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The first form I was asked to fill out by NASA was the ERD or Experimental Requirements Document. In this form we detailed (as much as we could at the time) everything we thought would happen on Earth and in spaceflight. The NASA operations personnel, NASA scientists, and all levels of managers have been reviewing this document, asking for clarifications or changes based on astronaut time, hardware availability or any other issues. This document has been modified and updated with time and is now approved and this form will serve as the “guide” for our spaceflight experiment. I still remember I was visiting another type of mouse, as I was frantically working to finish the first draft of this form for the quick deadline, as I was going with some friends and family members on a Thanksgiving week Disney Cruise in 2013. I was working after a fun-filled day at the Disney amusement park late after our arrival in our hotel room as I had to send it off to NASA before I boarded the cruise the next day and would not have internet access. As I write this I am sensing a pattern, somehow I seem to be working near or on holiday vacations fairly often! Maybe after our successful launch now scheduled for January 28, 2017, I can finally take some extra time off during the holidays! Back to work!
Written by Melissa Kacena
