William H. Gerstenmaier 2010 NATIONAL SPACE TROPHY WINNER The Rotary Na- a Gemini model and fol- tional Award for lowed the space program Space Achievement very closely. (RNASA) Founda- He graduated tion is pleased to from Akron East High honor NASA Associ- School in 1973 and en- ate Administrator for rolled in the U. S. Naval Space Operations, Academy in Annapolis, William (Bill) H. Maryland, hoping to be- Gerstenmaier with come a test pilot. With the 2010 National a glut of pilots returning Space Trophy. He from Vietnam, he didn’t was nominated by think he’d get a chance to four distinguished fly. So, in 1975, he trans- members of the ferred to Purdue in West A rocket for Christmas RNASA Board of Lafayette, Indiana, to (Photo courtesy Gerstenmaier) Advisors: Direc- study aeronautics and as- William H. Gerstenmaier tor of NASA Lang- tronautics. He graduated (NASA Photo) ley Research Center with a BS in aeronautical engineering in 1977 and went to in Virginia, Mrs. work for NASA at the Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center Lesa B. Roe; former in Cleveland, Ohio. NASA Administrator Mike Griffin; Johnson Space Center Research suited the young engineer. “I like com- Director Mike Coats; and Apollo 17 Astronaut and former paring analysis with results from physical tests,” he told U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt. They cited him for “his un- wavering commitment and remarkable contributions to hu- man space flight and providing outstanding leadership and direction to the exploration of space through his contribu- tions to the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) programs.” William H. Gerstenmaier is the Associate Ad- ministrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. In this position, he is responsible for oversight of all NASA’s Space Shuttle, ISS, space launch services programs, the astronaut crew health program, and the communication systems network. Spaceflight was Special Gerstenmaier was born in Akron, Ohio in September 1954. His, father Howard (1917-82), worked for Firestone Tire and Rubber Company as a technician. His mother, Evelyn Gerstenmaier examines a model in the wind tunnel at (1917-96), was an accountant. “When I was about 3 years Lewis Research Center in Cleveland while Mo Raita old, I remember being taken outside to see Sputnik fly over looks on. (NASA Photo, 1978) our house. All of our neighbors were outside also. This im- pressed on me that spaceflight was special.” Growing up, Gerstenmaier had a strong curios- RNASA. He was involved with the wind tunnel tests used ity and love of science and mathematics. “I really liked to to develop the calibration curves for the air data probes used understand how things worked and was continually taking during entry on the Space Shuttle. things apart. I also had a chemistry set and loved to experi- While at Lewis, Gerstenmaier continued his educa- ment.” tion and earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering Though the young Gerstenmaier didn’t aspire toward any from the University of Toledo in 1981. particular career, he knew he’d rather “do things and not just talk about things.” The future aerospace engineer built continued on page 4 - 3 - William H. Gerstenmaier 2010 NATIONAL SPACE TROPHY WINNER continued from previous page Challenger/Columbia Propulsion Officer On January 28, 1986, Gerstenmaier was in the weight- Gerstenmaier moved to Houston in July 1980 to work at the less environmental test facility with future astronaut (class of Johnson Space Center. “I really liked the research test expe- 1987) Mike Foale, watching the launch of STS 51-L on TV. rience at Lewis, but I thought I would go to Houston for a “We immediately knew something was grossly wrong,” Ger- couple of years and see what space operations were like,” he stenmaier said. “The loss was devastating. Professionally, I said. “I planned on staying 2-3 years and then returning to saw our system fail, and personally, I saw friends on the crew research. I got hooked and ending up staying 25 years!” perish. It drove home how demanding and dangerous our Gerstenmaier worked in Mission Control as a Space business really is. I vowed internally to never allow another Shuttle Propulsion Engineer (Prop), responsible for moni- Challenger disaster to occur.” toring and evaluating propellants and other consumables Beginning in 1988, Gerstenmaier headed the Orbital required for maneu- Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) Opera- vers. “The prepara- tions Office. Subsequently, he led the tion required was Space Shuttle/Space Station Free- enormous,” he told dom Assembly Operations Office and RNASA. “You had to served as chief, Projects and Facilities multi-task and make Branch, Flight Design and Dynamics the