KSC-05-S-00066

I work here in the Space Station Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. I lead the team of engineers and technicians that are assembling and testing all of the International Space Station hardware that's going to fly up in Discovery up to the Space Station. I get to work with an incredible bunch of people. Talents that, you know, I don't know that we have any, in this country, a better collection of interesting and talented people than we do here. And not the least of which is my best friend, my wife of 15 years, who sits just down the hallway from me.And I have two passions in my life. One is my family, and the second is my work. And so I'm really blessed in that regard, because I have the best of both worlds. Well, my first job here at KSC was as an External Tank mechanical systems engineer. I actually helped build and manage and operate a series of infra-red cameras that were used to take measurements on the External Tank while we were fueling it for launch. I got to be part of the team that analyzed all of the videos and films taken during launch and landing,and we had a special laboratory to do that in.Launch day is, is the culmination of everything you've been working for, and to finally see that vehicle lift off the pad and take your spacecraft up where it belongs, it's almost indescribable. But the best part's not then. The best part is when I go home. And I go home after launch, and I'm exhausted. Drained.And I sit down on the couch, I turn on NASA Television, and usually the timing's about right, when the payload bay doors come open, and there it is. There's that spaceship I helped build, and it's now circling the Earth -- 17,500 miles an hour. That's so incredibly cool. You know, it just, it gave me goosebumps just talking about it. I actually have two favorite missions. The first favorite mission, just from what it did, was the STS-99 mission, the first mission that flew after the turn of the century. And that was the Shuttle Radar Topography mission, and that mission -- essentially in the span of 11 days -- mapped the majority of the Earth's land mass. You know, the outcome, the product from that mission will be used by generations and generations to come. So as far as something that I feel so proud of that will touch lives now and touch lives in the future, that has to be, you know, one of my favorites. But from a sentimental point of view, the favorite was STS-90, which was Neurolab, the last space lab, because I was the payload manager for the mission and my wife was the launch site support manager, and we worked side by side on that flight. During the processing for that mission, she became pregnant with our twins. And I announced their pending arrival for the first time as part of my final readiness poll before launch over the headset. (Voice of Launch Manager) - Scott Higginbotham, payload manager. (Voice of Scott Higginbotham) - It's with great pride and joy that the launch site support manager and I announce the pending arrival of two new members of the Neurolab family. Expected on-dock date is October 19, and with that, the mission processing team is go.(Voice of Launch Manager) - Roger. And so - from a - you know, getting to sit there in the firing room with your best friend and watch, again, something that you've worked on together for so long, and watch that thing rise into space and hold her hand, that was a, that was a really special day too.