Matthew Baustert...

I was born and raised in Okarche, Oklahoma (pop. 1,100). Yes, even small town folk can work for NASA. I grew up working on the farm and I got my hands in on anything that did not involve sitting down. I enjoy hunting, fishing, baseball, basketball, football, soccer, ultimate, softball, golf, racquetball, ping-pong, running, hiking, and SPACE! I graduated with a class of 40 students from Okarche High School in 2002. I am currently a senior at OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY working towards a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Norm Chaffee Engineer and Jerry Elliot retrofire officer during Apollo 13

There are several ways to get a job at the Johnson Space Center; you can follow the application procedures outlined on this website, your school may hold a career fair that JSC human resources representatives come to, or you might get your foot in the door by starting in another JSC educational program (like me!). Really, all it takes is a little luck and a lot of hard work and determination. I got my foot in the door when I was accepted as an Oklahoma Space Grant NASA Intern. As an intern I got involved in everything possible and got to know as many people as I could. The pay-off came when I applied and was accepted into the co-op program.

Mark and Matthew at Big Bend

Are you wondering if you should take off school to co-op? You might lose your lab partners, roommates, scholarships, and graduation schedule.but none of that would matter if you knew just how awesome co-oping is! You cannot beat this work experience. If you really want to work for NASA, think no more, just do it.

Matthew and Astronaut Mike Fincke

Your first co-op tour might seem a bit overwhelming, but you can handle it. Your main worry might be finding a place to stay. Don't fret, the co-ops maintain a housing guide that is continually updated. Anyone in the co-op office can track down a copy of the housing guide for you, just email them. If this is your first tour, and you do not know anyone living in the area, my advice would be to live in a house (it is much like a family taking in a foreign exchange student). In most cases it is cheaper, and it is definitely more convenient than trying to find an apartment. When choosing a house from the guide, try to pick one that is furnished, has internet, and is no farther than 10 miles (or 20 min) from JSC. If you need to find a place quick, call and email (do both, not just one). Living in a house with someone who is from the area is a great way to get to know your way around. After your first tour, you may want to move into an apartment with a group of friends. If you are the social type, I would suggest moving into the Regatta. Several co-ops live there every semester, and it is often the happening place. After you decide on where to stay, you need to think about what you are going to bring. This depends on where you are staying (furnished or unfurnished). Usually, you should just bring the essentials, you know what they are. You will wear dress clothes almost every day to work, but you still need casual and athletic clothes. Try to pack light so moving in and out is easy. Some things that you should definitely bring are.an old baseball glove so you can play on the co-op softball team, a sleeping bag and tent for camping trips, your soccer stuff, swimming suit, basketball, tennis racket, umbrella, and computer. If you forget something, don't worry, Houston has Wal-mart too.

Flying the Shuttle

"I work for NASA".It's more than a pick-up line, it is the experience of a lifetime. As an intern I worked on the Crew and Thermal Systems Division, Life Support and Habitability Systems Branch, Advanced Life Support Air Revitalization Systems Team (aka EC3 ALS ARS). On a side not, there are a lot of acronyms floating around here and the only way you are going to learn them is to continually ask."What does that stand for?" If you are too shy to ask, quit being shy.or write down every acronym you hear and go look it up on acronym central on the JSC homepage. On the ARS team I learned all about air revitalization technologies of the future. Currently on the ISS, carbon dioxide is removed from the cabin and vented into space. Oxygen is produced by burning oxygen candles or by water electrolysis. When water electrolysis is used, the hydrogen gas produced along with the oxygen is vented into space. The ARS team is working on several technologies to reuse the wasted gasses and form a closed loop system. Along with several other things, I was put in charge of the buildup of a CO2 collection and compression system which utilized a cryocooler and the fact that gasses expand and contract due to temperature. When I was accepted as a co-op, I was able to work on the Avionic Systems Division, Electronic Design Branch, Mini-AERCam Team. I learned and wrote Very High Speed Integrated Circuit (VHSIC) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) for the Spartan-3 and Virtex-4 Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The code was used to detect when errors occurred in the devices during radiation testing. I got to travel to the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF) to perform radiation testing on several devices including a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) board, imager board, wireless access points, DC-DC converters, and FPGAs.

YIPPIE

Team Zero Degrees!!!

One great thing about working and not going to school is, when you're done with work for the day, you're done. There are no homework problems to solve or tests to study for. So what are you going to do with all that spare time? There are TONS of things to do. Try taking trips to Austin, San Antonio, Galveston, South Padre, and Mexico. Try tubing down the Guadalupe, camping in Big Bend, and experiencing Mardi Gras. Try playing softball, basketball, ultimate, broomball, and soccer. If that isn't enough for you, go ice skating, catch a movie, play those old board games you forgot about, go rock climbing at the Texas Rock Gym, lift some weights, or run a 5k. No matter what, get involved, stay active, meet people, and have some fun. GOOD LUCK! If you have any questions, email me at matthew.baustert@okstate.edu!