Hello from Johnson Space Center,

Before we divulge into our past week here in Houston, we would like to introduce ourselves.  There are six of us that have been granted the honor of interning at Johnson Space Center through the Summer Stem Experience.  

Hi my name is Shelby Bottoms. I am 17 and I attend Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kansas. I am involved in dance team, National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, and Kay Club at my high school, and am involved in the Kansas City Astronomy Club and the Miller Marley School of Dance and Voice competition team outside of school. I hope to attend the United States Air Force Academy for college and major in aerospace engineering. This summer, my internship at JSC is in the IT department that supports the Mission Control Center. Kelsey and I work together under our mentor, John Clack.

Hello my name is Brian Shin, and I go to Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. This summer at Johnson Space Center, I am interning for my mentor Mr. Charles Mallini, in the Flight and Integrated Test Office with the Constellation program. I am working with Kevin Koch and another college co-op intern to design a heavy lift launch vehicle and provide mass estimations for the rocket. At school, I am involved in activities such as Math Club, tennis, Technology Student Association, and National Honor Society. I love math and physics, and hope to major in aerospace engineering in college. In my free time, I love to play tennis, violin, and GO, a board game.

Hello my name is Kelsey Khoo. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and go to Jenks High School. At my school I'm a part of National Honor Society and International Club. I have also served as an officer of Chinese Club for two years. In my spare time I like to play the piano and tennis. I love my pre-engineering class and I want to major in either biomedical engineering or aerospace engineering when I get to college. At Johnson Space Center, I work with Shelby Bottoms in the IT Services department of the Mission Operations Directorate under my mentor, John Clack. 

Hi, my name is Christopher Vanik and I live in Cortez, Colorado. I attend Montezuma-Cortez High School and am involved in Civil Air Patrol, Choir, and the Online Learning Community. I hope to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, AZ with a major in computer engineering. This summer, while I attend the NASA INSPIRE SSE, I am working on developing a mockup of the Apollo 17 landing site for the Project M team to visualize the future landing site.  The lead mentor for this project is Dr. Timothy P. Crain in the Autonomous Flight Systems Branch, EG611.

Hello, my name is Hollie O'Brien. I live in the middle of the great state of Nebraska in the town of Ord. I go to school at Arcadia High School where I will be a senior next year. I am very active in FCA, National Honor Society, Youth Congress, Science Olympiad, Quiz Bowl, Speech, Drama, Volleyball, Basketball and Track.  While at Johnson Space Center this summer, my mentor is Dr. Tim Crain and my supervisor is Mr. Richard Mrozinski. They are being immensely helpful while I work on my project of an Apollo 17 Lunar Landing mock-up with Christopher Vanik. My future plans include attending Cal Tech and dual majoring in astronomy and physics.

My name is Kevin Koch, and I turned 17 last week. I too live in Nebraska, but a few hours away from Hollie, in the city of Lincoln. I go to school an hour away from my home, I attend a boarding school named Mount Michael Benedictine. Here I live at school during the week and live at home on the weekends. I am involved in the Cosmic Ray Observatory Project (CROP) at my school as well as Student Council, NHS, Chemistry and Physics Field Days among other things. I work with Brian Shin in the Constellation Program at the Flight and Integrated Test Office. We are in charge of a Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Mass Estimation Program based on propellant and diameter.  I love science, especially chemistry and physics and hope to major in aerospace engineering or mechanical engineering with an emphasis in composites from either Rice University here in Houston, or Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Now that you are familiar with our group here is a summary of our week's experiences.  Our last blog concluded after our initial orientation and us anxiously awaiting the beginning of our SSE experience.

