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OCTOBER 2005

Dr. Jack Kaye
City College Helps Students Prepare for Careers in NASA

By Liza Young

Working for the National Aeronatics and Space Administration (NASA) need not be a dream deferred; it can in fact be a dream come true. A division of NASA, the Center for Optical Sensing and Imaging (COSI) focuses on the development of key optical technologies and methodologies for sensing and imaging the earth and environment. Part of NASA-COSI’s mission is the recruitment and training of underrepresented minority students to learn to do research and development. Students work in labs, developing an understanding of the theoretical principles and practical applications in the area of optical imaging.

A NASA Research Day was recently held at City College (CCNY) where luminaries in the field of space study presented their work and personal motivations in the field. Dr. Jack Kaye, Director at NASA of the Research Division in the Office of Earth Science, provided about 300 inner city high school students with a background of the mission and visions of NASA—including understanding and protecting the home planet. Utilizing remote sensing devices like spacecrafts and satellites, he explained how NASA obtains information about the environment.

Dr. Laura Danly

Kaye related to students his fascination with using remote sensing to see an aerial scale of one’s school, the site of one’s favorite baseball field, and one’s home. He pointed out the skills required to work in NASA—one need not necessarily major in earth science, but an understanding of physics, math and chemistry are essential. Excellent communication ability is a key ingredient, while being multi-lingual is highly beneficial as “science is an international enterprise.” Dr. Kaye cautioned students, however, “not to retreat to planet science;” that knowledge of world politics and current events is crucial for being a successful scientist.

Dr. Laura Danly, Senior Manager of Astrophysics Education at the American Museum of Natural History engaged students in a vibrant discussion, asking the audience how many would like to go into space and how many follow NASA missions. Danly highlighted the amazing discoveries and accomplishments of NASA as well as challenges. She pointed out to students one of the major activities for NASA missions is dealing with the fatal danger of debris, which even originating from the shuttle itself can potentially hit the shuttle and send it to its demise.

Danly also related to students the exciting missions to Mars, which have the aim of understanding the physical transformations there and the implications for our own planet.

With respect to specific careers at NASA, Danly pointed out one of the less known and most dangerous jobs in NASA is retrieving the rockets, which are dropped from the shuttle during launching, from the ocean for reuse. For the artistically inclined, there is work at NASA drawing renditions of the missions to space.

Preparing for a successful career in science can begin early within one’s educational career due to the COSI-NASA mission and the efforts of CCNY.#

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