How to manage satellites: the story of a Ukrainian working at NASA - ForumDaily
The article has been automatically translated into English by Google Translate from Russian and has not been edited.
Переклад цього матеріалу українською мовою з російської було автоматично здійснено сервісом Google Translate, без подальшого редагування тексту.
Bu məqalə Google Translate servisi vasitəsi ilə avtomatik olaraq rus dilindən azərbaycan dilinə tərcümə olunmuşdur. Bundan sonra mətn redaktə edilməmişdir.

How to manage satellites: the story of a Ukrainian working at NASA

A former journalist with 20 years of experience, Andrei Vasiliev (Dorj Batu) has been working at NASA for 2 years. During this time, he managed to write a book about space exploration - “Francesca. Mistress of Trajectories." In an interview for "Ukrainian truth» Andrey explained why the Internet and mobile communications depend on the control of satellites, why he calculates the trajectories of spacecraft manually, and how easy it is to get a job at NASA.

— Andrey, have you already said the famous phrase “Houston, do we have a problem?” (A famous phrase from the film “Apollo 13”. The film is based on a real spaceship accident during a flight to the Moon. Houston is the central control center of NASA)

- Fortunately, no. Although we had problems, they were not as critical as during Apollo.

— You are a trajectory correction operator at the US Aeronautics and Space Research Center at a military base. What exactly are you doing?

— The trajectories of all spacecraft rotating in near-Earth orbits are influenced by various factors: earth’s gravity, moon’s gravity, solar wind, radiation, electromagnetic fields, inertia from the latest corrections... Many factors.

There is no resistance in space. The final inertia after the last correction is preserved, and little by little the object moves in the direction we do not need.

Therefore, once every 10-15 days, correction of the trajectory and orientation is required. The satellite begins to deviate from the trajectory and change orientation. At this stage we intervene.

On the subject: NASA will send tourists into space for $ 35 thousands per day

We take telemetry from two points and find out the actual location of the satellite. By comparing these two points - A and B - we calculate the actual trajectory.

When we compare this data, calculate the error, then based on the errors, the machine calculates the frequency and strength of the engine pulses in order to return the satellite to the desired orientation and trajectory.

— But you and your partner are still recalculating the data manually...

- Certainly. All critical missions at NASA are counted by hand. We have a lot of automation, there is so-called “foolproofing”, but still the main calculations are carried out by hand: by living physicists, mathematicians, in order to be sure that we are doing what is needed.

The person is aware of the process, but the apparatus is not. He simply turns the car in the desired parameters.

Therefore, the most critical missions are not given to automation. People do everything.

The calculations must be very accurate, so we carry them out at two parallel stations. They must match. If they don’t match, we do it a second time; if not, we do it a third time. If even then it doesn’t match, we transfer the data to Houston. This has never happened in my work before.

— When satellites deviate from their trajectories, how does this harm people?

If a telecommunications satellite begins to deviate from the trajectory, sooner or later it will deviate and either go off the trajectory and completely fall to the ground, or go in a completely different direction and lose contact with ground stations.

If the satellite loses connection with ground stations, the telecommunication connection is interrupted: the phone does not work, the ATM does not work, the TV does not work, nothing works.

If we do not correct the satellites, you will not be able to withdraw money, call someone, go online or turn on the TV.

- This must be a very stressful job...

- I would not say. Mathematics cannot be nervous, it is absolute peace and numbers.

- But in your book you write that there are great unrest.

- Yes, but it's all in my head. You control a multi-ton apparatus. If you start to think about how much it costs, how many people worked on its creation, and you can destroy it, it’s a little awkward.

I think every job has these fears. My job is easier than any surgeon in the operating room. In his hands is a person’s life, in mine is only a piece of iron.

On the subject: Dreamed of space since childhood: how a Russian engineer from New York makes space suits for NASA

— How much do satellites cost?

“Whether it’s small CubeSat satellites the size of a mobile phone, or Inmarsat satellites weighing more than 6 tons and the size of a three-story house, a large team of people is working on them. It's much more expensive than money.

The price ranges from several tens of thousands of dollars to several tens of millions of dollars.

— How is your working day?

