Nathan Payne...
The who, what, when
Who I am.
This is Nathan Payne, and I'm a co-op at Johnson Space Center. It's a long way from home being here in Houston as I was born and raised in Evansville, Indiana. For the first times in my life I've been called a Yankee, something I normally associated to a baseball team in the Bronx. Being a Yankee and a Hoosier at heart, I stayed in Indiana for college at Purdue University in West Lafayette. I went there because of their aerospace engineering and co-op programs, both of which have done a lot of good for me. In March of 2003, at the ripe young age of 19, NASA told me they would like me to come work for them at JSC, so here I am.
What I do here.
This is my first tour, so I have only been in one department for about a month as I write this. I am in the Division of Operations/Space Station Planning. At the current time I'm learning to do what everyone else in this department does. This includes gathering all activities that need to be done on board the space station, whether they are a multi-million dollar science experiment or a nap, and make them into a plan that is sent up to the crew. The best part of my job is that I get to spend all day in Building 30, the MCC or Mission Control Center. I walk in and out of the Flight Control Rooms everyday (the rooms you see on TV with all the computers and people with headsets). I have a headset of my own actually and will soon be trained in positions that support those people in the Flight Control Rooms. While doing all this, I am also working on a project that involves making a better training tool for this department to teach their new people about what they do and how they do it. I will be making a presentation about it at the end of my tour.
When I'm not at work.
I take two classes at the University of Houston-Clear Lake, Astronomy and Political Philosophy. I haven't had any tests yet, but I will say that the classes are far easier than the engineering classes at Purdue for those reading this who has had them. Not to mention that NASA will pay for the classes if you can convince them they are training for your job. As far as fun goes, there are a lot of things to do here as there are in any big city. The thing about working for JSC is that there are 40 to 50 other people your age to do things with. I'm sure this is a reoccurring thing on all the bios, but it's worth mentioning because being hundreds or thousands of miles from everyone you know can be pretty frustrating if you're alone. There is usually something that other co-ops are doing 5 to 6 days a week; rock climbing, dance clubs, scuba diving, sports, parties, movies; just to name a few.
Want to get a hold of me?
Email addresses:
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