[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 5 - 09:52:41 ]
Today's panel discussion will be MODERATED. This means we will post a few questions in the room at a time for our experts to answer.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 6 - 09:53:52 ]
DON'T WORRY if you don't see your questions on your screen immediately. We will post new questions for our experts every few minutes.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 7 - 09:55:00 ]
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[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 8 - 10:02:23 ]
Hello and welcome to today's NASA Quest/Classroom Connect panel discussion.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 9 - 10:02:53 ]
And now, here are our experts to answer your questions.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 15 - 10:06:15 ]
RE: [Oran/NASAChatHost] And now, here are our experts to answer your questions.
Good morning! I'm Diane McMahon at Johnson Space Center in Houston and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 16 - 10:07:17 ]
RE: [MrsHestersClass] 2. How do you eat in space?
Very carefully...because if you don't your food will float away. Or your drink for that matter. The shuttle astronauts have a pretty good diet of prepared foods to choose from as well as everyone's favorite, M&Ms. Shrimp cocktail, juice bottles, and other small trays similar to frozen food packages are favorites as well.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 17 - 10:07:54 ]
RE: [MrsHestersClass] 2. How do you eat in space?
This is a fun question. As you probably know, everything floats in space - even droplets of water. For this reason, food is packaged in containers so that nothing escapes. You may have seen astronauts having some fun letting M&M candy float in space and then capturing it in his/her mouth! The astronauts can select the food they take on a mission with them. That way, they're sure of having food to eat that they like.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 18 - 10:10:16 ]
RE: [MrsHestersClass] 4. Is it fun working with NASA?
YES! I'd recommend a career with NASA. It's exciting to be working with science and engineering breakthroughs that end up as "ordinary" everyday things. For example, the super-strong plastics in tennis rackets came from the need for them in space, and the design of jogging shoes comes from the boots designed to walk on the moon.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 20 - 10:11:26 ]
RE: [Ashton] Tracy, what exactly do you do?
Well, I am currently working on processing some of the first experiment hardware bound for the International Space Station. You can read about my work group at this web site: http://www-ss.ksc.nasa.gov/UTILIZATION/DEFAULT.HTM. I'm an electrical test engineer, and to answer another question, yes, my job can be very fun. I get to power up experiment hardware in specially designed test stands at the Kennedy Space Center to make sure the experiment is going to get the proper power and data signals needed to work correctly once it gets in orbit.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 21 - 10:11:30 ]
RE: [MrsHestersClass] Dear NASA, We have a load of questions: 1. How big is an average moon crater?
Gosh, I don't know. I do know that it's possible to see some of the craters with the naked eye (which means without a telescope), so they must be fairly large.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 29 - 10:14:31 ]
RE: [MrsHestersClass] 3. What is the average distance between to galaxies?
Well, I don't know offhand. But if you try the web site of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/, they have lots of information on studies of Earth, of our entire solar system, and of as much as we have seen of the rest of the universe.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 30 - 10:14:32 ]
RE: [MrsHestersClass] 3. What is the average distance between to galaxies?
That's a good question and a distance could be answered by an astronomer. I know that galaxies are many light years apart. A light year is described as the distance light from the sun travels in one year. At 186,000 miles per second, that's a LONG way!

