College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Alums contribute to NASA mission

Three aerospace engineering alums—Clay Anderson, MS’83, astronaut; LeRoy Cain, BS’88, space shuttle launch integration manager; and Joel Montalbano, BS’88, flight director—are key figures in NASA’s current missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

Anderson arrived on the ISS in June aboard space shuttle Atlantis. He is a flight engineer for Exhibition 15 and will remain on the ISS until October. Anderson, who first joined NASA as part of the internship program in 1981, was selected into the astronaut-training program in 1998 at age 39. Details about Anderson’s career as an astronaut and his work on the ISS are available in his training and in-flight journals. (News Service feature)

Cain, as the ranking space shuttle program official at Kennedy Space Center, oversees assembly and preparation of the shuttles as well as the reviews that occur preceding liftoff. He also explains to the media about the decisions to launch or not launch. Prior to becoming launch integration manager in 2005, Cain had worked on 17 space shuttle missions as a flight director.

Montalbano is the lead space station flight director for space shuttle Endeavor’s mission (STS-118) to the ISS. He has been at the Johnson Space Center for the past 12 years and a flight director since 1998. Montalbano has been a key leader in forging a relationship with the Russians for ISS operations. As  lead flight director, Montalbano presides over the mission, guiding the team of flight directors, flight controllers, engineering experts, and support personnel at NASA’s Mission Control Center.

Other AerE alumni at NASA include:

F. Ronald Bailey, BS’64/MS’67/PhD’70, director, Aerophysics Directorate, NASA Ames Research Center (Hall of Distinguished Alumni member)

Denny Chaussee, BS’65/MS’69/PhD’72, NRC Associate, NASA Ames Research Center

Paul Kutler, BS’65/MS’67/PhD’69, deputy director, Information Sciences and Technology, NASA Ames Research Center (Hall of Distinguished Alumni member)

Rai Man, MS’80/PhD’82, senior scientist, NASA Ames Research Center

Kevin L. Petersen, BS’74, director, NASA Dryden Flight Research Center (Hall of Distinguished Alumni member)

Joseph L. Steger, MS’67/PhD’69, formerly senior scientist at NASA Ames Research Center and professor at the University of California, Davis (deceased) (Hall of Distinguished Alumni member)

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