What makes a good Spacecraft Operations Manager (SOM)?
That’s the person directly responsible for the day-to-day control of the Yes; you’re the one guy in mission control who is responsible. You’ve got to have good people skills, and be able to lead a team. Of course, it’s absolutely necessary to be technically competent, and very flexible. But you’ve got to motivate your team of perhaps six or eight engineers and that can be a challenge when a mission gets routine. You also have to be able to explain the mission to a number of audiences: tech colleagues, the public, scientists running experiments onboard the spacecraft, others. And all missions experience problems that you just don’t hear about – but they get solved. Someone has to take responsibility and make a decision and that’s the SOM. You also train your people – and deal with their problems, sometimes, as well. You definitely have to organise a good balance between the team, the mission and home life. Flying a mission takes a lot of dedication. What will you miss? I’ve always been
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