In control
He is one of three new flight directors selected to manage International Space Station (ISS) operations and one of 26 active flight directors supporting the space station, exploration, commercial spaceflights and new technology demonstration initiatives.
Along with fellow flight directors Amit Kshatriya and Zebulon (Zeb) Scoville, Radigan will oversee U.S. commercial cargo spacecraft and American commercial crew transports as they arrive at and depart from the space station. The trio will help ensure the crews of the orbiting laboratory have what they need to conduct scientific research that is providing real benefits to people on Earth and allowing NASA to be better prepared for long-duration exploration in deep space as it develops the Orion spacecraft and its Space Launch System heavy-lift vehicle.
What roles will you be playing in this new position, and how does that fit in with the other flight directors?
As a flight director, I lead the ground team and on orbit crew to accomplish the mission objectives. I am assigned primarily to support the International Space Station (ISS) although there are other flight directors assigned to support the Orion vehicle and our commercial partners.
How did your education at Ohio State prepare you for a position like this with NASA?
Ohio State provided a solid foundation for me to build my knowledge on once I graduated. A vast majority of spacecraft systems are computer controlled, and my classes at Ohio State emphasized the entire control path from the sensors and end effectors, all the way up to the control software.
Was working for NASA something you had always hoped for, or was this an opportunity you saw and decided to take advantage of?
It was both. I grew up fascinated with space and manned spaceflight and knew from the time that I was a little kid that I wanted to be an engineer. When I got to Ohio State I actually started in aerospace engineering. I found that I enjoyed computers more than fluid dynamics and switched over to electrical and computer engineering. At that point I wasn’t sure I’d end up in the space business, but I found an opportunity to work on the ISS electrical power systems and that is how I got started at NASA.
What do you think is the importance of the space program today and into the future? What difference does it make that the U.S. is supporting programs like the space station, commercial space flights and similar projects?
Our space program today is one-of-a-kind. The research that we’re doing in zero-G, the work that we’re doing to learn how to live for long periods of time away from Earth, and the development we’re doing on new vehicles to take humans farther away from Earth than we’ve ever been is incredibly exciting.
The partnership NASA has formed with commercial companies is the next step in the evolution of space flight. Just as air travel migrated from research centers to commercial companies, flying to low earth orbit (LEO) is something that becomes more frequent every year. It allows commercial companies to lower the cost to orbit of cargo and allows NASA to continue to develop technologies and spacecraft in areas that are not yet commercially viable.
If given the opportunity, would you want to go into space yourself?
Absolutely! But I can’t stress enough how much of a team effort it takes to successfully launch, fly and land a spacecraft. The ground teams we have at NASA are some of the most professional and hardworking people I know.
