Garrett Reisman, W'91:
Government Service in Space
A graduate of the Jerome Fisher Program in
Management & Technology has a shot at
being the first Wharton alumnus in space.
In June, Reisman was chosen by the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
to be a member of this year’s astronaut candidate
class. The 25-member class is selected from a field of 2,600
applicants after a rigorous screening process that culminates
in a weeklong interview process at NASA
headquarters in Houston.
“We had a series of medical
and psychological
exams and then we were
interviewed by 15 senior
astronauts and NASA officials,”
Reisman says. “The
head of the committee is
John Young, who was
Neil Armstrong’s crewmate in the Gemini program and
walked on the moon as an Apollo astronaut. He
asked me what I had done starting from high school, and
it went on from there.”
Reisman will complete 18 months of training and evaluation,
then undergo a series of ground assignments.
“Maybe in about four years I will actually be up in space as
a mission specialist,” he says. (Astronauts are divided into
two groups: pilot astronauts who fly the shuttle and usually
come from a branch of the military; and mission
specialists who come from scientific, engineering or medical
backgrounds and conduct the actual space walks.) A
mission specialist’s assignment can involve such activities
as assembling a manned space station, repairing the Hubble
space telescope or fixing a malfunctioning satellite.
After Reisman graduated from Wharton he earned a
master’s and PhD in mechanical engineering from the California
Institute of Technology. Before moving to Houston
in August, he worked for two years at TRW in Redondo
Beach, Calif., helping to design the control loops for a NASA
satellite called EOS (Earth Observing System) PM1. The
satellite will be launched in December 2000 to take measurements
of energy transfer systems in the earth’s
atmosphere. “The idea is to get a better understanding
of climactic phenomena like El Nino and global warming,”
he says.
“I have been interested in space and astronauts ever
since I was a kid putting together model airplanes and
rockets,” adds Reisman, who spends his free time flying (he
has a pilot’s license), scuba-diving, hiking and mountain-climbing.
“By the time I was 11, I had just about worn out
a Super 8 film version of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.”
And yes, he understands the hazards of his chosen profession.
“They [NASA officials] were pretty up front with us
during that weeklong interview as to the risks involved. We
know that flying in space and launching in these rockets
is not the safest activity. But I have confidence that NASA
does everything it can to minimize the danger. For me, the
reward of being able to go up there and look out the window
and see planet Earth will make it all worthwhile.”
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