[ TracyGill/KSC - 31 - 10:16:10 ]
RE: [Randy] How big is the Iternational space Station
A thorough fact book exists at this site http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/index.html. But it will be about 350 feet by 300 feet and weigh over a million pounds when completed.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 32 - 10:17:52 ]
RE: [Randy] How big is the Iternational space Station
When the Space Station is fully assembled, it will be 359 feet wide end-to-end. Its length is 290 feet and weight is 470 tons. (Of course, we know that weight "goes away" in the vacuum of space.) The Space Station is a cooperative project between the U.S., Japan, Russia, Canada, Europe, and Brazil.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 33 - 10:18:26 ]
RE: [David/WMS] Dear Tracy Gill, what type of degree is needed for your job?
Any type of engineering degree. We have some math and physics majors as well. And medical degrees are becoming important for the life sciences studies we are doing to learn more about living in microgravity for longer periods of time. Most people have bachelor's degrees. Some of us have Master's degrees, and there are a few PhD's roaming the halls here at KSC too.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 34 - 10:20:22 ]
RE: [KayLeeTerra] Diane,Do you need a college p. h. d. or education?
I'd say the minimum education for anyone, KayLee, is a bachelor's degree. Beyond that, it depends on what field you're interested in entering. Actually, I think there are also people working at NASA who don't have a college degree but who do have technical certificates - in such areas as drafting, computer programming and things like that. If you want to go into research, a Ph.D. is usually a necessity.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 37 - 10:22:27 ]
RE: [Nate] what is the vomit comet?
The "vomit comet" is a KC-135 aircraft stationed at Ellington Air Force Base near Houston's Johnson's Space Center. It can simulate microgravity for about 30 seconds at a time at the top of a large climb and fall flight path. The feeling is similar to what you get when an elevator first starts to drop down, and for a fraction of a second, you feel like you are floating. Inside the plane, people test out small experiments to proof a concept and simply start to gain an appreciation of what it feels like in microgravity.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 38 - 10:22:33 ]
RE: [Nate] what is the vomit comet?
Hi, Nate - You asked about one of my favorite subjects. The "vomit comet" is a NASA plane that does parabolic dives to simulate a gravity-free environment. A parabolic dive could be described as when the plane climbs steeply and then goes into a steep dive. During the dive, the zero-gravity effect lasts for about a minute. It's called a "vomit comet" because some people get sick to their stomachs--and you can guess the rest! I've flown in it one time and thought it was great fun.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 41 - 10:27:10 ]
RE: [Peter] Mr.Gill, could you tell me what was the strangest piece of hardware you worked on?
I'm not sure strange is a word I'd use to describe this, but something close was the Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility, called TEMPUS (a German acronym). TEMPUS melted small samples of metal in a chamber and used magnetic control to "contain" the sample in an observation chamber. The metal was melted and then resolidified in an effort to allow the metal to form into its more natural state outside of the influence of gravity to gain a better understanding of its nature. The TEMPUS experiment hardware flew twice on the Spacelab.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 42 - 10:27:46 ]
Our thanks to all of you for your patience as our panelists answer your questions as quickly as they can.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 43 - 10:28:55 ]
RE: [ITV] How many countries are participating in the construction of the International Space Station
There are sixteen countries. Ones that quickly come to mind are the US, Italy, Germany, Russia, Brazil, and Japan. All of them could be found in the ISS fact book at this site: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/reference/index.html

