IamA Ex Lead NASA Engineer for the International Space Station AMA!

How large can we make the ISS before it becomes unfeasible?

Thinking of Orbital shipyards and similar sci fi stuff.

We are pretty much at the assembly complete of ISS. We are adding on a few other things, but we are in the process of winding down the program.

ISS was a proving ground of technologies, processes for repair and assembly, and studying the long term affects of space on a human body. We hope to take all this information and apply it to missions further away from Earth. I think in that case building a very big vehicle would be amazing, but we would need a lot more funding.

Thank you for your answer!

I hope humanity gets off its collective butts and puts more money into space. There is so much untapped potential there.

For sure! We need to get our butts on other planets, we really screwed ourselves over for these mars missions and most people don't understand it yet . . .

How did we screw ourselves over for the Mars missions?

Edit: you should edit in a link to this AMA in your comment on the ELI5 thread!

Also I'm sure it will get more visible when the US wakes up. I think you're going to experience the proverbial exploded inbox, this is incredibly interesting stuff.

When you design a vehicle you are focused on the environment we can operate in. When you go into space you are subjected to a lot of radiation. Early when we were planning our Mars missions we started to build a vehicle called Orion. Because the planets were going through a complex alignment for a few years we were able to make the vehicle walls a certain material and thickness to prevent radiating the astronauts too much.

When congress pulled back money for a while and paused the program they thought that ok no biggie we will just give them back money later and they will fly. No no no, we missed the complex window.

Nobody wants to talk about it, because its one of the biggest screw ups ever.

So now . . . we have to wait until 2028 ish region to fly to mars because thats the window in which that SPECIFIC vehicle can fly through and keep the astronauts safe. The problem is that vehicle has a short term life because that window of safe journey only lasts a few years.

So we are going to get a few good missions out to mars, and then . . . . we have to wait for the window to open up again (1 decade plus). So we need to find alternative paths for those vehicles (other locations or planets).

That's heartbreaking. This is another excellent example of why there need to be more science-minded people in politics.

Thank you for doing this AMA, I sincerely appreciate it.

Agreed, we really need to have a change.

Thank you , this is super fun <3

QUESTION: Sir i have just graduated as a mechatronic engineer in Europe, and will be soon taking my masters. I wanted to ask if there is place for people like me in doing things like you ? Could you give me some directions, extra masters degrees in fields that would allow me to be involved in space flight and development of it ?

My dream is that i can still some day visit what you built before it is decommissioned :) I keep trying to get a right time to spot it with binoculars when it flies past me some night. Had this idea of watching the stream of of it and spotting it from the ground at the same time with my sister to have experience of spotting ourselves from space while tracking the camera that films us :D

Very cool! I would say getting a master degree is a great first step, try to get involved at your university with some research that NASA is performing. Check into internships at ESA (european space agency).

A MS (Master of Science) in ME (Mechanical Engineering) is a great start. You can also look into SE (Systems Engineering, AE (Aerospace Engineering), or a space based system like Astronautical Engineering.

Feel free to PM me for my email address.

Wow...a genuine TIL

Actually...<waits to repost>

Thanks! I hope the post gets put back up, I think its still down?

Why'd it get taken down?

I didn't have credentials post at first I guess. I since added them.

When congress pulled back money for a while and paused the program they thought that ok no biggie we will just give them back money later and they will fly. No no no, we missed the complex window.

Nobody wants to talk about it, because its one of the biggest screw ups ever.

Hang on. Who's responsibility was it to explain this to Congress before they fucked that up, and why didn't that happen? That's a pretty big ball to drop, for them to make such a huge error based on a misconception that you can effectively just pause orbital mechanics and resume them next fiscal quarter. It seems like when that project was initially approved also, there should have been a "Once we start this, we can't pause without wasting all the investment already made up to that point" conversation.

That being said, if this had gone as planned, would we have been to Mars by now? Was this going to be a fly by, or a landing?

