{"id":930,"date":"2012-11-20T18:29:34","date_gmt":"2012-11-20T18:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/?p=930"},"modified":"2017-06-14T15:38:48","modified_gmt":"2017-06-14T15:38:48","slug":"out-of-this-world-brian-from-07-trains-nasas-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/2012\/11\/20\/out-of-this-world-brian-from-07-trains-nasas-best\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of This World: Brian From ’07 Trains NASA’s Best"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brian
\nNovember 20, 2012
\nBy Shari Kiple<\/strong><\/p>\n

Soon after graduating from Winona State, Brian From \u201907<\/strong> landed a job at NASA working with simulators and training flight controllers for the Space Shuttle program. Today, he works at Goddard Space Flight Center training satellite controllers for its next Landsat satellite, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 11, 2013.<\/em><\/p>\n

Looking Skyward<\/strong><\/p>\n

From has lived many places (two dozen at last count) but spent much of his childhood in the Twin Cities area.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I moved around so much growing up, it prepared me to go where my dreams would take me,\u201d he says, \u201cand I wanted my dreams to take me to NASA.\u201d<\/p>\n

After completing general education classes at a technical college, From transferred to Winona State. It was a single decision with an exponential impact.<\/p>\n

Flight Training<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew I wanted to study physics,\u201d says From, who also minored in mathematics, \u201cbut I didn\u2019t want a school with gigantic classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

With upper-level classes averaging only ten students, Winona State was the perfect fit. \u201cI was challenged more within small classes, and I\u2019ve been competitive with students from larger programs, but I wasn\u2019t a face in the crowd,\u201d he shares. \u201cThat was important to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Systems Check<\/strong><\/p>\n

While taking a full class load, From also tutored for numerous Winona State courses in chemistry, physics, and math. This experience made his resume stand out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen a place like NASA hires people to do technical training, it\u2019s not enough to have a physics or engineering degree,\u201d he explains. \u201cNASA is looking for teaching experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, he had tutored for three different departments.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite jobs was through Winona State\u2019s general walk-in program, so I was tutoring for math, physics, and chemistry all at the same time,\u201d says From. \u201cIt often involved working on the fly because I never knew what might happen next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs hectic as it sounds to be jumping all over the place and teaching people to solve their problems, I loved it,\u201d he shares. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do it for them, but I had to coach them to figure it out for themselves. That helped me immensely for my career at NASA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Career Countdown<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>Personal attention from Winona State\u2019s professors also shaped From\u2019s career. \u201cI give so much credit to my Winona State professors for teaching me the skills I have today,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

His number one influence? Nathan Moore, professor of physics. \u201cHe wanted to push each one of us, but I\u2019d never had expectations like that before,\u201d shares Brian. \u201cHe challenged the heck out of me, and the first grade I earned from him was only a \u2018C,\u2019 but it was the hardest earned grade I ever received. More than anything, he taught me to never back down.\u201d<\/p>\n

By his senior year, he was earning straight As and received the Physics Department\u2019s nomination for WSU\u2019s School of Science & Engineering Award, which was perhaps as meaningful as his graduation diploma.<\/p>\n

Liftoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

From\u2019s first employer found him through an online source, urging him to apply as an instructor for NASA\u2019s Space Shuttle program in Houston. Following a \u201cgauntlet of interviews,\u201d From was offered his first dream job as a Shuttle communications training instructor, expertly prepared as a network simulations specialist (or SIMNET, as it\u2019s known at NASA). His main responsibility:\u00a0 training flight controllers and personnel in the NASA communications network.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got to Houston, I was surrounded by people who had dreamed their whole lives of working for NASA, just as I had,\u201d he says. Following extensive training, which he completed in record time, From was prepared to train flight controllers for the space shuttle missions, a job he held until early 2011 when only two Shuttle missions remained.
\nFor Brian From, his Winona State experience began a ripple effect that\u2019s reaching outer space.<\/p>\n

For Brian From, his Winona State experience began a ripple effect that\u2019s reaching outer space.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/a>

For Brian From, his Winona State experience began a ripple effect that\u2019s reaching outer space.<\/p><\/div>\n

Re-Entry<\/strong><\/p>\n

With just seven months remaining in the Shuttle program, From realized his time in Houston could be winding down. \u201cI knew I couldn\u2019t do that forever,\u201d recalls From. \u201cI knew I wanted to stay at NASA.\u201d He was soon moved to the International Space Station program, where his new job involved working with astronaut crews to manage logistics, including food, oxygen, fuel, and waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery few months the crew would come down and a new one would go up,\u201d he explains, \u201cso one of the highlights for me was educating the new crew on what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since this role involved only limited training, From knew he wanted to do more. \u201cMy personal calling is education. Teaching people,\u201d he says. \u201cI wanted to do what I loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n

After receiving a lead from a former co-worker, From applied for an opportunity that would once again involve training, this time for satellite controllers at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center. The fit was ideal, and the job was his.<\/p>\n

As simulation director, From now trains controllers for the Landsat 8 satellite, which is scheduled to launch February 11, 2013. The satellite, in its first launch since 1999, will orbit 438 miles above the Earth\u2019s surface in the thinnest part of the atmosphere. From says that Landsat 8 will be the first satellite using a quantam well infrared photodetector, which will be used to create a thermal image of the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely crunch time. We\u2019re doing our \u2018full up\u2019 training simulations, but instead of data coming from the real thing, it\u2019s coming from a simulator,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can to prepare satellite controllers so they know how to function, what to expect, where to turn if there\u2019s a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiring Tradition<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since 1972, the Landsat program has involved a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by Goddard and the U.S. Geological Survey. As NASA\u2019s longest running satellite program, it is the source for many of the earliest (as well as the most current) images of what Earth looks like.<\/p>\n

\u201cLandsat satellites have been going up for 40 years,\u201d notes From. \u201cIt\u2019s an incredible tradition.\u201d And that tradition is part of what drew him to NASA when he was just a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me,\u201d he says, \u201cone of the greatest things about the U.S. space program is the overall benefit to all of mankind. NASA does things purely for understanding our world and everything about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gets to the core of knowledge for the intrinsic value of learning and knowing. It inspires people to dream of doing the kind of work that I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about the Goddard Space Flight Center and From\u2019s work:\u00a0 www.nasa.gov\/centers\/goddard<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

November 20, 2012 By Shari Kiple Soon after graduating from Winona State, Brian From \u201907 landed a job at NASA working with simulators and training flight controllers for the Space Shuttle program. Today, he works at Goddard Space Flight Center training satellite controllers for its next Landsat satellite, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 11, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":1350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,2],"tags":[130,491,494,492,495,496,493,7,8],"class_list":["post-930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-wsu-magazine","tag-alumni","tag-brian-from","tag-goddard-space-flight-center","tag-nasa","tag-nathan-moore","tag-school-of-science-and-engineering","tag-space","tag-winona-state-university","tag-wsu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2012\/11\/astronauts.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQMT-f0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=930"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":935,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/930\/revisions\/935"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}