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 46 - 10:33:23 ]
RE: [Brian] Hi Diane, How do you get different kinds of payloads into the Cargo Bay? What was the most challenging payload to work with? Did you work on the big mast from the mapping mission?
Hi, Brian. There are several ways to get payloads into the shuttle cargo bay because the shuttle was designed to be a very versatile spacecraft. The Multi Purpose Logistics Module is a new design and will be used for space station flights; several pieces of payload hardware are loaded into the MPLM which is in the shuttle cargo bay. The MPLM will go from the shuttle to the Space Station and the cargo will be unloaded. Currently, sometimes a Spacehab or a Spacelab is used for launching payloads. These are specially designed to fit in the cargo bay area. If the payload is very large, it is directly secured to the cargo bay. Remember that the cargo bay is closed during launch--so the item does have to fit inside. That is why some of the space station components are being launched partially assembled. No, I didn't work on the MAST. No space station payloads have been launched yet, so I can't say, yet, that any particular payload has been easier or more difficult to launch. There are some challenging payloads to be launched in the future, however.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 47 - 10:34:27 ]
RE: [Brian] Hi Diane, How do you get different kinds of payloads into the Cargo Bay? What was the most challenging payload to work with? Did you work on the big mast from the mapping mission?
Hi Brian, I can offer you a little bit of information about the mast on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The folks in my office did the assembly and ground testing of the SRTM at KSC. It was one of the most complicated payloads ever to fly on the shuttle. However, we did not deploy the mast in any of the testing because it was only designed to be deployed in microgravity. When it was being built at its manufacturer's facility AEC-Able, it was deployed using specialized equipment that helped to support it under the influence of the Earth's gravity. We did not have any facility at KSC that could accommodate that specialized equipment, and since it had already been done, we did not deploy it again at KSC. As you saw, it worked perfectly on orbit. The mast was over 200 feet long once deployed.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 52 - 10:36:46 ]
RE: [Peter] Mrs.McMahon,what did you job as pre-flight instructor really mean? What did you do with the astronauts?
Hi, Peter. When I worked as an experiment support scientist, my job included training the astronaut crew on performing my experiment. We had a mock-up of the spacelab in Building 36 here at Johnson Space Center that we used for training on the Neurolab mission in 1998. A mock-up means that it's a very realistic copy of what the crew actually uses when they're on their mission. For missions to the Russian Mir, I trained a few of the astronauts using flight-like hardware but placed in an "ordinary" room. For the Mir experiments, I did some crew training in Star City, Russia, as well as here at JSC. I felt especially lucky when I was given the opportunity to train Senator John Glenn for his STS-95 flight.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 53 - 10:40:09 ]
RE: [Ellen8_CrestonMiddleSchool] Dear Mr. Tracy Gill, How much training did you have to go through to be in the position you are now? How hard was it?
Well, I have a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida (UF) and a Master's Degree in Space Systems from the Florida Institute of Technology, and I am finishing up a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering from UF now. I've done all my Master's work since I have been on the job at NASA, so all I first needed was the Bachelor's degree. I took on the Master's degree to keep bettering myself and to understand more of the things around me. But once you get a job, the best training in my opinion is work experience. School gets you in the door, but then you have to work to make the best of it. School is challenging, and but when you finish it, your every day work can be challenging a well. And as I'm sure you already know, it does require hard work to be successful. As far as other training goes, we regularly get short duration training classes at work to augment our skills as well.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 54 - 10:41:24 ]
RE: [Peter] Mrs.McMahon,you have led a fascinating life. Did you ever want to become an astronaut?
You bet! If I were starting 20 years younger, I'd definitely target it. We're learning that age isn't necessarily a barrier to being an astronaut (think of Senator John Glenn and Shannon Lucid, who are both over 50). By the way, did you know that Shannon Lucid holds the record for the longest American stay in space? She did an excellent job as a crew member onboard the Mir a few years ago. Every now and then, I see her in our building. The next time I spot her, I'm going to ask to shake her hand! One final point - from what I have seen, being an astronaut is a very demanding career. Although it's very glamorous, it's also very hard work!

[ TracyGill/KSC - 55 - 10:43:16 ]
RE: [Barbara8thgrade_CrestonMiddleSchool] Tracy Gill, How can someone in a school system get a special project aboard the shuttle?
I'm not sure on the details of this, but if you want to know, I would suggest starting at this site http://www.nasa.gov/kids.html. We have flown some school experiments on the shuttle, and I'm sure we'll be doing that on the Space Station as well.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 56 - 10:43:49 ]
RE: [AshleyWMS] Diane, How does being a woman effect your job? Some people at my school are affraid that they won't be able to work for nasa related project because of this.
That's a good question, Ashley, and one that's easy to answer. I haven't ever seen any evidence that there's a difference between what men and women can do at NASA. We truly are a team and we work together as individuals. No female--or male--should hesitate to undertake anything because of her/his gender! In my own field, there are both men and women doing it.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 60 - 10:46:46 ]
RE: [jackie] How are astronauts selected
There is an application form to complete and a process that takes place every two years to select a class of astronauts. Usually, NASA receives 4,000-5,000 applications and a series on panel reviews and personal interviews whittles the number down to about twenty who get selected in each class. There is a lot more information about this process and the current members of the astronaut corps at this site http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/public/astronauts.html

