Often times when people think about NASA, they see visions of the 69’ moon landing and astronauts drinking tang in large space suits; when, in fact, there is a lot more behind the scenes that goes into a space mission than most people would ever think.
My name is Sandra Milescu, and I am the newest member of the Kacena laboratory team. I am the research support assistant, and I work on much of the backstage coordination for the upcoming mission.
A lot of planning and preparation goes into a mission of this capacity. Supplies are ordered months ahead of time in copious quantities and often at staggering costs. For this reason, a lot of funding and donations go into helping support an undertaking this significant.
The team will all be present at the NASA space station in Florida for the flight. Travels plans will be made for the team of close to a dozen students and faculty, and arrangements will be made for lodging and transportation for all. This may seem like a relatively simple task, but taking into account all the documents and paperwork needed for NASA clearance, it can easily turn this endeavor into quite an arduous task.
While my position has its challenges, I can’t think of anywhere I would rather work. I am a part of something so very important and am excited to think of the wonderful possibilities our work can impact on our world.
Written by Sandra Milescu
