KSC-05-S-00077

Hi. My name is Shawn Quinn. I work at the Kennedy Space Center in the Exploration Office, and I'm the operations and requirements manager. At the Kennedy Space Center, I work in the KSC Exploration Office. I am the operations and requirements manager, and this job is in direct support of the nation's Vision for Exploration, and it's all about going back to the Moon and Mars. The return of the Space Shuttle to flight is one of the first steps in implementing the nation's Vision for Exploration. That was one of the key points that the president made when he announced the nation's Vision for Exploration last January. By returning the Shuttle to flight, we will be able to complete the International Space Station that will allow us to continue to conduct important microgravity experiments on the human body. So we understand how the zero-G environment and the unique radiation environment of space effects the human body. It's important that we have a complete understanding of those effects so that we can safely prepare for long-duration missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars. In a typical workday, I spend a fair amount of time establishing Center support for various exploration programs, such as Project Constellation, development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle, development of systems to systems requirement documents. I spend a lot of time on video teleconferences, I spend a fair amount of time traveling up to NASA Headquarters and other Centers, and we have, needless to say, a lot of meetings here at the Kennedy Space Center providing important documents in support of the exploration vision. Well, I first came to work for NASA as a co-op back in the mid-1980s. While I was going to school at Georgia Tech for my bachelor's of electrical engineering, I applied for the co-op program and got a job offer to come to work down here as a co-op at the Kennedy Space Center, and it was the best job offer I could have gotten. I had a, I had a lacrosse coach that made sure that every one of the graduating seniors in our high school applied and got into a four-year school. So he taught me the importance of, of getting ready for, for, for the educational experiences. He made, you know, his drive for the extra mile for the lacrosse program transcended just the athletic aspect of it. It was all about preparing the student athlete for his next step and I'll never forget that, that was very inspirational to me. He, he said, 'Don't stop till you cross the, till you get to the end of the finish line,' and that stuck with me forever. It's still here with me today, and I teach my own children that. You know, this has been a personal dream of mine since I was three feet tall. I mean, this is something that I've wanted to do since as long as I can remember. So, you know, working on this vision is a passion to me. It's a privilege to come to work every day for NASA, it really is. I think it's most important for young people to recognize early on that they are in the most control of their own future. It's decisions that they make, as a person, as an individual, that will have the most influence on their future. It's important that young people understand that every little bit of success that even you get in grade school will open more doors in the future. So as you're going through your elementary school career, your middle school, your high school, every success will count and build, and allow you to have more choices as you get ready to make your decisions on where you're going to go to school after you graduate from high school.