Jerry Condon  - Mentor

 HAS 2001 - 2002
   
 

Hi!  I'm Jerry Condon. I grew up in Chicago, Illinois and later moved to St. Petersburg, Florida.  I attended the University of Florida where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1981 and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1982.

I currently work for NASA here at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division.  A lot of my work supports the Exploration Office here at JSC.  I do advanced mission design for human and robotic missions to destinations beyond low Earth orbit (e.g., moon, Mars, libration points, asteroids, etc.).  I look at possible ways to do these missions and consider things like Earth neighborhood and interplanetary trajectory design, powered flight guidance and performance, vehicle sizing, launch windows, arrival conditions, etc.  The work is great.  We continuously strive to improve our capabilities and tools.  There is always a new challenge to be tackled. 

Since early on, I was fascinated with space travel and the possibility of going to other planets.  When I was in junior high school, I designed a human Mars mission for a science fair.  So basically, I’m now doing the same thing I did in junior high school, only I’m getting paid for it J.  I am convinced that the human drive to learn and explore will take us beyond our own planet and I have always wanted to be a part of that. 

In my free time, I enjoy volleyball (our team made the playoffs), running, lifting weights, hiking, scuba diving, skiing, live music and theatre, writing, and have even done some stand-up comedy.  I also do presentations to student groups at Space Center Houston.