Sandra Olson

Actually, most of my burning occurs here on earth, where we can get short times of microgravity. I've spent a lot of time conducting experiments in our two drop towers ( 2.2 seconds or 5.2 seconds); or aboard low gravity parabolic flight aircraft like the "Vomit Comet" (20-25 seconds), or in the world's largest drop tower (10 seconds), in Hokkaido, Japan. Only after lots of ground testing do we move experiments to flight. I've had sounding rocket experiments (6 minutes), and experiments on the Space Shuttle. I'm working on experiments now that will eventually fly aboard the International Space Station. For cool pictures of microgravity combustion experiments, go to http//microgravity.grc.nasa.gov/ and pick Combustion.

The best part of my job is the thrill of discovering new phenomena unique to microgravity. The discovery can come while I'm conducting microgravity combustion experiments, and it can come later, while I'm analyzing the results.. I spend even more time analyzing the results of these experiments and writing papers about the results. I enjoy the creative aspects of data analysis and write-up, finding ways to describe and characterize new phenomena so others can understand.

A normal day for me is to spend some time in the lab doing tests, and some time in the office writing papers/reports or analyzing data. I also attend meetings or teleconferences on specific projects as needed. I use the computer to keep in touch with my collaborators via email.

My seventh grade science teacher focused my interest in science, and ever since I have known I wanted to be a researcher. As a teen, I envisioned myself as a naturalist, studying primate behavior in deepest Africa, or a marine biologist studying dolphin communication, or an astronomer studying the life and death of distant stars. Working for NASA is like a dream come true, and my job is every bit as terrific as those I imaged as a teen.

As an undergraduate, I attended the University of Pittsburgh and majored in Chemical Engineering. I also met my husband there, also a Chemical Engineer. For graduate school, I attended Case Western Reserve University, and got a Master's degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.

Engineering seemed to be a practical pathway to become a researcher, giving me the technical skills I needed to build a career. My parents were very supportive of me pursuing an engineering degree. My mother is a great role model for me. She went back to school when my little sister started school, and got her Master's in Mathematics. She was a high school math teacher, and showed me that it is possible to balance work and a family.

My two daughters (8 and 11) keep me active. We take lessons as a family in karate, horse-back riding, and ice skating lessons. I also enjoy singing, and am in two choirs. I've been a SCUBA diver since college, and can't wait until my kids are old enough to get certified!

As a teenager, I should have taken advantage of more opportunities to "shadow" professionals in areas I was interested in. I did go to an National Science Foundation sponsored 6 week oceanography camp the summer after my junior year, which was wonderful! I really learned a lot about field research, which convinced me I wanted to do hands-on research after college.

I would suggest that you find out what subject(s) interest you and gain as much experience as you can. Read about it, talk to people who work in the area about it, see if you can arrange to shadow a professional in the area for a few days, to get some hands-on experience, or do an independent study with the help of your teacher(s). Talk to your school's guidance counselors about opportunities for summer programs like the NSF program I went to. Don't be afraid to ask! As Edison said, "If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

10-05-00 Webcast Archive