Priscilla Celaya...

I'm Priscilla Celaya, a junior and an ME major at the University of Houston. I am a local Houstonian. Although I have lived in Houston most of my life, I have lived in Mexico for about 2 non-continuous years, learned how to read, write, and speak Spanish while there. I am a dedicated Salsera, currently in a dance group that performs all over the U.S. & internationally. When co-oping, school and dancing don't keep me busy, I hang out with my friends, watch movies, swim and my dog takes me for walks. (No, REALLY he does.)

My wonderful adventurous NASA tale:

OK, so besides working at one of the coolest places in the world, the best thing is that I get to flirt with all the cute astronauts! Yeah, yeah I'm lying. So I got to NASA initially through my high school co-op program. I worked in Human Resources (HR) at the customer service desk, where I learned the basics of the professional "office life" and even taught myself to type.

The cool thing about NASA is that you get to meet some terribly IMPORTANT and wonderful people, a crucial factor in my returning to NASA. While in HR I supported student programs such as the Texas Aerospace Scholars (TAS), which was fun, cause not only did I get to go on several tours (even ones that Space Center visitors don't get to go on) on site and see what kind of experimental evils they are harboring, I even got to be in Mission Control to witness the launching of the airlock, STS-104, at 4am!

After my contract expired, I continued at NASA under the ETC Program, but I had to quit 2 weeks into my new position, which REALLY tore me up. I had bitten off more than I could chew, a full load of school and a part time job. So off to college I went. However, I came back 2.5 years later as a summer intern.

I must say that the people here at NASA are eager to help you pursue your dreams in any way they can. When I returned to NASA in the summer of 2003 under a clerical summer program I worked in the Automation, Robotics, and Simulation Division. Thanks to my mentor and supervisor who rescued me from boring office-paper-pushing, I got to do some real engineering "hands on" stuff in the robotics lab. I worked on a project called the Auto-Tracking Computer Visual System where I was evaluated how accurately a camera measured distance from a given point is space. I was the test conductor who ran the experiments, collected data, processed it, and reported the results. It was awesome to be in the middle of an experiment, and then all of the sudden to see a robot the size of Johnny-5 roll in through the doorway!

Now I am an official co-op, this is my first tour-spring 2004-and I am in the EVA & Spacesuits Systems Branch of the Crew and Thermal Systems Division of engineering. I love this place! I get to work on the next emerging model of the spacesuit-the MarkIII. Currently I am working on 2 major projects: testing and evaluating a Heads Up Display system, which is a communication system to be used inside the spacesuit, and I am helping conduct tests to research making the life-support backpack of the spacesuit lighter and more efficient.

As a co-op, we get to go on lots of tours such as the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL), the Advanced Space Propulsion Laboratory (ASPL), the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle mock-ups and simulators, the several robotic arms, and Ellington Field, to name a few. Not to mention, in the past, some FORTUNATE co-ops ran into Tom Cruise & Penelope Cruz on their first day of work because they were onsite filming for a documentary. During this year's SuperBowl (2004), Aerosmith came to NASA to do some filming and to pay a tribute to the Columbia heroes, and I got to see him!

All-in-all NASA is a wonderful place to work, learn, and start exploring what awaits you after college graduation. Oh and, not to mention, we know how to HAVE FUN! Houston has lots to offer when it comes to going out and having a good time. The Co-op life is incredibly active and exciting; I mean there is something planned almost every night and weekend. And when you get tired of Houston (good luck!), then there's the surrounding cities and of course traveling. Last summer I went to Puerto Rico for the World Salsa Competition and Salsa Congress. Two other co-ops joined me; we stayed a week, and had the time of our lives! We like to go on weekend road trips, hit up Austin to party on 6th street, go to the River Walk in San Antonio, and celebrate MardiGras in New Orleans. I will leave it at that, but the possibilities are endless.

Perks of working at NASA: the NASA meatball (logo) looks REALLY good on a resume, you get some good experience, other people automatically think you have straight access to Mission Control (some co-ops do) and the space shuttle, and last but not least, people will instantly become your best friend because they think you can get them a job there. Cheers!

So yeah, you need to apply to the NASA Co-op Program and experience all this madness we are talking about and more. If you have any questions at all, want some insight on the job, feel free to email me at pcelaya64@yahoo.com.

Ciao!