— At 7 o’clock in the morning the active shift begins, which lasts 4 hours. This is a critical shift associated with great psycho-emotional stress, which is why it is so short.

The second part of the day is routine: calculations, reports, documents, just like in any other government office.

— Although at your base you cannot take photographs through a sensitive object, you teach children how to launch real satellites.

— These are state programs that attract schoolchildren to study mathematics, physics and space. Then these children become students and participate in student programs. This is a very big plus in a resume for employment both at NASA and in private companies, which are now developing very much.

— You describe a case where schoolchildren, after training, independently launched a satellite. NASA trusts them with very valuable equipment...

— When I arrived, they also entrusted me with the remote control. There are no simulators. If you don't work with real tools, you won't learn anything.

It’s like being told in an empty pool: “Let’s add water when you learn to swim.”

Recently, people were recruiting to the base in Houston. And our HR emphasized that becoming a flight management leader is very simple.

You may not have anything to do with space, you may not be a former astronaut. You just have to be either a biologist, or have a programmer education, or be a mathematician. The main thing is to be a good person.

You can get into NASA without any background.

NASA idealize many. In fact, this is an ordinary state office in which people work, such as you and I. They are not gods or demigods.

“But there still must be some knowledge.” You are an orientalist and journalist, but at NASA you perform mathematical calculations.

— I had a background. In 2013, I was looking for a job because I left the Voice of America. It was a long and not romantic story. I ended up in a production facility that makes parts and components for spacecraft.

He came to the position of laboratory assistant, which did not require any technical knowledge. This is the position where you shift the paper, fill out the forms and take where you need to. I started with this, but more and more interested in the topic.

My curiosity was satisfied by colleagues. They saw what was interesting to me and began to teach.

For three years at my previous job as a laboratory assistant, I moved to the engineering position of the final inspector.

On the subject: Stephen Hawking's voice sent to space

— And they didn’t ask you for any papers about special education?

- No. Then we moved to another state and I started looking for a new job.

He took the resume to the agency for the employment of people in the aerospace industry. They completely threw out the entire journalistic background from the resume and wrote down what position I started from, what I can do, with what programs I work and what I achieved in my previous job. We started sending it out. So I found this job.

When I came to NASA, I immediately told HR that I did not have a technical education. I heard: “We are absolutely satisfied with your background.”

In this position, I have already reached my upper limit. If you want to move further in the industry, you need a serious education: college, university.

Education is not a prerequisite for working at NASA, but it is a prerequisite if you want to make a career there.

If you want to work as an operator all your life, you don’t have to study.

- Do you want to move forward?

- Not decided yet. I plan to study, but not tomorrow. Maybe in the future.

—What are you forbidden to talk about?

- About everything essentially. We have a press service that is responsible for external information. It is forbidden to talk about details, about the internal kitchen. The most important thing is to speak, make statements on behalf of NASA, and sign publicly as a NASA employee.

— But at the same time you publish a book about everyday life at NASA...

— At the beginning of the book it is written “The names of some characters have been changed. The coincidences with real events are purely coincidental.”

I had to intentionally change some parameters, intentionally distort some processes so that they did not resemble real ones.

On the subject: Thanks to Israeli scientists, creatures from Earth now live on the moon. VIDEO

The general sense remained, but experts will understand that something is wrong here.

— Why are you interested in space?

- We can understand how our Earth works. NASA explores more than just deep space. She studies climate, changes in air masses, their movement, the movement of water masses, how rivers flow and oceans change.

This allows us to understand what is happening on Earth. If we understand this earlier, we can avoid many catastrophes – climate and environmental ones, among others.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Thanks to Israeli scientists, creatures from Earth now live on the moon. VIDEO

Interesting facts and conspiracy theory: in the United States celebrate the 50 anniversary of the moon landing

NASA will send tourists into space for $ 35 thousands per day

"This is not Hollywood and not a movie": the head of NASA warned of a real threat to the Earth

Dreamed of space since childhood: how a Russian engineer from New York makes space suits for NASA

Miscellanea space NASA Our people
Subscribe to ForumDaily on Google News

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis. 



 
1072 requests in 1,149 seconds.