Post by Okwes on Jul 26, 2006 9:30:31 GMT -5
'Giant leap' for Navajo interns at NASA
By Cory Frolik The Daily Times
www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4082094
<http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4082094>
FARMINGTON — At first, government employees passing by Cullen "Wade"
Henderson in the corridors of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center mistook
him as being of Hispanic origin.
They spoke to Henderson in Spanish, making an understandable error since
they were unaccustomed to seeing a Native American in their midst, he
said.
Henderson, 32, formerly of Kirtland, is one of the first four Navajos to
intern at NASA and is stationed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala. for 10 weeks.
"At work we're like celebrities," he said. "We are, after all, the first
Native Americans to be interning here."
During the time he has worked in Alabama, he has helped conceptually
design hangars by working with 3-D models. He also works in the National
Center for Advance Manufacturing, building designs for the solid rocket
boosters for the space shuttle.
When designing the hangers, every aspect of the design — from the
hangar doors to the tresses to the crane — must be planned down to
the last detail, Henderson said.
"It's pretty much down to the inch," he said.
In addition to his NASA internship, Henderson is studying for an
engineering degree at the Crownpoint Institute of Technology (CIT).
The school specializes in providing educational opportunities to Native
Americans, according to the institute's mission statement.
"CIT aims at increasing the number of Native Americans in science,
technology, engineering and math fields," said Todd Romero, The National
Science Foundation director on CIT campus. "The statistics (say) one
percent of Native Americans are getting doctorates in the stem fields."
The low number of Native Americans in the math and science fields can be
partly attributed to the fact that there have not been many
opportunities to work in these fields close to the Navajo Nation, Romero
said.
Henderson, a 1992 Kirtland Central High School graduate, said he always
liked building things and had a deep love of architecture, but he was
unable to take his interests any further because he had to stay by his
mother's side as she battled cancer.
She died of ovarian cancer in 2001.
To honor her memory, Henderson said he sought to become the success she
always thought he could be. His hard work has not gone unrewarded.
The Space Shuttle Discovery safely returned to Earth Monday after
spending less than two weeks in orbit. Most people watched the July 4
Space Shuttle Discovery launch on television or from Florida's beaches
or boats in the ocean, according to Bruce Buckingham, the news chief at
Kennedy Space Center.
"All of central Florida can see it," he told The Daily Times. "There's a
number of viewing locations."
A select group of people, however, got to watch the action up close.
Henderson was among that group. Buckingham estimates that 10,000 invited
guests accepted invitations from Washington, D.C., to watch Discovery
take off from four miles away, the closest distance possible without
endangering viewers. Henderson and his Navajo peers received personal
invitations as recognition for the contributions they made to NASA.
"It was history in the making. There had been no space shuttle that had
launched on Independence Day before," he said.
While he still hopes to one day design and build houses in Flagstaff,
Ariz., after watching the shuttle launch, a job with NASA would be too
amazing to pass up, Henderson said.
NASA plans on sending another man to the moon in 10 years and exploring
Mars by 2030, according to Buckingham. Henderson said nothing would
please him more than to be a part of those missions.
By Cory Frolik The Daily Times
www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4082094
<http://www.daily-times.com/news/ci_4082094>
FARMINGTON — At first, government employees passing by Cullen "Wade"
Henderson in the corridors of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center mistook
him as being of Hispanic origin.
They spoke to Henderson in Spanish, making an understandable error since
they were unaccustomed to seeing a Native American in their midst, he
said.
Henderson, 32, formerly of Kirtland, is one of the first four Navajos to
intern at NASA and is stationed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center
in Huntsville, Ala. for 10 weeks.
"At work we're like celebrities," he said. "We are, after all, the first
Native Americans to be interning here."
During the time he has worked in Alabama, he has helped conceptually
design hangars by working with 3-D models. He also works in the National
Center for Advance Manufacturing, building designs for the solid rocket
boosters for the space shuttle.
When designing the hangers, every aspect of the design — from the
hangar doors to the tresses to the crane — must be planned down to
the last detail, Henderson said.
"It's pretty much down to the inch," he said.
In addition to his NASA internship, Henderson is studying for an
engineering degree at the Crownpoint Institute of Technology (CIT).
The school specializes in providing educational opportunities to Native
Americans, according to the institute's mission statement.
"CIT aims at increasing the number of Native Americans in science,
technology, engineering and math fields," said Todd Romero, The National
Science Foundation director on CIT campus. "The statistics (say) one
percent of Native Americans are getting doctorates in the stem fields."
The low number of Native Americans in the math and science fields can be
partly attributed to the fact that there have not been many
opportunities to work in these fields close to the Navajo Nation, Romero
said.
Henderson, a 1992 Kirtland Central High School graduate, said he always
liked building things and had a deep love of architecture, but he was
unable to take his interests any further because he had to stay by his
mother's side as she battled cancer.
She died of ovarian cancer in 2001.
To honor her memory, Henderson said he sought to become the success she
always thought he could be. His hard work has not gone unrewarded.
The Space Shuttle Discovery safely returned to Earth Monday after
spending less than two weeks in orbit. Most people watched the July 4
Space Shuttle Discovery launch on television or from Florida's beaches
or boats in the ocean, according to Bruce Buckingham, the news chief at
Kennedy Space Center.
"All of central Florida can see it," he told The Daily Times. "There's a
number of viewing locations."
A select group of people, however, got to watch the action up close.
Henderson was among that group. Buckingham estimates that 10,000 invited
guests accepted invitations from Washington, D.C., to watch Discovery
take off from four miles away, the closest distance possible without
endangering viewers. Henderson and his Navajo peers received personal
invitations as recognition for the contributions they made to NASA.
"It was history in the making. There had been no space shuttle that had
launched on Independence Day before," he said.
While he still hopes to one day design and build houses in Flagstaff,
Ariz., after watching the shuttle launch, a job with NASA would be too
amazing to pass up, Henderson said.
NASA plans on sending another man to the moon in 10 years and exploring
Mars by 2030, according to Buckingham. Henderson said nothing would
please him more than to be a part of those missions.