They got it explained to them, they ignored it. Sometimes people just hear what they want to hear.

What do you mean? I certainly don't understand it yet. I just saw a headline- https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/6n1n2x/nasa_says_it_doesnt_have_funds_to_reach_mars_open/?st=J53GO2YM&sh=57e34bc7

How did we screw ourselves over for these Mars Missions?

Edit- link. I'm gonna read it now.

Not that, but check out my reply. Hopefully I didn't just put NASA on blast too hard (waiting for my phone to ring).

long term affects

 

"long-term effects"

 

^{ftfy just so I can pretend I'm smarter than a rocket surgeon}

 

hahhha I'm the worst at grammar and english. Funny story, I got a perfect score on math, science and reasoning, etc on my ACT. I got like a 17 on grammar.

Engineers unite, we need a liberal arts major in our life.

On the topic of crazy ISS expansion, do you have any thoughts on moving an asteroid to ISS (or more likely a newer space station), or any of the other crazy stuff that happened in the book Seveneves?

Personally I always figured moving a big chunk of metal into LEO would be politically infeasible, if nothing else - but once you got it there, it would certainly be cheaper to study or use.

If they try to move an asteroid to LEO something is going to go wrong, I've heard talks about it, and believe its a stupid idea.

It would have to be a pretty damn high orbit otherwise station keeping would be a nightmare I can imagine.

Our window of operation is about 100KM. When we drop too far we raise our self back up by firing thrusters provided by the Russian Soyuz (Those are the vehicles that the Russians use to come and leave station).

As an Engineer, is there any animosity with SpaceX? I've always considered NASA the big dog when it came to space, but where does NASA fit into a future were private companies are raising the bar?

GREAT question. Let me dispel some false information here.

For the most part NASA is doing things that SpaceX could never think of doing and they dont want to at all.

NASA breaks the ground on the research, physics, math, etc. At the highest level EVERYTHING is new.

Most of what the commercial players do for visiting vehicles is build based on that information. When SpaceX came around they basically filed for freedom of information act on EVERYTHING. They grabbed all the research of how something works, why, what to avoid, etc, and applied it to making their vehicle.

NASA is paying SpaceX for most of their items.

So this is how it should work.

NASA moving forward is going to focus on the items that SpaceX can't. They are going to employ the smartest PhD in the world solving problems that are NEW science. They are going to focus on ground breaking research.

SpaceX is going to focus on taking that research, and taking over the tasks and operations that NASA shouldn't focus on.

For example a vehicle going up and down to ISS, we have done it a ton of times, all major countries know how to do it. So we shouldn't focus our energy on that, we should focus it on the research required for landing on an astroid or Mars.

All US government programs are regulated that they can't spend US Tax payer dollars to justify their existence to the public. "Hey everyone checkout this new fighter jet you paid for, we awesome ".

SpaceX spends a significant amount of their money telling people of the awesome stuff they do. In reality if people saw all the cool stuff NASA does they would be blown away.

Do you think SpaceX would still be alive 5/10 years from now? In my opinion they already went through all the people who are both "book smart" as well as "street smart" , they are now hiring people who are technically competent but gullible as far as PR and cult of personality are concerned , HR people are offering engineers a lower pay for longer hours so that they would be able to put Musk/SpaceX in their CV , the turnover rate is also extremely high.

As an engineer would you be bothered by the fact that you'd be doing all the work and heavy lifting only to have the CEO take all the credit , money and status? Do you think that private companies are even a good solution as far as space exploration goes? Many of those companies don't seem to understand that space exploration is a marathon not a 100m sprint.

I think they will be fine. They will do what United Launch Alliance was trying to do. They will supplement NASA with providing resources for tasks NASA doesn't want to do anymore.

They hired a lot of my friend, they do over work them, and Musk gets all the credit, and I hate that . . . . but people keep applying at record rates.

