Scott Altman knows a little something about teamwork.
The former NASA astronaut served on four shuttle missions between 1998 and 2009, including the final two missions to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
While training to become an astronaut on missions after years serving in the Navy as a pilot, Altman said he had to learn and work with the various skills of his crewmates.
“It’s challenging to think about getting everybody to work together … just learning to get what people’s strengths and weaknesses are, how they interacted, was probably the most challenging,” Altman told a group of 32 Virginia high school students and recent graduates. “My first time as a commander, where I had the responsibility for the mission, was probably one of the biggest challenges I’ve personally felt. By the time we launched, I felt we were ready.”
Altman, who now works for ASRC Federal overseeing its NASA and NOAA contracts, imparted his wisdom as the group was working through the same challenge of planning missions as cohesive teams, although they were related to earth science, not servicing a telescope in outer space.
The students were at NASA Langley Research Center taking part in the free Virginia Earth System Science Scholars, or VESSS, program through the Virginia Space Grant Consortium.
The VSGC is a group of five colleges and universities, including Hampton University, College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, NASA, state agencies and other institutions that represent aerospace education and research.
The students spent the week at the center learning about earth science and the various systems that shape the planet’s climate. The group was broken into four teams — the biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere. In their teams, they worked to figure out ways to study some of the key issues impacting the planet.
“We’re trying to show them that there’s more than one reason why sea level is rising, but we’re also sinking in this area,” said Joyce Corriere, program coordinator for VESSS. “We’re trying to get them to understand that these issues are problems we are facing now, not 30 or 40 or 50 years from now. … What we’re really trying to get them to understand is the economic impact, and the human impact.”
The participants had taken an online three-credit course for college credit during the school year. The summer academy at NASA Langley adds another — free — lab credit.
During their week at Langley, they spent time gathering guidance and knowledge from mentors at NASA, while getting tours and presentations on all the work being done at the center. On Thursday, they presented their mission plans to a panel of scientists and engineers and got further feedback.
And, of course, they spent time with an astronaut.
“This is a really amazing experience,” said Quincy Carpenter of Hampton. “It takes you so behind the scenes of so many programs and everything. Just getting into the mind of these people, it’s an amazing experience. The teamwork we’ve done, getting to know people from different schools, different areas, it’s really amazing to bring our minds together.”
Hammond can be reached by phone at 757-247-4951.
