NOVA: s52e19 - Operation Space Station: High-Risk Build

Just watching Operation Space Station: High-Risk Build. Absolutely blown away by the complexity behind the ISS, how many missions, years, teams, etc. went into piecing this thing together. Watching them assemble it bit by bit, in space, while absolutely cruising is impressive, to say the least. It's a giant real-life LEGO set. Back in the day, I did some work at JSC on some gateway software like EFN and Chits, which you can read about a little bit in this poster: Click here to read.. The poster is not mine, but it details a bit about Chits and EFN. While working there, it was very difficult to me to really feel like I was making a difference, because everything at NASA is just so grand-scale it's hard to feel like you're contributing at times. Seeing this documentary certainly helps to bring that feeling of accomplishment to life. In a world where it feels like we can't agree on anything anymore, it's inspiring to see engineers, scientists, and astronauts from all over the planet coming together and literally building humanity’s home in space. Makes you proud to have even a small fingerprint on that story.

 

A photo of my wife and I with Gene Kranz, the flight director who directed the missions of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, including the first lunar landing mission, Apollo 11.