Ryan Schulte, co-op at NASA's Johnson Space Center

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958. The Administration consists of NASA Headquarters in Washington , D.C. , along with ten field centers and a variety of installations conducting the day-to-day work, in laboratories, on air fields, in wind tunnels, and in control rooms. NASA's mission is to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. In the next 20 years, NASA will be laying the groundwork for sending humans not only beyond Earth's orbit, but further into space than they have ever been before. With completion of the International Space Station and retirement of the Space Shuttle both set for 2010, the next steps in space exploration are right around the corner; including designing the new Crew Exploration Vehicle and returning humans to the moon by 2020.

Ryan Schulte graduated from Scott High School in Taylor Mill, Kentucky . In addition to Ryan's NASA co-op experience which he describes below, we have three additional UK students: John Whitt (from New Jersey), Hannah Grise (graduated from Russellville High School) , and Allyson Durborow (graduated from Paul Lawrence Dunbar High School) who will be taking an experiment up this April, not as co-op students, but as part of a program described at http://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/SE

From Ryan - "I worked at Ellington Field, which is an airfield about 8 miles north of JSC. Ellington is the home base for many of NASA's aircraft, including the T-38, STA (Shuttle Training Aircraft), Super Guppy, WB-57 (high altitude research aircraft), and of course the C-9, known affectionately as the "Vomit Comet" (which I flew on). I have been incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work for this prestigious administration of which I speak of at the ripe, young age of 20 years old. My first week at the Johnson Space Center was almost surreal. Finally becoming a part of this entity that I have been enamored with for so long was an accomplishment in and of itself. To be honest, I really had no idea what to expect when I started. Is everyone going to be much smarter than me, just some simple Kentucky boy? Are they going to realize that I really don't have a clue what I am doing? All these things worried me, but after spending a couple weeks settling in, I decided I had been worrying too much and that I was fitting in just fine.

  I have been assigned a plethora of different projects during my time here. At Ellington Field, the majority of the work revolves around keeping the aircraft we have flying safely; this mainly entails fixing problems and making modifications to the aircraft. When I first arrived, I was given the task of creating a cover for the T-38 pitot-static probe (airspeed & altitude sensor) to protect it from dents and dings while the airplane is on the ground for maintenance. Creation of this cover included the use of the program Pro/Engineer to model and create a production drawing for its assembly. At UK I learned Catia V5 in my drafting class; this meant I had to teach myself how to use Pro/E to complete my first project. Luckily there were many people to lend me assistance and guidance as I learned the program through trial and error. While working on this project and learning Pro/E, I was also given many other tasks to help out with. These projects included assisting with the EFIS Avionics upgrade to the T-38 fleet, designing a modification to the way the T-38 travel pod is attached to the aircraft fuselage, and developing a procedure to check the alignment on the T-38 landing gear after a pilot landed short on the runway, which impacted two runway guide lights.

  As time rolled on, my projects started to get more intricate. This called for a higher level of responsibility which forced me to make progress on my own. The engineers are already very busy with their own work, so the ability to be a self-starter and figure things out on your own are of great value. Later projects of mine were all work on the WB-57. This aircraft recently underwent a complete landing gear change from the originals to those of an F-15 for maintenance purposes. After the switch, a runway taxi test was conducted; during this test, a leak in the hydraulic brake system caused a fire at the landing gear. In response to this, I was given one of the tasks to correct this failure. I was assigned to create three brake hose restraint assemblies for the landing gear. This included everything from choosing materials to publishing technical drawings to having the assemblies fabricated.

  My final project, which has been all mine from the beginning, has been to redesign the WB-57 boarding ladders. The current ladders are poorly designed for the long term and over the years have caused fuselage deformation and cracking due to concentrated loads. I performed a static stress analysis of forces on the fuselage when the ladder is in use. Using that information, I was able to propose an add-on to the current ladder that would re-locate and spread the load along a stronger part of the fuselage, which will save much time and money compared to building an entirely new ladder.

  During my tour I have gained a great amount of knowledge. I have learned so much about the aerospace and aeronautics industries, as well as just about everything there is to know in creating official production drawings/blueprints. Working for a company, however, allows you to gain more than just technical knowledge. It forces you to become proficient in communicating with others and interpersonal relations; skills integral in accomplishing anything within a large company.

  In relation to school and engineering classes, I have applied what I have learned in classes such as ME151 Manufacturing & Materials, ME205 Engineering Drafting, and EM221 Statics to name a few. For me, the biggest school advantage to spending the semester working in the real world is that now when I am in class, I have real experience that I can apply lessons and concepts to, and I know it will make understanding much easier. On a similar note, I also now know that continuing my studies is of crucial importance to stay on top of my game and continue to move up in the professional world. To give you an example, Michael Griffin, NASA's Administrator, holds 7 degrees and 5 are Master's Degrees. He is probably the smartest man I have ever met.

  To wrap it up, I have truly enjoyed my time at NASA JSC. It is a great environment filled with dedicated people who love their work. I most definitely plan on continuing my co-op here. This summer I will be returning to work in Mission Operations - Shuttle Mechanical Systems as a backroom flight controller.

Cost of living:

  Cost of living in Houston is really not too expensive. You can find a decent apartment for around $400-$500/month. Gas is also about the same price as what you find in Kentucky , if not lower. Working for the government, you don't expect to get paid an exorbitant salary, and having said that I spent about 25% of my salary on housing. Outside of housing, the amount of money you save by the end of the semester depends on how frugal you are. There are plenty of things to spend money on, including many weekend road trips with other co-ops, joining co-op sports teams, skydiving, camping, etc. I chose to have fun while down here and not worry too much about money. I ended up saving about $3000."