They hired a lot of my friend, they do over work them, and Musk gets all the credit, and I hate that . . . . but people keep applying at record rates.

Also leaving! At Virgin Galactic they have so many SpaceX refugees that they made shirts, saying "I left the eX for a Virgin" (using the SpaceX font)

LOL thats rough.

What are a few awesome things NASA does that blow You away?

Next gen propulsion. The ideas of landing on an asteroid. The communication path from earth to Mars to communicate with our rovers. The laser thats on our rover that takes matter and just vaporizes it and looks as the cloud of vapor it just created to figure out what material it is. Medical research on the human body.

What did your path to get to this career look like between graduating high school and getting this job?

I had a strange path.

So I was going to a great HS. I was accepted into some great schools (the main top 3). My Dad bribed me with a car to stay in state haha.

I went to college and was very bored. I left my bachelor program in Computer Engineering and decided to do other things I found interesting.

I started trying to build race cars (I had no idea what I was doing). I took welding classes, I got my EMT basic because I thought of becoming a firefighter. I got hooked up with a real race team and started traveling the country on a real Pro NHRA team and learned a ton.

I decided to go take a ton of classes at a community college while working full time in a factory and focused on getting back into engineering. I went back to my bachelor program as a Electrical Engineer and double majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

I eventually finished my bachelors in EE. Did some other cool gigs along the way. Worked on power grid layouts for high rises, then satellites, then NASA Space Shuttle, then NASA ISS, then startup, now a big bank.

Thanks for the answer!

How'd you go from high rises to satellites? Seems like a big jump.

Fresh out of college, I had a cool background doing data acquisition and power design for professional race cars plus the bachelor degree. I heard back from the job after I had already started another. I left after a few months to go into satellite work and that brought me to NASA.

You sound like some of the guys I went to college with, all rolled in to one!

One was pursuing an Aerospace Engineering degree, but became an EMT (and still is, 20 years later.)

One got an Electrical Engineering degree, but went to become a race car driver (then went to become an engineer again.)

One went directly from Computer Science degree graduate to doing programming on ISS' navigation/control systems.

haha awesome! You should always surround yourself with interesting people and your friends sound fun.

Does conductive debris from space junk ever get stuck in the panels and cause shorts?

There is a phenomenon called tin twiskers, where material can build up and grow until it eventually shorts inside a box.

We had a crazy thing occurring with visiting vehicles for a while, when they got into the vac of space they were doing something called "out gassing". Silicon vapor was depositing all over ISS, it was causing degradation of the ISS solar panels since they were basically blocking them.

What does it smell like on the space station? Since there is no gravity do farts and such kind of just linger all over?

Well no showers , they bath with moist toliettes, Russians don't wear deodorant , and these was mold on board before. I heard its pretty funky.

I just started earlier this year as a lead R&D engineer at a medical device company. The stress of this job is way more intense than I was anticipating. I can only imagine that NASA was even more intense. How did you unwind and keep your anxiety from making you work all day and all night?

Edit: phrasing

Hobbies and friends.

I had some cool race cars, I had a nice theater room.

All NASA people are some of the most passionate people around.

Some love to raise animals, some like to dive (scuba), fly planes, run marathons. Anything to keep you grounding. I think its common with any job.

But seeing real world changes made us always SUPER happy.

Thanks for responding. I find that my hobbies and social life are being put on the back burner because I am so tired from work most days. I should definitely try harder to stick with them.

But I do enjoy what I do, and I am passionate about it. So while this definitely isnt sustainable, I do feel like it's worth it for now.

If you need some help feel free to reach out and I'll help.

I know the program is winding down as you said, but considering the cost of its original construction and the valuable information it's providing, is it just too expensive to keep operating? Or is are there safety concerns due to major component failure? Thanks!

They continue to evaluate life extension of the ISS. I wrote the original paperwork for it. They try to ensure that any critical hardware has multiple backup plans and safety redundancies, if there are concerns they address them.

