FUTURE LUNAR EXPLORATION ONLINE CHAT
|
 |
Who: John Gruener, Planetary Scientist NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas What: Live online chat about Future Lunar Exploration When: Thursday, Feb. 5, 2004
|
John Gruener's Biography:
"What a cool year 1961 was! The first humans in space, the first music from the Beach Boys, and the birth of yours truly. I was born in the Medical Center in Houston and grew up on the west side of town in Spring Branch. It was a great place to grow up with plenty of woods to play in (except for the poison ivy), and not too many people to create traffic, noise and pollution. If you can't tell yet, I love the outdoors, especially camping, hiking, EXPLORING, hunting, and fishing. I also love baseball, and I am a big Houston Astros fan. I graduated from Spring Woods High School and headed off for the University of Texas. While there, I was in the Longhorn Band (tuba), and Air Force ROTC. Oh yeah, I also managed to graduate with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. I arrived at the Johnson Space Center in May of 1986 and for a year and half worked in the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs. Then I started working on what I really like, the exploration of the Moon and Mars. I've done a little bit of everything: rocket scientist designing missions to the Moon and Mars; space farmer growing plants in advanced life support systems, and now a planetary scientist studying the rocks and soils on Mars. Along the way I picked up a Master's Degree in Physical Science (with an emphasis in planetary geology) at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. It's been a fun ride and hopefully it will continue for sometime. My only disappointment is that we still don't have humans back on the Moon or on their way to Mars. But, it will happen someday, and I hope to be a part of it."
