SHPE - Conference 2007 - (Page 44)

H I S PA N I C H E R I TA G E Space Travel Continuously Shooting for the Stars “In life, I always try to do something more meaningful than the last time, to rise to positions of higher responsibilities and achievements,” said Michael Lopez-Alegría, a veteran astronaut of four NASA space flights. He recently reached the pinnacle of his career when he was named the Commander of Expedition 14, which took him and his two-person international crew to and from the International Space Station (ISS) on a Soyuz spacecraft. His tour on the ISS began mid-September 2006, and he returned in late April 2007. Lopez-Alegría’s assignment to NASA began in August 1992, and with each new assignment, he has fulfilled his rise in responsibility and achievement. At the Johnson Space Center, he was the Astronaut Office’s technical point of contact for many Space Shuttle project elements. As a crew representative at the Kennedy Space Center, he assisted in orbiter processing issues and provided support for launches and landings. He was named NASA Director of Operations upon completion of his first space flight on the STS-73 Columbia in 1995 and served at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia. Following his second space flight mission aboard the STS-92 Courtesy of NASA Michael Lopez-Alegría, a veteran astronaut of four NASA space flights, recently completed an 11-month tour on the International Space Station. Discovery in 2000, Lopez-Alegría headed the ISS Crew Operations branch of the Astronaut Office. He became the technical assistant to Johnson Space Center’s Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office following the completion of his third space flight aboard the STS-113 Endeavor. Citing spacewalks as his specialty, Lopez-Alegría’s completion of five such 1970 Mission Accomplished One of the most defining moments in the NASA career of Lazarus Gonzales Jr. occurred on April 13, 1970, when an explosion aborted the Apollo 13 mission two days after it launched. Gonzales was a member of the team tasked with computing maneuvers in real time for getting the astronauts back to earth safely. As a return-to-earth specialist at the time, he was responsible for creating documents using logic programming to identify what solutions for each phase of every mission were available. As a result of Apollo 13, an abort document was created. Gonzales was in charge of policing the documents. A 1965 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in aerospace engineering, he has been at NASA his entire career. Gonzales helped Lazarus Gonzalez Jr. develop entry guidance and landing techniques and procedures for the early Space Shuttle missions and was a lunar orbit insertion abort specialist during the Apollo missions. Currently, as NASA’s Flight Design and Dynamics Division’s “flight safety czar,” he is a computer systems administrator. Courtesy of NASA spacewalks on Expedition 14 helped him reach another milestone: holder of the U.S. record for number of spacewalks achieved. He also holds the U.S. record for spaceflight duration with more than 215 days for a single flight. Lopez-Alegría, who was born in Madrid and raised in California, has a B.S. in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.S. in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in National and International Security. Unlike his peers, Lopez-Alegría said that becoming a NASA astronaut was not a childhood dream of his. Already a military pilot, the goal to become a NASA astronaut was instilled when he enrolled at the Naval Air Test Center as an engineering test pilot and program manager. In test pilot school, he said that he was immersed in the mix of technology, military and aviation and realized the possibilities before him. “That’s when it became a passion for me,” he said. Having achieved the highest responsibility from a flying and space operations perspective, Lopez-Alegría said he is looking forward to his next achievement. I SHPE R Conference 2007 44 Courtesy of NASA

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SHPE - Conference 2007

SHPE - Conference 2007 Contents President’s Letter From the Vice President Calendar Browser The Top 10 Interview Questions A Federal Case for Education Reform Managing in the Multi-Generational Work Force Ahead of Their Times: An Engineering Progression The Place to Innovate Management Growth Training Executive LeaderSHPE Institute Programs & Services Welcome Letters Highlights Conference Schedule STAR Awards Company of the Year Professional Adelante and Student Chapter Awards Speakers Professional Development Strategy SHPE Academic Olympiad AHETEMS Design Competition Morgan Stanley Web Coding Competition The Ultimate SHPE Challenge Technical Paper Competition Pre-College Symposia Graduate Program Tours Hospitality Suites Advisors Workshop Quick Guide Workshop Descriptions Sponsors and Career Fair Exhibitors Hotel and Convention Center Maps IPC Update Regional Roundup Advertisers Index Inner Circle Employer Profiles

SHPE - Conference 2007

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