Hello!  My name is Albert Gonzales, I'm 25 years old, and I've been working within NASA’s Missions Operations Directorate full-time for almost a year now.  More specifically, I work in the Mission Control Center here at the Johnson’s Space Center manning one of the Instrumentation and Communication (INCO) computer consoles.  The people within the INCO group are responsible for both the Space Shuttle radio communication and sending commands to the Orbiter to configure the Shuttle equipment.  But best of all, INCO is in charge of the onboard cameras, thus we provide most of those great images of space, Earth and now the International Space Station.

 I grew up in the Corpus Christi area and attended Texas A&M University.  With an interest in flight and a basic wonder of how things worked, I chose to study in the field of aerospace engineering. During my senior year of college, I participated on a NASA exploration project to land human beings on Mars.  We worked closely with NASA engineers to develop a process to land a manned vehicle on the Martian surface and survive Mars harsh environment.  With a lot of hard work and a lot of fun, I finally graduated in May of 2000 with a Bachelor’s Degree.  After working with such talented people at NASA, I knew I wanted to work for the space industry.

Some of my personal interests include softball, golf and running.  I am currently on two softball teams that play locally.  I golf when I can, which is not too often and I currently run about ten miles a week.  When I relax in my apartment, I usually work on an ISS model that I am putting together.  It allows me to pass the time in solitude.

I’m looking forward to working with everyone!

Gig’em Aggies