Aerospace Career Specialities -- James
E. Oberg
During my aerospace career I have performed a wide variety
of specialized roles. Highlights are broken down into the
following categories:
** SAFETY/RELIABILITY
** INTEGRATION OF HARDWARE AND OPERATIONS REQUIREMENTS
** PROJECT LEAD
** WRITING AND DOCUMENTATION DEVELOPMENT
** SHUTTLE OPERATIONS
** MILITARY ASSIGNMENTS
Safety/Reliability:
1995-7: Flight Design and Dynamics Division Safety Officer,
assessed payload hazards related to orbital flight; coordinated
and developed "Integrated Cargo Hazard Assessment"
reports for each shuttle mission.
1997: As independent consultant, prepared report on "Soyuz
Landing
Reliability Experience" for SAIC/NASA.
1994-5: Collected and assessed private reports of fires
aboard Soviet space stations, raised issue of Russian official
denial of such fires, wrote reports and articles about inadequate
NASA/Russian appreciation of space fire hazard.
1994: For "Flight Dynamics" safety review of
Russian 'Hazard Assessments', submitted written report that
Russians were underestimating true hazards of collision
during docking and consequent depressurization. Came true,
1997.
1990: Special assignment as member of "Blue Ribbon
Panel" for Space
Station "External Maintenance Task Team" (JSC's
"Fisher-Price Committee"); assessed, estimated,
and verified hardware failure rates for Russian space stations;
prepared 10,000 word report on "Soviet EVA Maintenance
Experience".
1977-1979: Mission Operations Directorate, Data Processing
Systems. Developed initial flight computer post-failure
in-flight change-out procedures (actually performed in 1989);
assessed all flight computer failure modes.
Integration of Hardware and Operations Requirements:
1995-7: Rockwell Space Operations Company, NASA Johnson
Space Center: Initiated and led selection International
Space Station first element launch time. Awarded "Sustained
Superior Performance" .
1992-1994: Shuttle/Station Integration for orbital design:
match undefined Space Station operational requirements to
changing Space Shuttle capabilities, identify mismatches
and develop reconciliation strategies; assess correctness
and completeness of baseline procedural documentation; pioneer
planning and training for Space Station control center trajectory
operations. Perform same analysis for space shuttle science
payloads and subsatellites.
Project Lead:
1995-7: Orbit design leader for STS-88, first Space Station
mission (July 1998).
1990-1991: Mission Control Center support of shuttle flights
STS-37 (GRO Deploy plus rendezvous navigation exercise)
as lead MCC planning shift Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures
Officer, and STS-39 (multiple deploys and retrieve with
a USAF payload) as Mission Support Room chief. Planning
shift leader for STS-48 UARS mission. Multi-discipline team
lead, "Ku-band radar" in-flight anomaly analysis
and resolution strategy development effort.
1987-1990: Lead "Book Manager" and Lead MCC Rendezvous
Officer for the LDEF Satellite Retrieve Mission, STS-32.
On console (in the "Trench") for actual mission
as MCC senior operator responsible for rendezvous.
1986-1988: Lead analyst for combination of Mission Control
Center jobs of "rendezvous procedures officer"
with "GUIDO" (guidance officer), became first
controller certified for the new position.
1981-1983: Led "Crew Flight Procedures" team
for "Proximity Operations and Rendezvous" as McDonnell
Douglas Astronautics Company Task Manager. Selected "1984
Technical Person of the Year" for rendezvous work.
Writing and Documentation Development:
Apart from official duties, published ten books and a thousand
magazine and encyclopedia articles on topics in the past,
present and future of space activity around the world. Lectured
to conferences, testified before Congress.
1993: NASA seminar on "Shuttle/Station Separation
Techniques", developed documentation, background data
& procedures rationale references, wrote and published
200-page conference proceedings.
1990-1991: Developed detailed training/verification plan
(200 pages) for MCC job of "Rendezvous Guidance and
Procedures Officer", including all lesson plans, simulator
exercises, oral examinations, certification requirements.
1990-1994: Located, collected, selected & annotated
documents for "History of Orbital Rendezvous"
reference book and training manual, 400 pages.
1986-1991: Mission Operations Division, Orbital Rendezvous
Procedures team. Wrote flight crew procedures handbook (400
pages), identified by MCC Director as "a model for
others to follow". Wrote MCC console handbook (300
pages) for entire rendezvous guidance and procedures MCC
team.
1984-1985: McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Corporation employee,
team for contract bid development on USAF "SOPC"
(to be the DoD's own Space Shuttle operations center). Ground
up assessment of "ideal" future mission control
organization. MDAC won the SOPC contract but USAF then canceled
project.
1983-1984: MDAC Proposal Team for Space Transportation
System Operations Contract, studied NASA-JSC's "Mission
Operations Division", collected and appraised all Mission
Control Center console reference handbooks, prepared "white
paper" on Systems Division functions, plus documentation
of mission preparation process flow. Rockwell won the contract
anyway in 1985.
1978-1979: Space Shuttle Flight Techniques Panel, first
executive secretary; inaugurated NASA-JSC procedures for
"flight rules" documentation, still used.
1977-1979: Mission Operations Directorate, Data Processing
Systems. Prepared Shuttle Systems Handbook drawings for
on-board General Purpose Computer (used for next twelve
years).
1975-7: USAF Captain, detailed to NASA-JSC Software Division,
Houston, wrote requirements documents for shuttle's flight
software & Spacelab computers.
Shuttle Operations:
1990-1991: Mission Control Center support of shuttle flights
STS-37 (GRO Deploy plus rendezvous navigation exercise)
as lead MCC orbit planning shift Rendezvous Guidance and
Procedures Officer, and STS-39 (multiple deploys and retrieve
with a USAF payload) as Mission Support Room chief. Orbit
planning shift leader for STS-48 UARS mission.
1987-1990: Lead MCC Rendezvous Officer for the Long Duration
Exposure Facility (LDEF) Satellite Retrieve Mission, STS-32.
On console (in the "Trench") for actual mission
as MCC senior operator responsible for rendezvous.
1988: During support of DoD mission STS-27, led effort
to resolve mission-threatening navigation anomaly and traced
it to documentation/crew error.
1983-4: Real time mission support to STS-6 and STS-7 for
first release and retrieval of free-flying satellites.
1979-1981: McDonnell Douglas Technical Services Corporation
employee in NASA-JSC Mission Control Center, supporting
the Space Shuttle's on-board propulsion systems (OMS/RCS,
or Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control System).
Supported STS-1 launch on console in MCC as the "Prop
Consumables" officer; supported STS-2 as "Prop
Consumables" planning lead.
Military Assignments:
1972-1975: Faculty of Department of Defense Computer Institute
(DODCI), Navy Yard, Washington DC. Instructor and consultant
on computer-based management information systems and computer
systems security. Helped design/test "Arpanet",
ancestor of today's "Internet".
1970-1972: Battle Environments Branch, Air Force Weapons
Laboratory, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico. Assessed airborne
laser weapons performance using math modeling and computer
simulation of aerodynamic, laser, and nuclear effects. Security
Officer. Avoidance scheduling for USSR reccesats.
1966-69: Distinguished Military Graduate, AFROTC; received
NASA Traineeship for graduate study at Northwestern University
while on 'educational delay'.
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