 The last SSME test it was real stressful. I remember going to sleep that night about nine o'clock So I could usually I test we'd get in about five in the morning. We'd test around two o'clock That night. I went to sleep about nine woke up about one Couldn't go back to sleep Got to work about three in the morning security guard Mike who's been knowing me for years Asked me court. What are you doing out here? I said I couldn't sleep. He says I got that test today, huh? I said yeah, so he says we'll go on in have fun. Good luck Test went great people that showed up that day. We was dressed all in white shirts. We looked just like the Apollo days We had the little black skinny ties. We had black framed glasses. We had the Pocket protectors on so it was it was exciting but it was actually sad because everybody knew it was the last test out here and You know everybody was remembering the people that they had that had trained them through the years and had retired and some of You know, they were talking to and just you know, we had people from canoga Pratt Whitney from headquarters Everywhere, it was just an awesome experience and I'm really actually blessed. I was able to actually Have some history and tests, you know, the space shuttle main engine out here I Started working here But SSM me around November 2001 and If I can remember my most fondest memory is I have to say every shuttle launch pretty much being in the control room just Watching the engines light up and Everybody's waiting for them to turn off Once they're turning off the the room pretty much go into cheers because we know that once we ignite and like the engines and turn them out There's a good chance that we're gonna have a successful mission. There was one launch that I actually went to KSC for and I was observing all the operations in with the stack. That's where the SSM me Team sets that for each shuttle launch at KSC and I actually went out Just minutes before that before we launched the shuttle and I that was my first live shuttle launch I have ever seen it was very impressive Since then I have seen one more and I'm hoping to see plenty more in the future years ago I met my wife here at Rocking Island shortly after we were married we had the Good fortune to go to Kennedy Space Center for a launch and Because she was an employee on Some of our free time. She was also badged in and we could go to her around Couple of days before the launch we were out at the launch pad our platforms giving us access to the engines were still in place and We were standing out there sea breeze coming in our heads actually up in one of the nozzles and Of course, I reached over and touched the back of her head and she thought I was Being a romantic and I had to spoil the mood by telling her I didn't want her hair to blow into the nozzle and Provide any kind of contamination particular memory that stands out for me working on the space shuttle program is Doing the routine post-test inspections that I was learning in my first few years here as turbine machinery There was One particular pump we were doing our final Inspections on it was completed an acceptance test and was ready to be going to Florida and during that routine inspection I noticed something unusual that I had never seen before and Looked like a metallic contamination behind the turbine when I talked to the more experienced engineers about it and we realized What was going on it actually Started an investigation Understanding why this was in here and we ended up having to send the pump back for disassembly and for me it was a Really a lesson that even a routine inspection will find something that's of Significant importance to the program and that was really the first time I felt like I had Directly contributed to the success of the program and it was a data that will stand out in my memory for a very long time I was fortunate enough to hire in up at Mississippi and they were in dire need of a computer Engineer I came out there in 1977 in the summer in the fall and and Came to work on a computer system because it had been down for three weeks And and they couldn't test the shuttle tanks with the liquid level sensors Mark Carpenter was the engineering manager at that time said that I was I Got asked how long it would take to get the system up and running if I had an estimate And I told him I didn't have didn't bring a lunch So I expected I would get it in and it was up in about an hour and he said You're probably one of the smartest engineers I've ever met Very fortunate. The only thing I knew was it happened to be that particular computer, but About a week later Marv called me and he says would you interested in going to work for Rock-a-dine, and I says that'd be great and he says well what would it take and I said I don't know What is your smartest guy now get? So I happened to be looking at plowed and was a test conductor And I hired in as an MTS for that day and that's been a great life ever since I guess funny story is when I when I first Started out on the team was pretty new and a little bit green to build in the hardware I was working with another senior manufacturing engineer, and it seemed as though every time He had taken a day off for vacation or was out sick as when all the major catastrophes happened We had we had some hardware that was damaged a few times a duct that flipped in a dolly And I was the one here to respond for it and really didn't know what to do So I was having to to run around and Collect a group of people to come help me solve the problems, but without fail It always seemed like the bad things went wrong when he wasn't here and I was so I wasn't sure if it was my fault or someone else's But it was pretty interesting. It was a good learning experience on the program We've definitely had her trials and tribulations build the hardware, but we've made it through it And I think we've made some of the best hardware the programs put out so I'm a real