I think we should continue operating as long as it is providing valuable research, as soon as it doesn't anymore we should funnel our money to something else.

For example the moon missions, we went there from apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17.

With the limited capability of what we could do with the equipment we accomplished all the goals. But at some point you can't keep wasting the money of the program on just repeating for the fun of it. You need to divert that cash to other programs to make more significant accomplishments in space.

We need to visit other planets, we need to go further, we have learned a lot and we are ready. we just need funding and alignment.

Thanks for doing this, the insights you're providing are super interesting!

Since you've brought up the 'limited capability' of their equipment back during the moon missions, do you think that it's remotely justifiable to go back with modern equipment?

From your answer, I gather that you don't think it's worth it, but since some countries (China etc) are planning / discussing it, I'm curious about your evaluation.

For the record: I'm not talking about the recent talk concerning the conversion of the Mars mission into an extended moon mission!

Edit: grammar

I think we need to mine the moon, explore further, stay for extended periods, checkout different areas. But I much rather do the same on Mars, I think the funds are better spent there.

What do you do for a living now? Im planing on going into engineering later in life, do you have any tips for college and for how to get a job and the good and the bad that comes with the job.

I worked at a startup we got purchased, I'm now a pretty good position at the purchasers company (one of the largest financial companies in the world).

Yes, focus on networking throughout college it will get you far. Learn from everything in life, learning the school stuff is only one part of it, human interaction, common sense, real world blue collar tasks, they will make you a more rounded individual.

Good with a great engineering job is it can be challenging and descent salary. The bad is it can be very stressful and there is a cap at earning potential pretty quickly.

Thank you for the advice! Im glad your in a good position!

After coming from NASA, everything else is boring. It's the hard balance in life about exploring potential and trying to make more money. haha

Why does the ISS use 160 Volts? Wouldn't it be easier too just use 120 or 220 since basically everything is already designed for that. Or does it get stepped later and just the power buses run at 160?

Its a good balance between maximum operating voltage that doesn't cause some issues within the boxes, and the efficiency curve on the arrays.

If you drop the voltage down you lose some efficiency, if you push it too hard some of the boxes start to arc and you start building up a lot of electrical potential on the vehicle (causing arcing, think lightning)

I guess efficiency is more important than longevity when everything up there is over engineered enough to handle it no problem. Thanks for responding! It's people like you that make me think I should start liking people again.

Thanks I appreciate that! <3

Speaking of the power system, I picked up an ISS Type V remote power control module at a thrift store a few years ago. Any idea how it ended up there? And are the specs for such things publicly accessible? I'm an embedded systems engineer and it would amuse me to be able to hook it up and use it for something.

NO WAY!! That is a great ORU, I would pay you for that. The type 5 is the one we need the most of. Send me a PM with the serial. That is crazy it ended up there.

So excited you do this! Thank you! What are the chances of getting a rotating section up there for (weak) simulated gravity?

We have a gyroscope on ISS to balance out direction of the vehicle. I would love to see a real simulated gravity but in reality as slow as the NASA program moves, and how bad funding is, I don't think we will see something like that in our lifetime unless 1 of 2 things happen.

1. We encounter alien life, and all countries put all money together to a common goal.

2. Earth is threatened and we fund space programs significantly more.

What about engineering challenges? Do you know if someone did a feasibility study?

Oh ya, ISS came from Space Station Freedom.

People were working on the design and concepts for years, eventually it migrated into what we know about ISS.

Nothing gets built without long term feasibility studies and tons and tons and tons of research.

I guess I'm not clear enough: I meant do you know of a feasibility study of a rotating section?

I don't sorry.

Does NASA accept freshly graduated engineers? Or are you only looking for "At least 5 years of relevant experience"?

We bring on a ton of interns and we usually hire from those interns.

