I am Familiar with Different Systems

I'm not an expert on any particular system, and I know one or two systems better than I know others. But there are many different systems on the shuttle. Some examples are the hydraulic system, the electrical system, the landing system, and many more. I am familiar enough with all of those systems to know how problems may affect the shuttle operationally when there is a problem that has been identified by flight controllers or the ground operations people down at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

We are Interested in Knowing about Problems

We in the astronaut office are very interested in knowing what those problems are, when they may occur, and what the engineering community is doing to rectify those problems. So it's my responsibility to follow those issues and make sure my astronaut boss is kept up-to-date. If his boss comes around and says "Hey, Rick [Searfoss]. What about that fuel cell? Do you yet know why it failed? What are the engineers doing, testing-wise, to solve that fuel cell problem?" he is going to want to be able to provide an answer. So, when we have a problem like that, I get really busy.

I Get Involved in the Beginning Stages of the Process

When the engineers have an idea of the way that we can improve a system and the development of a new piece of hardware, I get involved in the beginning stages of that process. For example, a few years ago the auxiliary power unit (APU) needed to be redesigned. Designers discussed and worked on the unit for two or three years before any hardware was ever built. I participated in a lot of meetings leading up to the implementation of the new APU's into the shuttle.