in radar data reduction. We received radar readings on launches and put them through a series of computer programs to produce various kinds of reports for the smart guys to look at. That was a very exciting time for me when the space program was still in its infancy.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 26 - 10:20:41 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] What is your daily job?
My daily job now consists of taking care of the group of engineers who work for me. I am consantly trying to hire and replace engineers who decide to move on to other jobs for one reason or another....for the life of me, I cannot figure out why anyone would ever want to leave the astronaut office.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 29 - 10:23:16 ]
RE: [Lloyd] Did you have any part in the challenger mission?..
Lloyd, I actually was not working on any Shuttle related stuff at the time of the Challenger mission. I, like most of the folks here at JSC were totally numb when it happened, just like the rest of the country. I knew many folks who knew the crew. This whole area was in a state of mourning. Our space program ground to a halt for a while until we could figure how to keep that from ever happening again. We feel like we have a very safe vehicle for our guys to fly in now compared to the Challenger.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 30 - 10:25:45 ]
RE: [Nicole] What would happen if there was a problem on the spaceship that you never experienced before -you weren't able to see it- you weren't on board the ship? Would they send you and another team in another ship?
Nicole, that is a very good question...one that we hope we never have to find out the answer for. We do have many many contingencies planned for all kinds of problems that could arise. However, there is absolutely no way we could ever know ALL those things out there that could hurt us. I can tell you this much...if something like that were to happen, everyone in this program would pull together and find a way to save the crew...whether it were a rescue mission or something else....

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 32 - 10:27:35 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] Is inside a spaces shuttle very confusing?
Nick, yes, inside the space shuttle could be very confusing to someone who steps into it for the first time. However, our astronauts are so familiar with all the switches and buttons that they could find one instantly when needed. It is pretty impressive with the computers and the displays.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 36 - 10:32:08 ]
RE: [Kristie] What was it like working at Johnson Space Center during Apollo 11 and 13?
Hi Kristie, working here at the Space Center during Apollo 11 was like nothing you could imagine. Everyone here was on the edge of their seats just like the rest of the country. What a thrill it was when Neal Armstrong set foot on that big bright globe in our night sky!! Just to think that a human being did that is still unbelievable. We were all so happy to have a part in that...no matter how big or small it was. As far as Apollo 13 was concerned, we were all really concerned for days and days...everyone had a worried look on his or her face but the best minds in this business were at work in the simulators here at the Space Center finding a solution to the crew's problems....EVERYONE WAS SO HAPPY WHEN THEY LANDED SAFELY!!!

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 37 - 10:33:53 ]
RE: [jamie] wha did you contribute to the appollo 13 mission.
Hi Jamie...I was working in a group located in the building next door to the Mission Control Center at the time. I guess my contribution during that was that my group was working feverishly supplying telemetry data to the smart guys in Mission Control so they could figure out how to go about saving the crew.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 39 - 10:37:00 ]
RE: [Kristie] What do you think it would feel like being up in space?
Kristie, I think that being in space would be like no other experience or feeling we "earthlings" could imagine. How wonderful it would be to do it....even just one time...my astronaut friends tell me it is a memory that is video taped into their brains. The feeling of zero g, the awesome sight of our blue planet from so far out, the lightning they witness...and on and on....wouldn't you like to see all that? I know I would...

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 40 - 10:38:29 ]
RE: [Lloyd] How old were you when the Apollo mission launched?
Lloyd, I am guessing you mean the first Apollo mission in 1967. That would have made me a young man of about 25 years of age. I was 27 when we landed on the moon with Apollo 11.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 42 - 10:41:35 ]
RE: [MrThomasStudentNickK] What do you like best about your job?
Nick, I think the thing I like best about my job is my close affiliation with the astronauts. They are great folks to work with and to be friends with. I really like being involved so directly with the space program and being right in the middle of it, so to speak. I cannot think of anything else in this whole world that I would have rather done than work in the space program. I enjoyed the years I spent in the classroom teaching youngsters like yourself but this has been a great experience for me.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 44 - 10:45:33 ]
RE: [JRod] How did the Soviet Union come up with an Orbiter design that is so similar to ours? It almost seems like the engineers ignored the politics of the cold war and may have been working together to create a reusable space craft.
JRod, It is rather unusual that the Soviets came up with the Buran which looked just like our Space Shuttle. Lots of folks here in our space program had that same question. As you probably know, our shuttle program has not been under a cloud of secrecy. The Shuttle was developed under the watchful eyes of Americans all across this country. It was on TV and in newspapers and in all kinds of magazines. It was not particularly difficult for the Russians to design an aircraft like ours...There were some big differences inside but the outside looked like ours.

[ LonnieMoffitt/JSC - 46 - 10:52:05 ]
Nick, Kristie, Jamie, Lloyd, Brian, Cindy, Nicole, JRod... You guys sure asked a lot of really good questions. I hope I have answered your questions to your satisfaction. I don't know everything there is to know about the Space Program or the Space Shuttle but I have been around a long time and have been a good listener and have picked up a lot of stuff over the years. I love our Space Program and as you can guess, I love working in the Astronaut Office. You all continue to be good students and never stop asking those questions...about everything...not just the Space Program...

[ Linda/NASAQuest - 47 - 10:52:20 ]
Thank you for joining us today. And thanks, Lonnie for answering the questions.