Nerdy April

On May 27th two American astronauts will launch from American soil for the first time in nearly a decade. My role on this particular mission is limited, but the excitement around NASA (even virtually) is electric. Many of my close friends and colleagues have spent years writing flight rules and procedures, practicing calls and anomalies in simulations, and checking off verifications and requirements. I thought it might be fun to revisit some of my old blog posts in the days leading up to this historic launch. It will be interesting to compare my feelings about the space shuttle program winding down (and my place in life 9 years ago) with my incredible proximity to America's return to human-rated launch vehicles.
This post was originally published on September 21, 2010! ___________________________________________________________________________
Today, in the wee hours of the morning, Space Shuttle Discovery made it's final [planned] trip to launch pad 39A. It may seem meaningless,…

How are you doing?

How is quarantine life?

How are you not going crazy with your kids home all day?

How is that sink full of dishes doing?

I thought I would type up a big 'ol Blackwell family quarantine update. How its going, what we're doing (and not doing), how the kids are handling it and how many wine corks we have lined up on the shelf, you know, to count the days ;-)

What does work look like these days? Chris and I are both engineers so the majority of our "office" work can be done virtually. My office setup is in our bedroom and he took over our actual office. Since we both have virtual meetings throughout the day its nice to have these separate spaces to work in.

I am still scheduled for console shifts every couple of weeks, so on those days I do actually have to put on business professional attire and drive over to NASA. But inside it feels like a weekend evening shift - there are limited people in Mission Control itself and a few extra people here and there…

In light of recent, on-going events (COVID-19 for those reading this in the future), I've modified my "How T1D is Like Mission Control" series slightly this week because these comparisons are for all residents of planet Earth - not just those with diabetes. 

If you're not familiar with the series you can click these links to read about Responsibility, Toughness and Competence. In Mission Control we live by, cultivate and hone seven characteristics essential to flight control - the guidelines are called the "Foundations of Flight Operations".  This week I am focusing on TEAMWORK. 


"Realizing that we work toward a common goal..." In mission control, our common goal is three-fold: (1) crew safety, (2) vehicle safety, and (3) mission success. This is how we prioritize discussions, formulate troubleshooting plans, and work problems. Through run after run in simulations, we practice recognizing situations where these three aspects are in conflict and w…

Today is another installment in my series "How T1D is like mission control" - an in-depth look at how living a life with type 1 diabetes bakes in the same characteristics flight controllers practice as instructed by the "Foundations of Flight Operations". You can also read my takes on "Responsibility" and "Toughness". A recent diabetes experience got me thinking a lot about one of the more sterile flight controller qualities 'competence'. I say sterile because competence is black and white - you either have it or you don't - it's not "squishy" like 'teamwork' or 'toughness'. In the arena of human spaceflight, some of these qualities can wax and wane. For instance, on quiet weekend nights, I may never even have a technical conversation with a teammate because it just isn't necessary. In these instances, I need to be able to "turn on" teamwork, but the shift itself doesn't really require …

Mission Control is located in the very center of a concrete building - literally on the middle floor vertically and horizontally in the middle of the vertically middle floor. I think that sentence was confusing, but you get it, the room is in the very center of a concrete box. As such, there are no windows to the outside world - for good reason. Several critical consoles (mine included) are staffed 24/7/365 which means someone is always working, even in the middle of the night. Every group staffs their consoles differently - my group rotates shifts, so even as a specialist I have several sets of overnight shifts each year. You can probably see why the "no-windows" thing is important.


Performing shift work is difficult even for a perfect specimen adult, but navigating sleep shifts and overnight hours alongside the maintenance of a chronic disease can be tricky. I've put together a few of my tips and tricks for performing shift work and not feeling like absolute crap. Hope…