[ TracyGill/KSC - 61 - 10:49:59 ]
RE: [Jenninfer/WMS] WHY did you pick your job? and DO you like doing what you do?
I picked working for NASA because I was always interested in the space program. I believe it is important to enjoy your work. I would rather do a job I enjoy than something I did not even if that other job might make more money or might exist in a more exotic location. I think I made the right choice because, yes, I do like my job.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 64 - 10:54:04 ]
RE: [jackie] How are astronauts selected
I don't have full visibility into how astronauts are selected, Jackie, but I'll tell you what I know. Usually, people who are selected have very good educations and are in excellent health. I don't think perfect eyesight is required, however. My understanding is that both physical and psychological/aptitude screenings are part of the selection process. There are people who are selected for a specific flight (payload specialists) and people who belong to the astronaut corps (mission specialists). Mission specialists can fly numerous times, whereas payload specialists usually have one flight opportunity. There are also people who are designated as pilots within the astronaut corps. Sometimes people are payload specialists first and then gain entry into astronaut corps training.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 65 - 10:54:27 ]
For those of you leaving us, we once again ask that you visit our NASA QuestChat Information Center at http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats and use our online surveys to send us feedback. We look forward to hearing from you!

[ TracyGill/KSC - 66 - 10:54:46 ]
RE: [AshleyWMS] Does your description mean that you actually go into space for the iss work or do you relay your work from here? What exactly does your job deal with?
Ashley, in my work, we do all our work on the ground at Kennedy Space Center to make sure things go smoothly once the payload hardware is in orbit. It is much easier and cheaper to test and troubleshoot problems on the ground where we have all the test equipment and tools we want, and all the experts are in place to make sure everything is working properly. This is much better than the alternative of launching faulty hardware that requires an astronaut to try to repair something without specialized tools or experts in place to help him or her.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 67 - 10:54:48 ]
RE: [Caitlin] Diane, Can you really build models of DNA with M&M's with zero gravity?
I don't see why not, if the M&M's can be held together! Sounds like a fun way to visualize science.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 68 - 10:57:33 ]
RE: [AshleyWMS] How often do you get to see your families? Do they live there with you?
Almost my whole family is in Florida so I get to see them fairly regularly.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 72 - 10:58:28 ]
RE: [KayLeeTerra] DIANE HOW MANY COMPUTERS ARE IN THE SPACESTATION?
I'm sorry, I don't know the number. The quantity is being closely managed to be sure that there aren't more on orbit than needed. Volume is very limited on the space station and the need for every item that goes up is carefully assessed.

