Chat Room Transcript - Chat Session, March 31, 2008 @ 5:00 pm

Hi Laura!!
> How have you been??
> Hi Tim

<Tim Jenks> Hi Mrs. Cole

<Laura Sarmiento> Hi!

<Tim Jenks> Hey Mrs. Sarmiento
> Laura, did Jessica tell you that I am the same Lisa Sanford you used to
   work with?

<Laura Sarmiento> Hi Tim! You can call me Laura. Sarmiento is a lot to
   type!

<Laura Sarmiento> Yes I heard that through Linda! I think she was
   wanting us to do the same HAS week this summer! How have you
   been?

<Tim Jenks> Haha ok, Laura
> Great. I am so proud of you!
> Hi Nathan.

<Nathan Drake> Hello

<Laura Sarmiento> :)

<Nathan Drake> So what does everyone do
> Our expert today is Laura Sarmiento. We'll wait a couple of more
   minutes for others to arrive and then she can tell you all about what she
   does at NASA

<Nathan Drake> ok
> Where are you all from?

<Nathan Drake> West Houston
> What about you Tim?
> Hmmm, must be taking a break :0)
> Hey Serenity!

<Serenity Gammill> Greetings, all.

<Tim Jenks> Hey, North Houston

<Tim Jenks> The Woodlands

<Nathan Drake> Are you located at JSC Laura

<Laura Sarmiento> yes. I am from Katy but I live out in Clear Lake now
> Okay Laura, if you want to take it from here I think everyone is ready
   to find out about you.

<Tim Jenks> fun. Sorry if i'm jumping the gun, but what do you do as an
   experiment support scientist?

<Laura Sarmiento> As an experiment support scientist (ESS) [remember
   NASA loves their acronyms!] I am in charge of supporting the science
   experiments and payloads that go on the International Space Station.

<Tim Jenks> Ahh, ok, is that before or after they go into orbit?

<Laura Sarmiento> Basically, when an experiment gets selected I am in
   charge of writing up the requirements document, training the crew
   members, supporting in a mission control backroom when the
   experiment is being conducted and making sure baseline data collection
   happens both pre and post flight

<Laura Sarmiento> And I am also the go to person for any science
   questions about an experiment

<Nathan Drake> What do you is the most ineresting experiment is
   currently on the ISS.

<Laura Sarmiento> hmm thats a tough one.

<Laura Sarmiento> I really like a device they have called SLAMMD. Its
   a device that measures the mass of an astronaut in orbit. its really cool
   since it finds this out using the most simple formula: F=ma

<Serenity Gammill> What is the most dangerous experiment you've ever
   sent up? I assume there's a large risk factor in all of them, to a degree,
   but...

<Nathan Drake> Cool

<Laura Sarmiento> I thought it was cool because you learn so much
   about F=ma but never see a practical implication of it

<Nathan Drake> Yeah, my physics teacher says that is one of the most
   studies equations in physics

<Laura Sarmiento> there is a risk factor in all of them. i guess some
   dangerous experiments involve the blood draws. These are time critical
   because they make sure that the station is not going to have any suddent
   movements while they are conducting the blood draw so they dont get
   hurt

<Laura Sarmiento> some of the astronauts even draw their own blood

<Tim Jenks> Wow, not much room for error there, I suppose...

<Tim Jenks> What's your latest experiment?

<Laura Sarmiento> Well I am working on several. A couple of them are
   still in the review phases but my current one is SWAB-it takes samples
   of the surface, air and water on board station and categorizes the DNA
   found to analyze the environment and see if there are any pathogens
   there

<Laura Sarmiento> It stands for Surface Water and Air
   Biocharacterization.
> Hi Ashley!

<Ashley George> hi!!

<Tim Jenks> Wow, I guess I had never considered the possibility of an
   astronaut getting sick. Maybe I had always thought the ISS was a sort
   of clean room

<Nathan Drake> What kind of animals do they bring to the station?

<Ashley George> bugs rite?

<Laura Sarmiento> They try to keep it as clean as possible but no they
   find similar stuff up there as down here

<Ashley George> u can never be too clean...germs like clean places

<Laura Sarmiento> hmm I dont know too much about the animals, but I
   know they have brought up bugs and I think mice as well. they also
   have several experiments up there studying plant growth
> Laura when you get a chance, would you share your experience with
   the HAS program?
> Hi Ana!

<Ana Luevanos> Hi

<Laura Sarmiento> Sure! I was a participant in the HAS program when I
   was in high school. I have always been a 'space nerd' and that program
   was perfect and introduced me to all the other great education programs
   here at JSC

<Ashley George> very cool

<Tim Jenks> Would you have worked at NASA if it weren't for HAS?

<Laura Sarmiento> Probably not- or at least it would have taken me a lot
   longer to get here and that would have been bad because I have loved
   every minute!
> Weren't you also a co-op?

<Laura Sarmiento> After HAS, I applied for the co-op program at JSC as
   soon as I got to college pretty much. I started co-oping in my sophmore
   year and ended up doing 5 tours. (2 long semesters and 3 summers)

<Ana Luevanos> what is your daily job at NASA??

<Nathan Drake> What college did you attend?

<Laura Sarmiento> I also got to fly on the KC-135 as part of the Reduced
   Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program

<Laura Sarmiento> I went to The University of Texas

<Laura Sarmiento> my daily job is kind of hard to describe because its
   different every day! which I like.

<Ana Luevanos> Ok. What did you do today?

<Ashley George> im sure all the experiments make it very interesting

<Laura Sarmiento> Most of the time its supporting the experiments by
   keeping the documents updated and making sure that when the schedule
   changes (we are dependent on Shuttle mission schedules and those
   change often) stuff that I need for my experiment still happens

<Nathan Drake> Do you know any astronauts personally?

<Ashley George> what has been your favorite experiment so far?

<Laura Sarmiento> A few. I met a lot of them during the co-op program.
   I haven't done a training session with the crew yet but I look forward to
   it because they are fun to work with.

<Ana Luevanos> Is it necessary to speak other languages in your job?

<Tim Jenks> (Ashley you can check the transcript later for that, we
   already covered that, sorry)

<Laura Sarmiento> There is one experiment that measures the crews
   oxygen uptake as they exercise. I have sat in on that experiment several
   times to get my training hours on console. its a good one because its
   very involved and you can directly see what the crew is doing

<Tim Jenks> (unless she wants to go into it)

<Laura Sarmiento> Oh. and ISS runs on GMT time so their day is our
   night. So when I come to sit on console its usually around 1 or 2 in the
   morning!

<Ashley George> ok

<Tim Jenks> "On Console" does that mean in Mission Control or one of
   the supporting rooms?

<Laura Sarmiento> Its not required to speak another language but it is
   helpful, especially with training Russian, Canadian or European crew
   members. I took a year of Russian at school and I am taking a course at
   work as well to try and become fluent--I am a long way off from that
   though!

<Laura Sarmiento> Yes. On console for me is a back supporting room
   called the Telescience Support Center

<Nathan Drake> Do they have a mock-up of any of the ISS modules to
   use at JSC?

<Laura Sarmiento> its right down the hall from the Shuttle and ISS control
   rooms

<Tim Jenks> Fun!

<Laura Sarmiento> Yes. there are lots of mock-ups and training
   simulators at JSC
> You will get to see some of them this summer.
> Hi Audrey!

<Laura Sarmiento> they have a whole building that has the entire station
   and the shuttle for training. They also have motion simulators as well
   that move to mimic the real flight. And they also train at the Neutral
   Buyouncy Laboratory that is one of the biggest pools in the world that
   has mockups of the shuttle and staion in it

<Ashley George> well nice to meet you laura...i have lots of homework to
   do otherwise i would stay longer...bye!

<Laura Sarmiento> Nice to meet you too!
> Bye Ashely!

<Nathan Drake> Do you know of any careers that combine Space and
   biology, like astrobiology maybe?

<Laura Sarmiento> yes. I worked in the Astromaterials division here at
   JSC for a semester as a co-op and it directly dealt with astrobiology

<Laura Sarmiento> Astrobiology is a new field but its exciting

<Laura Sarmiento> I helped to research on techniques for testing soil
   (such as Martian or Lunar) for traces of life

<Audrey Katz> oh wow

<Audrey Katz> thats really cool

<Audrey Katz> do you work closely with biomedical engineers?

<Tim Jenks> What did you major in at UT?

<Laura Sarmiento> I also did 3 tours as a co-op in the Human Adaptation
   and Countermeasures Office where there is lots of research about how
   to counter act the effects of weightlessness to keep the astronauts
   healthy

<Laura Sarmiento> Yes and no on working with BMEs. it depends on the
   experiment.

<Laura Sarmiento> for the SWAB experiment I interface with the
   engineers who are building the water hardware because my experiment
   will interface with it.

<Laura Sarmiento> I majored in Neurobiology with a minor in psychology

<Laura Sarmiento> hmm. I really liked my neuro lab because we actually
   got to work with real brain slices (from rats) and see the neurons in
   action

<Laura Sarmiento> Labs were usually fun because its more hands on

<Laura Sarmiento> That was also the great thing about co-oping. You
   dont know what the real world is really like unless you go out and do
   it---everyone should do a co-op or internship at some point during
   college to see if they are really making the right choice of major
> Are there any experiments in the planning stage for going back to the
   moon?

<Laura Sarmiento> To be tested on the moon or that relate to going back
   to the moon?

<Serenity Gammill> As an addition to Lisa's question: Or to Mars?
> Either

<Laura Sarmiento> Pretty much all of our experiments are geared toward
   sustaining human presence in space for the long term such as missions
   to the moon or to Mars.

<Laura Sarmiento> as far as acutal experiments to be tested on the
   Moon, I am sure they will try to continue some that are on ISS but I am
   not sure of any specific ones that are planned yet
> Hello Garrett

<Nathan Drake> Did you work or are you working on any experiments
   for Mars or Moon missions?

<Garrett McDaniel> Hello Ms. Cole.

<Laura Sarmiento> The work I did in astromaterials was for a Mars
   mission, but it didnt involve experiments with human subjects. The
   current experiments are geared toward surviving and making things
   easier for Moon and Mars missions, but no specifics yet
> Hi Kylie and Katie

<Nathan Drake> Did you consider being an astronaut?

<Kylie Schott> hi!
> Our expert today is Laura Sarmiento.

<Katie Jaycox> Hi.

<Laura Sarmiento> yes. I have wanted to be an astronaut since I was
   about 4 years old. Still havent ruled it out but I never realized how many
   cool things you can do to be a part of the space program besides being
   an astronaut.
> She supports experiments on that are done on the ISS

<Kylie Schott> oh, ok...thanks!
> You can read the transcripts later... really cool info.

<Laura Sarmiento> Hi everyone! I hope yall have access to the history of
   the chat to see whats already been said--but i can repeat things if yall
   want.

<Katie Jaycox> That's really neat. What do you do to support
   experiments? Do you design them?

<Katie Jaycox> Sorry I'm coming in late...

<Nathan Drake> Yeah, without all of you all on the ground for supprt, the
   astronauts cannot do much by themselves
> No worries... everyone can't be here the whole time. Glad you could all
   make it.

<Garrett McDaniel> Which experiments in particular do you support?

<Laura Sarmiento> Yea, there are a lot of people on the ground to make  things happen.

<Katie Jaycox> Do you work at all with the Protien Crystal experiments?
   Those are extremely interesting for me.

<Laura Sarmiento> One that I support is SWAB- Surface Water and Air
   Biocharacterization that studies the environment of the station and
   checks to make sure there arent any pathogens or other nasty bugs

<Tim Jenks> What advice would you give to people who may want to
   work at NASA in the future?

<Laura Sarmiento> Those are really interestin. I work more with
   experiments that involve human subjects or need human operators
   though.

<Brian Siela> The station has canned air though. So are the pathogens coming in on the people?

<Laura Sarmiento> sometimes yes or on equipment we ship up there. and
   some bacteria actually grow better in space

<Katie Jaycox> That's really cool.

<Brian Siela> I can see that.

<Katie Jaycox> Don't astronauts have to spend some time in quarintine
   before going up to help with that?

<Laura Sarmiento> Advice--try to participate in as much as you can. The
   experience and networking you gain are extrememly valuable. And also
   do what you love

<Garrett McDaniel> Do we know why some bacteria grow better in
   space?
> Great question Garrett.

<Laura Sarmiento> most people think you need to have an engineering
   degree. I dont because I dont think I would make a particularly great
   engineer but I love science

<Tim Jenks> Ahh, ok thanks

<Laura Sarmiento> If you do what you love and really have a passion for
   then you will love your job
> One of the great things about the summer week is that you see many,
   many career choices.

<Laura Sarmiento> Yes, it takes all kinds of people and backgrounds to
   run NASA.

<Brian Siela> Are there any special anti-viral bacteria that you insert into
   the air on the ISS?

<Nathan Drake> Can you tell us some of the summer activities?

Laura Sarmiento> I am not entirely sure on why some bacteria grow
   better in space. and yes they are under a quarantine, i am not sure how
   strict it is but there is a notice that goes out to all employees before a
   launch to stay away from the crew if you are sick

<Laura Sarmiento> Hmm, not sure on the anti-viral bacteria on the ISS.

<Brian Siela> Didnt one of the astronauts get sick on one of the last
   missions causing him to miss a spacewalk?

<Laura Sarmiento> Summer activities for HAS-- they are great!
> Hi Brian

<Laura Sarmiento> You get to work in a team to help plan a mission to
   Mars.
> What team were you on Laura?

<Brian Siela> Hi

<Laura Sarmiento> its really great to see a team come together. I was on
   the Working there team I beleive (that was a long time ago!) thats the
   Navy team correct?
> For those just joining us, our expert, Laura Sarmiento was a HAS
   scholar and a co-op for JSC.
> That's right.

<Garrett McDaniel> How do the astronaut crew members cope with a
   disease if there is an outbreak in space?

<Katie Jaycox> That's cool that you went to HAS and now you work at
   NASA. The program's only a decade old right? Were you hired by
   Nasa straight out of college?

<Laura Sarmiento> Well thats some of the things we are trying to work
   on. We are advancing telemedicine so that doctors on earth can help the
   astronauts if they are on a long range mission or cant be returned to
   earth in a quick manner. we are also using the data from experiments
   like SWAB to help see what does grow up there and how we can keep
   it from growing

<Laura Sarmiento> Yes, I graduated last August and I started that
   December.

<Nathan Drake> Kind of like what James Bond does in Casino Royale i
   guess

<Laura Sarmiento> the co-op program usually hires right out of college. I
   am a contractor now though but its still the same NASA team

We only have a few minutes. Any last questions for Laura?

<Laura Sarmiento> Most of the time its supporting the experiments by
   keeping the documents updated and making sure that when the schedule
   changes things that need to get done for my experiment still get done

<Katie Jaycox> Do you have one experiment that you work on at a time,
   or do you work on multiple experiments at once?

<Laura Sarmiento> (sorry I just cut and pasted that from earlier from
   what my typical day is)

<Laura Sarmiento> I work on several experiments at once.

<Laura Sarmiento> most of the time its not to bad, but it can get a little
   hectic when they all have something that requires my attention

<Tim Jenks> No problem. If you had to do life over, would you still pick
   the same job?

Great last question!

<Garrett McDaniel> Thank you for your time, Ms. Sarmiento.

<Laura Sarmiento> Intersting question Tim. Well I know for sure that I
   would have done HAS and the co-op program. I actually just found out
   about this particular job fairly recently

<Nathan Drake> Thank you

<Brian Siela> Thanks!

<Katie Jaycox> Thanks!

<Tim Jenks> Thank you very much!

<Laura Sarmiento> i wanted to go to medical school but decided to push
   that off for the time being. Thanks to my co-oping experience though I
   found out about this job and it worked out great

<Laura Sarmiento> thank you to yall too!
> Excellent chat session. You all did a great job.
> Thanks so much Laura you were great!

<Laura Sarmiento> No problem!

<Ana Luevanos> Thanks Lisa.. Thanks Laura
> You can all stick around for the next chat session if you want

<Aaron Hellman> Hello!
> Our next expert will be joining us soon.

<Noni Thomas> okay

<Laura Sarmiento> I have to run, but I wish you all the best of luck and
   maybe I will see some of you this summer!

<Brian Siela> :)

<Noni Thomas> i hope so

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