To the Moon: After-Hours Tour
When: Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 6:30 pm
Where: LBJ Library, 10th Floor Atrium
Contact: Sarah McCracken [sarah@lbjfoundation.org...]
Join us on September 30 for a behind-the-scenes tour of To the Moon: The American Space Program in the 1960s. Following the tour, former U.T. football player and NASA engineer Tim Crain will speak on his experiences working at Johnson Space Center. A reception will follow.
Timothy Crain graduated with a Doctorate in 2000 after receiving a Masters in 1999 and Bachelors with highest honors in 1995, all three in the Aerospace Engineering department. Tim joined the Advanced Mission Design branch of the NASA Johnson Space Center where the first plans for post-International Space Station human exploration of Mars were being established. At JSC, Tim has developed the design of navigation systems for both human and robotic spacecraft involved in entry, descent, and landing and rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking.
These designs were used for the upcoming 2009 Mars Science Laboratory, the mini-AERCam free-flying inspection vehicle, the Hubble Robotic Servicing Vehicle, and provided the foundation for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). He is currently working towards humanity's return to the moon as the Orion Orbit Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) System Manager at JSC responsible for the trajectory design and GN&C system design from launch vehicle separation until immediately prior to entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
While at the University, Tim was a Texas Excellence Award recipient and a scholarship football player for two years under coaches McWilliams and Mackovic and beat OU both years (1991 & 1992) before a knee injury directed him from the playing field to the field of experimental research at the Applied Physics Labs at what is now the J.J. Pickle Research Campus. Upon receiving his bachelors in 1995, he jumped at the opportunity to study Mars exploration under Drs. Bishop and Fowler in the ASE/EM department where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow.