This is me and a girl named Stephanie that works for USA. We are in front of Discovery's astronaut crew hatch door.  

The external tank and solid rocket boosters face the beach. The shuttle is mounted and top and the top of the shuttle faces KSC. In this picture you can see the MLP (Mobile Launch Platform) and the rock path the shuttle takes to get to the launch pad.  

This is the view of the coast line. Its a beautiful view from up here. 

This picture was taken from the level of the crew hatch. In the event of an emergency before launch, if the astronauts would be inside the shuttle, they would have to evacuate by rapidly getting out of the shuttle and holding on tight to a handle bar that travels down these cables.  

This is the crew hatch door the astronauts will enter prior to launch.  

This should give you a good idea about how big the external tank and SRBs are. Here, I was standing on the MLP (Mobile Launch Platform) 

This is the Space Shuttle Discovery at the launch pad. This picture was taken on 6/17/05. It was my first time at the launch pad since I have been working at KSC.  

This is a picture of the space shuttle Discovery. I took this picture yesterday morning. They are currently doing minor tile repairs and the yellow crane will be lifting the shuttle up to replace the external tank. The nose and leading edge tiles are made of reinforced carbon carbon. These are the areas that experience the highest temperatures. 

This is me. 

Space Shuttle Discovery reaches the doors at the VAB. (5-27-05 at KSC) 

Space Shuttle Discovery rolling back to the VAB to exchange the external tank. (KSC)

My first week at Kennedy Space Center

So this was my first week as a full time employee for Boeing at KSC. I have got to say that this has been an amazing week working with great people. I just graduated on May 13th, 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University. I have been working for The Boeing Company since June 2004 and upon graduation, I accepted this new position working on the Shuttle in Florida.

My ultimate goal is to become an astronaut. I decided to start this blog to document the obstacles, accomplishments, and the paths it will take to reach my ultimate goal. Just this week I experienced before my own eyes the shuttle Discovery rolling back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for them to exchange the external tank. I just couldn't even believe that I have gotten to this point. This week I also was able to pitch in some help with the tiles for space shuttle Endeavor. There were some discrepancies and problems with the current shuttle tiles in regards to the bonding, gapping, or step. This week was just a great week for me and I am glad that I took this position in FL. Every week I will update with a new posting and possible a picture as I journey to become an astronaut.

So.....Enjoy!