LIFE AT NASA
Through the Eyes of Rachel Edgerly

MOI

At the Neutral Buoyancy Lab with Evan

My name is Rachel Edgerly and I am a senior in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. When I'm at school, I work for the Vice President, recruit students through Engineering Ambassadors, love playing intramural sports (especially soccer), and am even on Homecoming Court. I also enjoy reading, camping, traveling, speaking French, and Sudoku.

Road to NASA

So I'm sure you’ve heard the story a million times: interest, interview, job offer, move. However, mine is different. Anne came to UC for a Career Fair and emailed me saying that she would like to interview me. It was my first interview for a co-op job and I was very nervous. My university is very proud of our co-op history and I was worried that in the competitive job market I would never get a job offer. I don’t have a perfect GPA but I am pretty involved in school so NASA was interested. The interview seemed to take my entire lifetime but apparently it wasn’t as bad as I originally thought. About a month passed before I had an interview with another company. I had 2 interviews with them and they offered me a job. It was an exciting opportunity but working at NASA has been my dream since before I can remember. So I called Anne to tell her that I had received another offer and was contemplating accepting it. However, Anne wasn’t there so I had to leave a message. I scheduled a meeting with my advisor for the next day to discuss my options. While I was with him, my phone rang. It was an unavailable number and I hardly ever answer those but my advisor said it might be Anne so I picked it up. And it was! I accepted her offer and the rest is history!!!!

WORK WORK WORK

Molly and Me with Chris Kraft

I did my first two tours back to back and worked in the same group both tours. I worked for the Command and Data Handling (CDH) group of the International Space Station (ISS) in the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD). The group's MCC (Mission Control Center) handle is ODIN (Onboard Data Interface Networks). I learned a lot about the ISS and the processors that run it. I am not much of a "computer person" but I really enjoyed it. I have access to MCC and was in there pretty regularly. I have sat at the real-time console and observed regular days on the ISS, shuttle missions, and spacewalks. As a flight controller in training I was reading, sitting in on simulations, taking classes, and taking knowledge tests. I also had some projects. To name a few, I did a lot of work on my group's website, reviewed procedures for a software update, reviewed and updated a section of the console handbook, and certified displays for use on console.

I did my third tour in EC5. This is the Crew Survival and Space Suit Branch. My main task was a trade study on Emergency Breathing Systems for crew survival. It was an interesting first experience in engineering. I enjoyed the in depth look I was permitted through my trade study. I got the opportunity to complete many other tasks as well. I provided mass and volume estimates for the Constellation launch and entry suit. I assembled hypothetically "spare kits" and provided mass and volume estimates on those as well. I even got a taste of testing when I added some crew survival life jacket evaluations to the end of another co-op's test. Near the end of my tour I was given the opportunity to work on the operations side of my group. I helped set-up some testing for the overglove that is now worn during extravehicular activities (EVAs) to protect the thumb and pointer finger from cuts. I participated in crew evaluations and even got to put my hands in astronaut Peggy Whitson's gloves.

I spent my final tour in EC5 as well. An officemate of mine during my third tour was involved in projects that I found very interesting so I stayed with my group but changed my projects. I worked on technology development for the life support backpack worn during EVA. It was a whirlwind tour and I thoroughly enjoyed my varied tasks. I was co-test lead on a prototype system that removed carbon dioxide from the ventilation loop of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS). My other big task was a trade study on particulate contaminant control in the ventilation loop.

Overall, my co-op experience made me a more effective and confident engineer.

With the Co-op Soccer Team

FREE-TIME!!!

There is plenty of fun stuff to do here in Houston! I am on the co-op softball team and am the captain of the co-op soccer team. Not into sports? That's ok, there are plenty of other things to do. I have been to Galveston Beach, Space Center Houston, the Houston Auto Show, the Contemporary Arts Museum, New Orleans for a weekend trip, an Astros game, shopping at IKEA, the theatre, and an AIAA dinner. There are also a lot of fun bars to go to if you are of age. Houston is just like any other big city-full of stuff to do!

Contact

If you have any questions about what it is like working for NASA or how to get here, don’t hesitate to contact me through my school email (edgerlrd@email.uc.edu)