| Astronaut Jim Voss has enjoyed many
memorable moments in his career, including three space flights and one space
walk. But he recalls with special fondness a decidedly earthbound (为地球吸引所束缚的)
experience in the summer of 1980, when he participated in the NASA-ASEE Summer
Faculty Fellowship Program. Voss then a science teacher at West Point, was
assigned to the Marshall Space Flight Center's propulsion (推进) lab in Alabama to
analyze why a hydraulic fuel pump on the space shuttle was working so well when
previous seals had failed. It was a seemingly tiny problem among the vast
complexities of running the space program. Yet it was important to NASA because
any crack in the seal could have led to destructive results for the astronauts
who relied on them. "I worked a bit with NASA engineers," says Voss, "but I did it mostly by analysis. I used a handheld calculator, not a computer, to do a thermodynamic (热力学的) analysis." At the end of the summer, he, like the other NASA-ASEE fellows working at Marshall, summarized his findings in a formal presentation and detailed paper. It was a valuable moment for Voss because the ASEE program gave him added understanding of NASA, deepened his desire to fly in space, and intensified his application for astronaut status. It was not an easy process. Voss was actually passed over when he first applied for the astronaut program in 1978. Over the next nine years he reapplied repeatedly, and was finally accepted in 1987. Since then he has participated in three space mission. The 50-year-old Army officer, who lives in Huston, is now in training for a four-month mission as a crew member on the International Space Station starting in July 2000. Voss says the ASEE program is wonderful for all involved. "It brings in people from the academic world and gives NASA a special property for a particular period of time. It brings some fresh eyes and fresh ideas to NASA, and establishes a link with our colleges and universities," Voss explains, "There's an exchange of information and an exchange of perspectives that is very important." For the academic side, Voss says, the ASEE program also "brings institutions of higher learning more insight into new technology. We give them an opportunity to work on real-world problems and take it back to the classroom." |