Set to graduate this fall with a Bachelor of Science in Spaceflight Operations, he serves as the lead technician and research manager at Embry-Riddle’s Spacesuit Utilization of Innovative Technology (S.U.I.T.) Laboratory, under the direction of Principal Investigator Dr. Since then, Lopac has immersed himself in all things space. “Space technology seemed to be the most cutting-edge thing I could think of - and I was right.”
“When I saw Embry-Riddle offered a degree focused on the re-emerging spaceflight industry, I jumped on it,” he said. This was when he was in high school, still trying to carve out a career plan for himself, and in turn, decide on a college major. Long fascinated by emerging technologies, senior Nicholas Lopac watched in awe when SpaceX began first landing its rockets for reuse.
High-profile internship opportunities like these offer students an inside look at how progress is made within the fields they love and often help in shaping career aspirations moving forward. While Lopac recently returned from an internship where he worked to refine the design of astronaut suits at the world’s leading space agency, Bauernschmidt is currently working in the United States’ capital, learning how regulations surrounding rocket launches, aircraft design and other industry issues are developed. The other part is hands-on and in the field, taking place through internships that offer widely different perspectives on the industry they both hope to join after graduation.Īlthough both students share an ultimate goal - careers in aerospace - the differing paths they are taking toward that goal offer a glimpse of the many diverse opportunities provided by Embry-Riddle’s Department of Applied Aviation Sciences. Originally published on Spaceflight Operations undergraduate students Nicholas Lopac and Kirsten Bauernschmidt, classroom learning is only one part of their college experience at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "I felt like a circle had been completed."Įmail Becky Oskin or follow her Follow us Facebook or Google+. "To get to go out on a shuttle recovery crew after growing up as a child in Florida and watching it come down was amazing," he said. Soon after joining Dryden, Graham's dream took another turn when the space shuttle landed at Edwards Air Force Base. "All this was a childhood dream, then to wind up as a medical guy and get sent to Beale, then get the job here at NASA is really like being struck twice by lightning," Graham said."There's really only one place that does what we do here, and I'm one of three guys. The support techniciansalso fit and dress the pilots in their suits, take them out and hook them up to the aircraft, and make sure it's safe for others to enter the aircraft after it lands. Graham and his colleagues prepare everything thepilots need, from the air they breathe to their ejection seats, survival items and parachutes. A small helmet hole allows access for straw-fed water bottles and meals from squeeze tubes. The $400,000 flight suits have a small plastic ball on a tether that pilots use to yank down the neck ring after the suit inflates, clearing their view. When the suit inflates, it pushes up the helmet so pilots can't see. Now, almost seven years later, Graham is still there, working as one of three life-support technicians at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Palmdale, Calif., contracted with Computer Science Corporation.Īt Dryden, Graham maintains life support suits for NASA's research pilots, who fly its two ER-2 aircraft, the civilian equivalent of the U-2 vessels.The bright orange flight suits are very similar to the launch-and-re-entry suits astronauts wear on spaceflights, but with a different neck and oxygen design, Graham said. I was so excited, I locked my keys in my truck after I pulled over to write the number down." It was nasty, dirty work, and I got the call on Monday right after I finished my shift. "I will never forget the day," Graham said."I was working dragging brush. NASA life support engineering technician Joshua Graham performs a pre-flight inspection of a pressure suit.
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