Astronaut Dreams


Telescope and Students Embry-Riddle has always attracted what Mahmut Reyhanoglu, associate professor and director of engineering physics, calls "astronaut wannabes." Other students dream of designing rockets, spacecraft, and space missions and working as mission control specialists. To prepare for their space careers, these students gravitate towards Embry-Riddle's degree programs in aerospace engineering, engineering physics, and space physics.

In a special meeting two days after the Columbia disaster, a group of Reyhanoglu's students assured him the accident didn't change a thing for them. "Some said they'd even go into space that day if given the chance," he recalled with pride.

Fernanda Zabala, a double major in engineering physics and aerospace engineering, said she was shocked when her father phoned her with news about the accident. "Even though NASA hadn't confirmed it, you knew the inevitable had happened," she said. "I shed a couple of tears."

Zabala hopes NASA doesn't stop sending people into space. "We won't get anywhere if we don't continue moving forward," she said. "You can't just send robots. Sooner or later this planet is going to be too crowded and there will only be two places to go: underwater or outer space."

The path that led her to Embry-Riddle started with a TV program she saw about researchers who were in Alaska for six months testing a plan to create a living environment on Mars. "That sparked my interest in becoming an aerospace engineer," she said.

Her dream now is to go to the red planet. "You run a risk being on the first mission, but I'd risk it." Until the time comes, she plans to get a job designing spacecraft and Mars craft.

When engineering physics major Rafael Love heard about the Columbia, he questioned: "What will happen to the space program, and will it jeopardize my career goals?"

He hopes to work as a researcher in the hot new field of nanotechnology, the design and manufacture of extremely small electronic circuits and mechanical devices using particles smaller than 100 nanometers. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.

Love believes the government will now grant more money for engineers to design better vehicles. "The space industry can't die," he said.

Two Students Casey Davis, an aerospace engineering student on the Prescott campus, agrees. "I don't think the disaster will stop NASA from sending people into space."

He plans to work as an aerospace engineer or an astronaut. "I understand the inherent risks associated with space exploration, but the possible benefits far outweigh these risks."

"With every shuttle mission, you're dealing with so many systems and their possible failures," added Kelli Crews, who also studies aerospace engineering at Prescott. "I think more emphasis will be put on finding a better way into space."

Michael Leger, an aerospace engineering major on the Daytona Beach campus, knew the Columbia was in trouble when he didn't hear the sonic boom that signals the space shuttle's return to Kennedy Space Center 50 miles away. "The Challenger explosion didn't scare me," said Leger, who wants to be an astronaut, "and neither has the Columbia disaster."

Future engineer Jens Biermann said the disaster has increased his desire to find an alternative to current NASA rockets. For a class project, he and several fellow students are designing a rocket that can be used to launch satellites into space.

"We've gone too far into the space program to change," said James Russell, who also studies aerospace engineering in Daytona Beach. "It might create stagnation in the field, though. Everything is based on economics now."

Astronauts in TrainingNASA astronaut and Embry-Riddle graduate Nicole Stott was in Canada for a cold weather survival course when the Columbia accident happened. "We were in the field when we got a call from one of the support people," she recalled in a phone interview with The Leader magazine. "They pulled us out."

Although Stott, who finished astronaut training in early 2002, has yet to be assigned to a mission on the space shuttle, she doesn't think the Columbia accident will affect her prospects for going into space. "I think we're going to work to figure out what happened, fix it, and go again. It's delaying things, though," she said.

Meanwhile, she's learning to use the hardware for the experimental payloads on the space station. She also visits high schools to promote the space program. "I tell students that all kinds of people are astronauts," she said. "They all found some interests they loved that led them there. For me, it was my love of flying and aeronautical engineering."

Stott said her love of learning took off at Embry-Riddle, where she earned a BS in aeronautical engineering in 1987. She credits the university's focus on hands-on, real-world experience and the senior design course, which teaches project management as well as technical skills.

"Embry-Riddle's approach was totally different from the large state university I'd gone to before," she said. "Instructors expected you to participate and speak to them. You weren't in a class of 300. That made a big difference in my learning."

"If you want to become an astronaut or work as a mission specialist, any of the engineering or physics degrees at Embry-Riddle are applicable," Stott said. "Loads of people at Embry-Riddle are qualified to do what they desire. To them I say: pursue your goals."

Besides Stott, five other Embry-Riddle alumni are astronauts: Daniel Burbank, B. Alvin Drew, Ronald Garan Jr., Susan Kilrain, and Terry Virts Jr.