My name is Stan Kozuch, and I'm the Integration and Test Director for the TIMED mission. The spacecraft and its scientific instruments must be integrated with each other. This means that everything must work together, even though the parts are built separately – often in labs in different parts of the country – and assembled here at APL. Once the spacecraft is assembled, all of the systems, including the power, command and telemetry, and control, must be tested continuously until it is launched because if anything goes wrong after launch, we can't fix it! My job is to make sure that the spacecraft and all of its subsystems work up to the moment the rocket lifts off.

When I realized my original dream to become a pilot was not to be, due to eyesight that wasn't perfect, I thought about becoming a high school math and science teacher. But my older brother was an electrical engineer, and enjoyed it, so I decided to become an electrical engineer. I studied electrical engineering at Penn State University and received my degree in 1963. Since then, I've learned a lot from on-the-job experiences, like using various software programs designed to make testing more accurate.

I went into testing and integration right after college, working on early NASA projects at General Electric. Some of those early space missions were very interesting. We sent up three BioSatellites – with pepper plants and fertilized frog's eggs on them – to study the effects of space and non-gravity on living things. We also sent up a monkey on a 30-day flight, but he got sick after 10 days, so we brought him back early! You have to remember that spaceflight was brand-new then, and we had to experiment before sending astronauts up. I've also done a lot of testing on communications satellites, which helped bring TV to remote areas, and worked on defense systems.

I've been working at APL for 13 years, learning more and more about testing and integration with each mission. In order to be successful as a Test Director, a lot of experience is needed so that you can recognize where and why problems occur, and how to fix them. I've also found that it's important to be able to communicate well, in writing as well as speaking, so that the teams conducting tests understand what our goals are. And building a successful team is important as well, since the spacecraft are so complex that many people must work together to make the mission a success.

The job is getting more sophisticated and challenging. Spacecraft are now designed to return huge amounts of information to the mission scientists, so they require more sensitive instruments. These instruments must be very clean, so control of their environment is very important. (Check out the TIMED image page and you'll see what I mean.)

Since testing is done continually until just before launch, the testing team may be away from home for as much as 60 to 70 days. Travelling to launches is fun, especially when they are out of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of the best parts of the job is launch day, when I can see "my" spacecraft go up and do what it was created to do. It's also a sad day, because my part of the mission is over. But there's always another one, and after TIMED I'll be working on MESSENGER!

My favorite memory was working on the Space Telescope. I'm always amazed at how much information it gathers, which helps us learn about deep space. Maybe it will help me fulfill my greatest wish, to find out if there is life "out there."

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