HIFU Prostate Procedure Helps NASA Safety Engineer Protect His Health
The commitment to protect the health of other people has guided my career for decades, whether training Air Force pilots to avoid hypoxia or NASA astronauts to survive in pressurized space capsules. In fact, I just celebrated my 50 years at NASA – and still counting. My team and I have worked on every major space exploration program since Apollo. When Apollo 13’s oxygen tank exploded, my team and I spent more than 20 straight hours making the repairs to bring the astronauts home safely. Before my current job, I operated the Altitude Chamber where we tested astronauts’ exertion levels, endurance and safety by simulating the pressure they would feel from the weight of their space suits or walking around or gripping tools, both inside and outside the space cabin. Today I work in the electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC) Test Facility. I check on the health and safety of all kinds of crew, flight and ground equipment, including communication, instrumentation, navigation, computation and robotics. With that background, I could hardly ignore the need to protect my own health.