Monday

As exciting as it was to be FINALLY on base, we still had to sit thought another day of orientation.  After the orientation was over, we received our badges, and we definitely felt more official and like we belonged on base. Also, we finally were able to put a face with the amazing liaison, Alissa Keil, the woman who is in charge of the INSPIRE program at JSC.  She did an awesome job preparing us for our summer adventure. Once we received our badges at the Gilruth center, we were able to go inside Johnson Space Center. Once on base the first thing we did as a group was eat lunch at one of the cafeterias along with the pre-collegiate interns. After lunch, at one o'clock sharp, we were allowed to go to our individual buildings, and meet our mentors. This was one of the most nerve-racking experiences thus far, because we all wanted to make a great first impression with not only our mentor, but our entire organization. After work, this day ended fairly uneventfully. Since everyone was worn out from long travels the previous day and an overload of information at orientation, we ended our day with a relaxing movie night on the hotel theater.

Tuesday

Today was our last day of orientation. Today's agenda included ethics in the workplace, I.T. of JSC, and internet rules and regulation.  After lunch, we reported again to our mentors to gain more insight on our individual projects.  After dinner we had a short meeting to plan our vodcast and future projects. Our weekly schedule will be comprised of Tuesday/Thursday project work nights and student planned activity nights on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Wednesday

OUR FIRST FULL WORK DAY!!! We are all becoming comfortable with the layout of the Johnson Space Center, and the impeding baby ducks that sit in the middle of the sidewalk and do not move for anyone.  After more discussion with our mentors we are all becoming more familiar with our projects and offices. The majority of us have obtained computer access by this point and have an email work account. After dinner, we celebrated Kevin Koch's birthday, he turned 17 today.  Our evening activity was "Wednesday Wii" and everyone enjoyed some friendly competition in a variety of games. 

Thursday

Just another day at the office; at least until four o'clock when we had our first weekly meeting with the entire INSPIRE group (pre-college and residential). We discussed our triumphs as well as hardships that would have to be overcome. I.T. seemed to be the only hardship that was not entirely solved. After work and dinner, everyone was hard at work on their abstracts. 

Friday

Today was not just another day at the office, as several of us were treated to a few special adventures at JSC. Shelby and Kelsey were taken on a tour of the mission control building, and saw all three mission control rooms: the historic, the ISS, and the Shuttle. While on tour, they were able to see active shuttle simulations preparing for the next launch and a live picture of Earth. Brian and Kevin's mentor treated them to a tour of the Saturn V Rocket. They're project is to build a mass estimation model for a heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV), and they got new ideas and a new understanding of the monumental task in front of them as they looked at the rocket.

Our group all met for lunch to discuss their day thus far, as well as have lunch with an astronaut in training. Mr. Gregory (Reid) Wiseman spoke to our INSPIRE group about his line of work, our goals, and how to achieve them. We hope to have another opportunity to meet and discuss the training it takes to become an astronaut in further detail.   Our Friday activity was a visit to Kehmah Boardwalk.  We were treated to a great view of the ocean, roller coaster, performing "Fire Man", and snacks including funnel cakes and dipping dots.  To end the evening Kehmah had an amazing firework display.

Saturday

After picking up our dry cleaning we headed off to our next adventure, Houston Space Center. Feeling very official, we were able to get in for free with our badges.  We saw some great IMAX features, touched moon rocks, and viewed many great space artifacts.  There were also several interactive exhibits including a Star Wars themed ropes course, house of mirrors, and orbital bike, which Shelby rocked! After our fantastic time at the Space Center we finished our day with a delicious meal at the Olive Garden.

Sunday

Today was our one chance to finally sleep in, do laundry, and relax.  After grabbing a bite at Panera Bread for lunch we made a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up any essentials we would need for the week.  Next we were off to the mall for a shopping trip (and continue our dance parties in the van between stops).  After returning to the hotel, we discovered each others' secret singing abilities while playing Wii Karaoke. Finally, after we conclude this blog we are headed to Genghis Grill for dinner and a detour to Marble Slab for ice cream before heading home for a good nights rest as we prepare for another great week at Johnson Space Center.  Tomorrow we are being treated to a VIP tour.  So be sure to tune back in next week for details of our tour and exciting week.  In conclusion, we are still able to safely say, "Houston, we DO NOT have a problem.