Ernie Prado

About Me

My name is Ernie Prado. I was raised in Downey, California. It’s about fifteen miles southeast of Los Angeles, and where all the command and service modules of the Apollo Program were built. I attend the University of California at Davis and am double majoring in aeronautical and mechanical engineering. I am a junior at the moment and have just completed my first tour as a Co-op. I’m involved in several activities at school such as ASME, the SAE Aero Design Challenge, Tau Beta Pi, and others. I am a Calculus tutor and enjoy doing all kinds of random things.

So Some Background...

I’ve been fascinated by planes and space since I was a little kid. I remember going to air shows and seeing planes like the F-117 Nighthawk and the Blue Angels. That had a pretty big influence on me. I also had some awesome teachers that made me love science. Unlike some of the other co-ops, I never got to go to Space Camp, or see any real NASA stuff until I was 18 years old, but I was hooked anyway. The first time I felt working at NASA was tangible was when I saw a Saturn V for the first time in person, after my graduation. I always knew what I wanted to do with my life, but that sealed the deal.

Me and Gene Kranz

To NASA!

How I got to be a co-op might show some of you that it’s not all that impossible to get here... As I said, I’ve always dreamed of working for NASA. I just didn’t know how I would achieve that goal, however. I hadn’t set up any plans for college when I started my senior year of high school, and the only reason I applied was because my teachers urged me too. Thank God they did. Once I got there, I didn’t know how well I’d fair against such bright people, but by working hard, I found out I was still capable of doing well. That was a huge boost of confidence. I started looking around to apply myself, and I found NASA’s Co-op program. I read all the requirements, the bios, everything. I remember thinking how smart everyone was and that I probably wouldn’t make it in, but I applied anyway. A few months later and after a lot of praying and hoping, I got an offer, and took it without thinking twice. It has been one of the best things to ever happen to me and I consider myself a very lucky person to be here. My point is though, even if you have a slow start, it’s still possible to get where you want to be. You can see I didn’t get a clue till pretty late.

Quarters and Semesters

As much as I love my school, they make it somewhat difficult to Co-op. The biggest issue is that we are on quarters. Co-op tours are meant for semesters… You can imagine, this is a bit of a conflict, but it is well worth your while to deal with the headache. We don’t really have a co-op program at Davis and I even had to withdraw to co-op here at JSC. I know that sounds like a lot of things to fight with, but it’s possible that some of you may have to deal with those types of obstacles too. Don’t get discouraged! If you want to be a co-op, do everything in your power to make it happen. I promise you’ll never regret it.

Work and Extras

My first tour was in the Engineering Directorate. I was placed in ES6, which is the Loads and Structural Dynamics Branch. I had the chance to work on Orion, also known as the Crew Exploration Vehicle, which will be our nation’s next spacecraft. It was pretty neat. I worked on a transient analysis of blast overpressure on the vehicle. To speak in English, in the case there is a catastrophic explosion of the Ares I booster, there will be enormous pressures placed on command module and launch abort system. I’m working to see if the current design is capable of surviving these loads and how it will respond.

In the Shuttle Training Aircraft	With a T-38 Astronaut Trainer

Life in Houston

Co-ops are fun people…who’da thunk it? We even have a committee to make sure life is enjoyable down here! If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably read every single biography on here…more than once, and know that everyone has a great time and that it’s really easy to make life-long friends. Sounds fast for that to happen, but when you do so many things with everyone else down here, it just happens. We play softball, soccer, have parties; go ice skating, have tons of tours and lectures, and so much more, that sometimes, it’s hard to even choose what you want to do. You get to know who everyone is and have fun with them. When it comes time to go back to school, you won’t want to leave because everyone down becomes like your family away from family.

Me and Walter Cunningham	John Young! He's a Moonwalker!

Want to Know More?

I don’t blame you if you do. This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, and I would be glad to tell you more about it. I assume that if you read everything I wrote you must be pretty set on coming to JSC to Co-op. (Because that was a lot to read.) If you want to know more about how to apply, or just how life is here, send me an email at ernesto.j.prado@nasa.gov or at ejprado@ucdavis.edu. I wish you all the best in your endeavors, and maybe I’ll meet some of you reading this bio one day. Best of luck!

Co-op Christmas Dinner

Links

Check out my awesome school, NASA’s homepage or the Co-op fan page on Facebook!