right decision in a Division. very short amount of ”I got to the point in my career time. My experience where my technical skills were get- with real hardware and ting weak,” he said in an interview hands-on experience with the Purdue Engineering Depart- from Lewis was a tre- ment in 2002. So he took advantage mendous benefit.” of a NASA fellowship and completed He worked as the course work for a PhD in dynam- Prop for STS-4 and ics and control in 1992-93. STS-5 in 1982, STS- Bill inspects the shuttle after STS-124 (NASA,6-14-08) Gerstenmaier then returned to 6 through STS-9 in NASA and served as Shuttle/Mir Pro- 1983, and 41D/STS- gram operations manager from 1995 13 and 41G/STS-17 in 1984. He called the preparation for to 1997. During this time, he acted as the primary liaison to each flight the most rewarding part of the job. “Working as a the Russian Space Agency for operational issues and negoti- team also brings a very strong satisfaction,” he added. “Our ated all protocols used in support of operations. From January mission is so complex, that everyone must work together to through September 1996, he was stationed in Russia to sup- accomplish the goal. This brings a real sense of family and port astronaut Shannon Lucid while she was on Mir. His work friendship to the Mission Control team.” on the Phase 1 Mir program was recognized in 1997 with a A fan of the outdoors, Gerstenmaier met his wife, RNASA Stellar Award in the Mid-Career category. Marsha Ann Johnson, while jogging in Clear Lake. The In 1998, Gerstenmaier became manager of Space daughter of Betty and Raynard Johnson of Sugarland, Mar- Shuttle Program Integration, where he had responsibility for sha was born in Olean, New York and moved to Houston the overall management, integration, and operations. In De- when she was 13. She has a degree in civil engineering tech- cember 2000, he was named deputy manager of the ISS Pro- nology from the University of Houston and worked on space gram. He became ISS program manager in 2002. suits for Hamilton Standard (now Hamilton Sunstrand) when Gerstenmaier was at home in Houston on Saturday, they met. They were married in 1982. They have two daugh- February 1, 2003 when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke ters, Katie and Lora, both engineers like their parents. Katie apart over Texas. “I was in charge of the International Space graduated from Texas A&M with a BS in Industrial Engi- Station at the time. I immediately went to the Space Station neering and now works for Astra Zenica in Dallas. Daughter Control Center and called all of the international partners and Lora graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from informed them of the disaster. We had a Progress supply vehi- UT in Austin and now works for Accenture in Houston. cle about ready to launch, and we needed to review the cargo “I left console to become the head of the Deployable onboard to see if we should delay the launch to fly additional Payloads Section,” Gerstenmaier explained. “We worked on supplies to ISS.” They determined the manifest was fine, and the Intelsat repair mission, Hubble, and Spartan payloads.” the Progress launched on schedule. continued on page 34 - 4 - Miles O’Brien 2010 RNASA BANQUET EMCEE X-Prize. He created a documentary, “Terminal Count: What it Takes to Make the Space Shuttle Fly” in 2001, and con- tinued coverage of the successful Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, that began their travels in 2003. When the Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew were lost in 2003, O’Brien came to Johnson Space Center and prepared in-depth reports on the aftermath and subsequent investigation and return to flight in 2005. Unknown to view- ers at the time, the loss of Columbia represented the sudden end of a long-held dream for O’Brien. Only days before (and after years of negotiations) CNN and NASA had reached an agreement that would have made O’Brien the first journal- ist to fly on the Space Shuttle and to visit the International Space Station. A third-generation pilot with an instrument rating, Miles O’Brien (NASA) O’Brien grew up flying Cessnas and Pipers rented by his fa- ther. He has owned a Cirrus SR-22 for the past five years. The RNASA Foundation is pleased to welcome back Miles Not surprisingly, O’Brien has reported extensively O’Brien as Master of Ceremonies for this year’s banquet. on civil aviation issues and crash investigations, including O’Brien is the owner of a private production company that those of US Air 427, TWA 800, Egyptair 990, American 587, creates, produces and distributes original content across and the accidents that took the lives of John F. Kennedy, Jr. all media platforms. Based in New York, O’Brien has 27 Payne Stewart, and Senator Paul Wellstone.