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Meet: Wendy Whiting
Assistant Branch Chief, Airborne Astronomy Missions
NASA Ames Research Center, Mt.View, CA
What I do (asked
in 1996)
As the assistant branch chief of the Airborne Astronomy Missions Branch at NASA
Ames, I am responsible for various management tasks, including planning for deployments,
leading technical projects, working out operations schedules, etc. I also fly
on Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO) research flights as a mission director.
How I got to where I am
I have Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy from the University
of Massachusetts, Amherst. Right after college I worked for Yale University, assisting
in the compilation and editing of the Bright Star Catalog. From there, I went
to work for the Air Force Geophysics Lab, as a data analyst for their Airborne
Ionospheric Observatory, a KC-135 aircraft equipped with atmospheric sensors.
This got me hooked on airplanes. My next job was with ITT as a programmer/analyst.
By this time I had heard about the KAO and had decided I wanted to work at Ames
on the KAO project. After a couple years of establishing contacts here, sending
resumes, etc., I was finally hired by one of the KAO support services contractors
as a computer operator. Then in 1990 I was hired by NASA as a mission director.
In March of last year, I became an assistant branch chief.
My motivation
Personal motivations for the career path I've chosen have been a) my interest
in science and the desire to work in a scientific research environment and b)
my interest in airplanes. The job I have with NASA allows me to combine these
interests.
Goals for next year
- Successfully plan and execute the upcoming KAO expedition
to Australia, during which we will observe the collision of Comet Shoemaker-Levy
9 with the planet Jupiter.
- Work with the KAO engineering staff to complete the development,
installation and testing of a new tracking system on the KAO.
- Work closely with the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory
For Infrared Astronomy) development team, the planned successor aircraft to the
KAO.
- Take a vacation!
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