Direct at NASA without an internship is hard, usually they want you to work for a contractor and transfer in unless you have an advanced degree.

Do you know of any resources to find contractors that NASA works with?

Within the gov we have an approved vendor list.

Almost all the work goes to a prime contractor like a lockheed martin, spacex, boeing, wyle, orbital science, etc then they sub it out.

Did you get any cool employee discounts?

Like Target employees get like 10% off everything in the store or something like that.

I was always made that the Frys electronics WHICH WAS SPACE THEMED didn't give us any discount. But yes my favorite was hotel discounts and car rentals. Gov rate is pretty rad!

Do you ever use the term "it's not rocket science, I should know?"

Nope, never good to be arrogant. I'm confident but not a jerk.

How did you make your way into ISS?

I got very lucky. I was at a great college and I met an awesome girl that I networked with. I told her I always wanted to work at NASA, and I found out she was an intern there. She helped get me my first interview.

I worked on the Space Shuttle Program for a handful of years and closed out the program as a the flight lead of the avionics cargo integration on STS-135.

At program closure when over 90% were laid off they decided to pull me over to the ISS program and continue my growth.

Hi, as a government employed engineer how essential is ABET program certification? I'm asking because UCSC's CE department is choosing not to renew their program cert and I was wondering how much impact that will have on job prospects.

I think it will be significant not having it.

How far can someone go in the science fields, specifically engineering and astronomy, without much more than a 4 year degree, expertise, and experience?

I know plenty of people that are senior level with bachelor degrees.

It depends on the person not the degree.

If you are talking serious research obviously a PhD will help.

I think if you're serious get an MS, most of us did it while working (I did mine that way).

How will the ISS eventually be decommissioned? Have you guys (engineers) even planned for That? If so, how?

Also, how bad is "space junk" right now? And will we ever get trapped by it?

They plan on having a controlled reentry into the Indian ocean (at least we hope).

What would you say is the most difficult aspect of designing something for space vs the same device for use on earth? (excluding hardening for launch)

Ultra reliability, ease of replacement, multiple redundancies, and dealing with technology that is WAY behind the times.

Once something is certified for space flight you continue to use it.

Do you have a well-worn copy of the Art of Electronics lying around somewhere? ;)

I still have all my text books from college. My skills in electrical design at this point are sooooo weak. I consider myself more of a problem solver at this point, I know enough about so many sub-systems to understand how they all interact. If you asked me to design a converter today I would have to pull out text books. I think the world needs a blend of different styles of people. I'm more big picture at this point.

Hi! What would you describe as your biggest challenge from a design point of view on the ISS?

Building modules that are made in different countries, by different engineers, and they usually only meet eachother for the first time in space when they are getting docked together. Then everything just . . . works. The amount of planning and integration that takes is so challenging.

Also diving into areas that there is NO documentation on, literally being the first discovering phenomenons. We solved problems that branched off areas of science that people never understood before.

Thanks for a prompt response! I have one more question: Have you seen "The Martian" ? Have you ever been in a similar situation wherein you have to work within a very specific short deadline and just eliminate hardware to get it to work ASAP?

Yes a few times, we act quick though. Great movie, very accurate in a few regards.

This was a cool one I won an award for.

http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/0c8836012acd2e3f5ab5765d89143d90-474.html

"All right buddy, that is a little slice of awesome pie," astronaut Jack Fischer replied from mission control in Houston. Mission control to ISS astronaut after installing replacement part.

It seems cruel to mention pie to people who can't have it.

They have a lot of personal sweets they bring on board for special occasions. SpaceX on their first docking to ISS tried to bring a block of cheese up . . . it didn't keep that well and was pretty bad when it got up there haha.

What are your thoughts on a Moon based ISS? Wouldnt that be the next step?

To me, that makes more financial sense (mining, refueling, free gravity, ECT) and seems to be more realistic than a manned mission to another planet.

It would make the most sense, but I think we need to take what we learned and go further.