[ dianemcmahon/jsc - 73 - 10:58:57 ]
I'm really enjoying this but I have to log-off now for my 1:00 meeting. It was nice chatting with all of you.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 74 - 10:59:59 ]
RE: [dianemcmahon/jsc] I'm really enjoying this but I have to log-off now for my 1:00 meeting. It was nice chatting with all of you.
Diane, thanks so much for joining us today. We're glad you could be part of our panel discussion and look forward to chatting with you in the future. Have a good day.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 79 - 11:07:11 ]
RE: [KayLeeTerra] DIANE HOW MANY COMPUTERS ARE IN THE SPACESTATION?
Hi KayLeeTerra, I can help you a little with this question also. There is a simple answer. Lots of them. Just like in some households, you could now have what we could call computers in your watch, your TV set, and your car in addition to the family computer. On the Space Station, we will have laptop computers in different parts of the space station. There are computers that run the software that operate the life support and station keeping software that run the space station. These computers are actually robust, space flight qualified 80386 computers. 80386!? Yes, this is the same type of "386" computers most people had four or five years ago, but it takes several years to refine a computer to make it worthy to endure the environmental rigors of space flight. Finally, experiment hardware, the Russian modules, and the Canadian robot arm for example will also have their own specialized computers. And all these computers have to interact properly to enable the Space Station to operate. So you can see why we do a lot of testing here on the ground at Kennedy Space Center to make sure things work once they get assembled on orbit.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 80 - 11:09:13 ]
RE: [Randy] How many people will be on the Iternational Space Station?
Initially three later this year, and it will house up to eight eventually.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 84 - 11:12:53 ]
RE: [Peter] To both Mr.Gill and Mrs. McMahon:Are there any problems that standard equipment(computers,for example) face when expose to microgravity,increased radiation etc?
Yes, radiation in low Earth orbit is a significant challenge. The Earth's atmosphere protects us from the majority of this radiation on Earth. But in orbit, computers can have memory resets, meaning a bit of data can change from a "1 to a "0" due to radiation. Most computers can be radiation hardened to help prevent this. That is an expensive but often necessary process to prevent these resets. Sometimes however, is the hardware isn't that critical, like a PC card which slips into a laptop computer. They will just bring a spare or two in case the first one is affected by a problem like this.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 85 - 11:14:17 ]
RE: [KayLeeTerra] TRACY, HOW MANY FLOORS ARE IN THE SPACE STATION?
One floor but 4 walls on each floor. There will be six modules, and each will have racks on all four walls since you can access all four walls floating around in microgravity.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 86 - 11:14:56 ]
RE: [Katrina] Dear Tracy, Have the astronauts in space ever run out of food?
No, they make sure to bring plenty each time. I sure would.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 89 - 11:16:24 ]
RE: [Ginny] How many years will it be before the public can go to a Space Station?
No one is certain, but I would guess 5-10 years before public access to space is allowed. It will be very expensive at first like all things when they first come out. But as it becomes easier and competition increases, the price will come down.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 90 - 11:17:26 ]
RE: [Rhoda] How soon after one launch can they launch another one?
Three weeks between flights of different shuttles currently. We're working to improve that.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 91 - 11:18:26 ]
RE: [AshleyWMS] Tracy, what happens if something unexpected goes wrong when checking all the hardware and power related equipment?
We fix it. We make sure things are safe, and then we start the process of trying to figure out what the problem is and how to take care of it.

[ TracyGill/KSC - 98 - 11:20:40 ]
RE: [StPats] What is the hardest time during a space shuttle launch,flight,re-entry or landing
There is more stress from the pull of gravity on the shuttle and the crew during the re-entry and landing phase. I believe they experience 5 times the pull of Earth's gravity during re-entry and only 3 times during launch. Well, I've enjoyed chatting with you all today. I need to run to get back to work. Take care and good luck.

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 99 - 11:22:14 ]
This concludes today's NASA Quest Space Team Online/Classroom Connect panel discussion with Tracy Gill and Diane McMahon. We would like to thank everyone for joining us today, and extend our thanks to Tracy and Diane for sharing their career expertise with us. THANK YOU, TRACY AND DIANE!

[ Oran/NASAChatHost - 100 - 11:23:28 ]
As a final reminder, visit our NASA QuestChat Information Center at http://quest.nasa.gov/qchats and use our online surveys to send your comments about today's panel discussion to us.

[ Brian/ClassroomConnect - 101 - 11:24:46 ]
Thank you Diane and Tracy! If you want to talk with other students about what you learned today, visit Classroom Today's Message Board! http://www.classroomtoday.com/messageboard

[ MrsHestersClass - 102 - 11:25:19 ]
We apreciate hard workers like you. I's fun learning about you and your job. From, Mrs. Hesters Class

[ Peter - 103 - 11:25:19 ]
Mr.Gill thank you very much for joining us. You have done a very nice thing. Goodbye and thank you again.