originally from the Boston area, and I I Originally thought that I'd like to have a career somewhere in the New England area And I did get an opportunity to come out here and work for Rocketdyne at the time And I really thought that was going to be a short part of my career is to come out to California work On what Rocketdyne was working, you know the shuttle and so forth and the Space Shuttle main engine for a year or so and then go Back and like I said that's over 30 years ago, and it has just been a tremendous experience And challenging experience that I enjoy very much so to answer your question It's somewhat has been serendipity how I got into this career But it has been very enjoyable and very exciting and and like I said previously. It's it's the people It's the challenge of the work. It's the total team effort relative to not only PWR working on a task, but also with our customer our NASA customer working to make something very challenging successful and Advancing our presence in space and our understanding of what space is about. I had the opportunity to see in person my first Space Shuttle launch. This was in 1994 in September STS-64 and my daughter was only three so she could not be in the Stands with me. She had to be on the causeway, which is where the general public can go to view the Space Shuttle launch So my husband took the short straw and was with her on the causeway and my sister sat with me in the viewing stands and Back in those days the launch window was much greater It was up to two and a half hours that we could have a launch window and as course as timing would have it We would wait the entire two hours wondering are we actually going to be able to launch the Shuttle and the worry was weather and The clouds were heavy and the tension was great at one point I was looking at the countdown clock and there was a soldier standing next to it and it had been a long time And he'd been standing there the whole time and for whatever reason in the last moments he knelt on one knee and sure enough within moments The engines ignited the fire and the flames you can see it. It lights up the whole sky and all the natural Flying fish the alligators all the birds everything comes It's amazing how you see everybody reacting the people and all and up it went and I still remember it vividly And of course I had no idea what my husband and my daughter were experiencing. They were quite a Distance from ourselves and we didn't have cell phones back. So I had to wait until we You know convened together and she was so excited only three years old telling me about what her experience had been as well with so many of the Visitors from all over the world But also locally Hundreds will go on the causeway to see the launch and that's my fond memory one very memorable experience this was a number of years ago and one of my co-workers and I Went to mountain home, Arkansas Trout fishing on the White River which we used to go over there frequently But we were over this particular time and it happened to be During a time when we were having a launch so we finished fishing and We went into town and of course mountain home, Arkansas unless you're there for trout fishing. It's not exactly a tourist hot spot so We went into this little restaurant sort of slash sports bar Called the back 40 Of course there's TVs on them and being a sports bar, there's TVs everywhere and we said hey Those shuttles about the launch. Could we see it on the TV? And we got this dumbfound look and We said, you know the space shuttle and We still got that same look like You ain't you ain't from around here. Are you and so we looked at each other and said well, obviously, we're not in Huntsville anymore and I Probably should have asked the guy How the razorbacks were doing that year and we probably would have gotten a response Obviously we didn't have our priorities right. I started working shuttle systems in 1977 and So you can You can do the arithmetic. There's no math involved in that But we've had a good time. I was like I said the research the fun stage We broke a few things learned a lot put in 80 hours a week for months at a time and When we would get a test off it was it was a feeling of completion. You did something and I like to have that feeling when I when I leave here, I like to have that feeling every day that I've accomplished something and With the team that we have now We can You know, some people Worry about what we're gonna do after the end of the shuttle program and we had a meeting last week with the deputy program manager for Constellation and there's just so many exciting things on the horizon for the people In the liquid propulsion world the J2 programs out there the RS68 all the new missions are coming up with PWR Engines on them and even engines that we haven't built yet So just to be a part of this you're sad that shuttles going away But the the new programs are gonna come on quick and and really I think they'll be very little transition Or we'll we won't even notice it And see it light up at night and my father became an employee of rock of dying 40 years ago, and so that was a big Big push for me to want to get in and be following my father's footsteps. So when I got hired in a rock of dying that was that was Pretty pretty amazing for me that I that I'm following in my father's footsteps and as far as the shuttle itself I don't mean to be cliche, but When I finally go and watch the shuttle fly it was just amazing and I just didn't really understand the power and the Uniqueness and how scary it is to watch that fly and once I got to see that I'll never forget I've always known working on the shuttle program that that was something great And I've always been proud to tell people I meet. Hey, I work on the shuttle program Not many people really get to say that we're a handful of people out in this world to get to say that and I've always been proud, but watching the shuttle fly just solidified it