Laurie

I am also interested in the performing arts and I am a member of my school's choir. Along with seven other classmates we are starting a magazine that will be distributed throughout my school district. I am also a member of my school's Robotics Team.

This summer (besides going to the launch) I worked at a microbiology manufacturing company. I worked on a robot that will be added to the packaging assembly line. The robot was designed to put a piece of absorbent paper in each package to eliminate condensation caused by the product. It was a project that I had worked on for a month the summer after my eighth grade year. At that time, I began programming a prototype. I worked until I had to go back to school. After that, the company moved and the robot was put in storage. I spent the next summer doing most of the tests for quality control for the product. The two main products that I tested were anaerobic culture media (petri dishes), and anaerobic transport medium. I measured the pH of both products and grew test organisms on the petri dishes, checking that they would be able to grow under standard conditions. This summer when I returned, I took my old project out of storage and tried to pick up where I had left off. I first improved the program of the robot that I had created two years before. There were a lot of errors that I found with it. Then I helped redesign the robot to fit within the confines of the packaging line. The next step was to draft the design on the computer. Just as summer was once again drawing to a close, I finally began building the new robot and receiving help with the things I did not have time to do alone. I found that everything seemed to take much longer than expected. After wiring the robot, I was ready to reluctantly turn over my project and go back to school. Currently, it is almost ready for action. The whole experience for me was extremely rewarding in knowledge of both technical skills and of the work world.

This summer I was also selected to join the Young Women of NASA Advisory Council. Our purpose is to promote interest in young girls towards space and science careers. We went to the Kennedy Space Center to view the launch of STS-93, commanded by Eileen Collins. We also attended a pre-launch conference that included many events such as a panel discussion with women in aerospace fields, a tour of the Kennedy Space Center, viewing the crew walk out, and so many more exciting things. At the conference, I met many distinguished women, all who were incredibly talented and friendly. Overall, the conference was very inspiring and I feel that I have learned a lot from it. Unfortunately, there were complications during the first two launch attempts, and I had to go home before we saw the launch. Though I was a little disappointed about missing the actual launch, I thought the trip was fun and exciting with everything else that happened. I am looking forward to possibly viewing another launch. You can read more about these experiences in my STS-93 Launch Adventure.

As a member of the council I work on the Women of NASA web site with the other girls to bring our ideas to the project. The purpose of the web site is to interest and inform young girls about space, science, and technology careers. The Advisory Council section of the site will include journal entries of our experiences, pictures, video clips, interviews, and other projects that we do in the future to give our perspectives on NASA careers. I am looking forward to sharing my interests in space, science, and technology and now I have a chance to do that with the Young Women of NASA Advisory Council.

I recently went on another exciting trip to Johnson Space Center where we spent time with astronauts: Commander Eileen Collins, Dr. Ellen Ochoa, and Mission Specialist Yvonne Cagle. We also toured the astronaut training facilities and Mission Control. There is lots more to tell about that trip so please read my Adventure to Johnson Space Center.