Christine Troy...

Every JSC co-op has their own story about why they wanted to work for NASA and how they got here. Mine goes something like this.

Me and "The Cosmonaut"

Once upon a time there was a little girl named Christine Troy. She lived with her family in Cincinnati, OH. When she was young, she would star gaze with her father's telescope. Her favorite nighttime sky object to view with the telescope was the moon, through the lens of the telescope the craters seemed so detailed, like she was really so close to the moon she could reach out and touch it.

At some point in junior high school, she read the book Apollo XIII and became enamored with the idea of idea of space travel, especially travel back to the moon. In high school, she went to space camp for a week and had a blast and then traveled to the Glenn Research Center as part of two different DIME microgravity experiment teams.

When it came time to go to college, there was very little doubt in her mind what she wanted to do. She went to Purdue University with the goal of being accepted into one of NASA's co-op programs, hopefully the co-op program at JSC. In college, she joined the Purdue Crew rowing team and got busy with Astronautical Engineering classes. In the second semester of freshman year, when she was beginning to wonder if she was going to survive the craziness of engineering classes, co-op interviews rolled around. In a flurry of nerves she interviewed for a co-op position at JSC and a few nerve racking weeks later, received "the phone call!"

So now that you know how I got here, the next logical question is what am I doing here?

Well, my first semester, I worked in a group in the Engineering Directorate called EG5, Flight Mechanics and Trajectory Design. My projects dealt with returning to the moon, an idea that I find very exciting. I learned a great deal about orbital mechanics and did a lot of computer programming to complete my first project, a database of lunar ascent trajectories to be used in planning the design of the next lunar lander! In addition to my normal work, I also did some educational outreach at a local intermediate school, mentoring their robotics team as they prepared for a yearly robotics competition. This was a great way to get involved in teaching kids about engineering.

Briefing the Increment 15 crew!

I spent my second tour, working for a group called DF55, or Booster flight control. This is a very exciting group to work for, they are in charge of operating the shuttle main engines, solid rocket boosters, and external tank. I did training to become a backroom flight controller and even get to participate in sims. Watching the summer's shuttle launch from mission control was definitely cool. In addition, I worked on a console computation that will predict the time that certain engine parameters will be violated if there is a leak in the fuel repressurization system.

In my third tour, I worked in DX32, the EVA Tasks Group. This group trains astronauts for spacewalks and then works in mission control during the actual EVA. I got to do many different projects for this group including creating some checklist reference documents, performing worksite analysis, teaching a class about EVA tools, and even briefing the astronauts and cosmonauts of Increment 15 about some research I did!

Co-oping a JSC is definitely a very cool experience! Besides working on projects dealing with returning to the moon and operating the space shuttle, co-ops have the unique opportunity to go on tours of all sorts of different areas of the center and hear lectures from many people from the past and present of the space program. I have toured the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, seen a plasma rocket, and heard Dr. Chris Kraft speak about the future of the space program. This week, I am looking forward to watching the movie Apollo XIII in Historic Mission Control!

Outside of work, there are many ways to stay active in Houston. I've joined a rowing club just up the road from the space center, learned to swing dance, square dance, and do the Texas Two-Step, joined music groups at church, and discovered my new favorite activity, ice skating!

So if any of this sounds interesting to you or you have any questions about being a co-op at JSC, feel free to email me at ctroy@purdue.edu, I will be happy to answer your questions!

Ice Skating