I really want to see us land on Mars, bring a few modules down, and start expanding into a large research facility on the planet.

How do they account for voltage potential differences between a docking craft and the ISS? I'm picturing rubbing your feet on the carpet and shocking your brother, except the carpet is the atmosphere, your feet are moving hypersonic, and your brother is floating.

When you go into a soft dock you have the voltage potentials choked by a resistor, it allows that potential to slowly come to common voltage, then you go into a hard dock.

How do feel about Space Corps?

(Also, you should update your OP with proof.)

I'm guessing his comment on that other thread is the proof. I mean, the guy knows.

I had another guy from the ISS Mission Control team Robo vouch for me.

as an aerospace engineering student at UT Austin, is there any advice you can give me about getting a technically intense job? Is it harder to get a technical job opposed to a management job? also, how is the work environment at NASA?

• a future engineer trying to figure out what is realistically in store for me

I live a few blocks from there, feel free to reach out and I'll come speak to you.

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Thank you for that! I feel like some great people helped me along the way, I should do the same when possible.

What do you think of space x?

I love what they do. They work hard.

Might be a dumb question but here goes

I just started working as avionics technician. Do I have any hopes of working on major space thingies someday?

Yup, I know two guys that went from that world into space after getting their bachelors.

Did America really go to the moon in those tinfoil spacecrafts?

Yes, those guys had balls of steel to step into those point and shoot vehicles.

How much you're making at NASA (after tax)?

It's GS (Government Salary based). A lot of engineers start at around 50k (GS-9), they cap as the most senior person ever at around $160k (GS-15)

Think of that range like a bell curve.

I am assuming the bank you work for now pays much more.

At this point yes.

How quickly could iss be evacuated if necessary?

If necessary like a leak or a fire? Instant response.

The service life of the ISS has been extended several times, however there must be an eventual retirement. When do you think that might be, and would you be interested in working on the 'next ISS'?

Yes I would love to work on the next one in a senior position.

I think we will get to mid 2020's and retire.

Did you have to go up there to do any commissioning work?

No I was not an astronaut, but I designed a lot of work for astronauts to do while up there.

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Some of the hardware is just too old, and the internal hardware is running out of its cert life or already out and we are running till failure. When they build something new they will base it on a newer technology.

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Russia I believe is going to strip their modules and create their own space station using the pieces that they recently brought up or are currently building.

I don't think US wants to go that route, we will see what happens with the other international partners.

[deleted]

So they claimed . . . . I'm confident we will see their station.

Do you believe in aliens?

I believe there is life out there, and I believe we will find it in our lifetime.

I don't want to know what it is but dose NASA have top secret technology that is widely known within its scientific community? Also what if any involvement with the US military dose NASA have?

Yes and the AF (Air Force) have many experiments on board that are classified.

What is your opinion of the way actors-playing-astronauts behave in the ISS in movies? (I recently saw Life and thought their reactions to everything were ridiculous. Surely protocols are protocols for a reason)

You need to turn off your brain during a movie and enjoy it for what it is, entertainment. I thought Matt Daemon and that whole team did a great job on The Martian. The woman mission control person is modeled after a friend and they got a lot of aspects right!

With all the controversy and discontent on Earth, have you ever wanted to just move to the ISS and stay? And would you take some of us with you?

Nope, I love going outside and the freedom that earth brings. Our planet is gorgeous we just need to explore it. People need to stop focusing on the negatives and focus on the beauty in the world.

Sorry, but can you prove a status you claim?

I updated the thread with some awards . . . hopefully that helps.

Do you think an economist would benefit from being in space?

I think anyone would have a life changing experience after going up. It shows how small we are, and where we really need to focus our resources . . . exploration. We should strive to find other life. We focus on too much stupid stuff.

We really need something to tie all countries together and begin moving towards a common goal.

Where did your life go so wrong?

Lots of places . . . . lots of places.