What is it like to be a student astronaut?
-Kelsey Answer: I would say that being one of the student astronauts was a once in a life time experience. As student astronauts, we had the unique privilege to work INSIDE the mission operations at the JPL during the time we are on duty. Well, what was more exciting than meeting all those mission scientists IN PERSON? Also, we were one of the first to know what was actually going on in the mission as project scientists regularly provided ‘mini-lectures’ of their ideas. Best of all, Abby, Wei-Lin, Vignan and I also had a personal talk on sundials from Bill Nye, the Science Guy. We also had some ‘hands-on’ experience on image processing and analysis. We even made movie clips of the sundial shadow moving across the dial. However, it is indeed hard work, as we had to work in irregular shifts. (It is like constantly having jet lag.) Sleep deprevation was quite common as you are constantly tired. Watching the landing process inside the mission operations was also an unique experience. Durin
