Science Communication
Stay Authentic Above All Else
Episode 1 in the “Finishing Science” Podcast
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Robotics Flight Controller Alyssa Saenz focuses on sharing her passion for space science on social media, whether she’s moving robots on International Space Station or she is working on her Master’s degree. With that passion, she strives to inspire the next generation as shares what she didn’t have as a young person: a larger picture of what an engineer is and what one looks.
Meet Our Guest!
Originally from El Paso, Texas, Alyssa Saenz moved across the state to Texas A&M University in College Station to work on a degree in engineering. After graduating in December 2018 with a Bachelors of Science in Aerospace Engineering and a minor in Astrophysics, she earned a full-time position in space robotics at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Saenz continued to work hard become a certified ROBO Flight Controller for the International Space Station, which is the highest flight control certification available to her. Currently she is working on her Masters of Engineering in Space Operations online at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs while still working on space robotics for the ISS at NASA Johnson.
Where can you find Alyssa?
📸Instagram: AlxssaSaenz
🐤 Twitter: AlxssaSaenz
What we referenced during the episode:
- Visit the NASA article that featured Alyssa Saenz’s background and story: From El Paso to the International Space Station, by Thalia Patrinos.
- Read about NASA’s most recent mission to the ancient asteroid Bennu for the OSIRIS-REx collection mission here: NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex Successfully Stows Sample of Asteroid Bennu.
- NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is located in Houston, Texas. It is NASA’s center for human spaceflight, where astronaut training, research, flight control, and mission control are conducted.
- The International Space Station (ISS) is a modular, habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The multinational collaborative project began construction in space on November 20, 1998. It is a research laboratory where astronauts investigate astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, physics, and other scientific fields. Robots on the ISS include Canadarm2 & Dextre (SPDM — Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator).
- Canadarm2 is officially known as the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS). Launched in April 2001, Canadarm2 has a variety of functions including constructing the ISS and catching unpiloted resupply spacecraft. The majority of ISS robotic operations are commanded remotely by flight controllers on Earth, like Alyssa.
- Another robot is the “Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator” (SPDM), but everyone just calls him Dextre. It is a third robotic Canadarm, used to carry replacement parts to different worksites on the ISS and install replacements when failures occur. Before Dextre, astronauts performed spacewalks to carry out these important tasks.
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