>> We have a lot of technology
that we've developed
for different aeronautics
applications, that it allows us
to take technology
and really make sure that
we're helping firefighters
do their job,
giving them better support,
better tools to use,
and really also help hopefully
start to affect the outcomes
of some of these really large,
destructive fires
that destroy people's homes
and really impact
the communities that we live in.
Aeronautics is really
the piece that can help
a lot of those kind of
visions of the future
come to be reality.
My name is Kathryn Chapman,
and I'm an
Aeronautics Researcher
at NASA Ames.
Right now, I work on
the project, it's called ACERO,
the Advanced Capabilities for
Emergency Response Operations.
What we're doing is looking
at the current state
of wildland firefighting,
looking at the tools
and technologies
that firefighters use
to do their jobs.
This is really important
because wildfires
are just getting larger,
more destructive
and more frequent.
But a lot of
the current technology
and tools and techniques
used to fight wildfire
has remained pretty-
pretty unchanged
for the last several decades.
Some of the biggest issues
in firefighting have to do with
degraded visual environments,
which is when there's a lot
of smoke in the air
and you can't see,
or at night.
And also communication.
So degraded visual environments,
uh, these are times
when planes can't fly.
traditional aircraft
with a pilot.
It's really unsafe for them
to be flying
in these conditions
because they, they can't see
what's around them that well.
If we could start to expand
some of those operations
into the smoke,
into the night time with drones,
where we're not putting
a human operator at risk,
that would be huge
because it would allow us to-
to double, maybe even
triple the amount of resources
that are on a fire
and could really allow for
some big strides to be made
without having
to put more people at risk.
Another big issue
in firefighting
is communication.
Drones are helping
to solve the problem
of communications by serving
in a couple different ways.
They can be used effectively
as a cell tower in the sky
to bounce signal
between different remote areas,
and allow people
to communicate on a fire
that wouldn't otherwise
be able to do that.
They also allow for
a lot more complex data
than a radio would.
Right now, almost all
communication that happens
on a fire is over radio.
But if you begin to have drones,
you begin to have
this infrastructure.
You're really able to share
much more information
with intent and location
and fire behavior,
which then allows you
to plan a lot better
and have a good common
operating picture between
everyone on the fire.
I grew up in
Southern California,
and I was just very used
to fire being a part of
everyday life-- You know,
I know in the East Coast,
people have snow days.
Where I grew up,
we had fire days.
And, I think it's really
important to me,
working on this project,
because it feels like
I can see such a clear,
tangible application
of what I'm doing
and how it's going to
affect my life and affect
the lives of people around me,
and that means a lot to me.
That's something
that's really important to me,
is having this kind of
community benefit element
to the work that I do.
I obviously didn't go to school
expecting to be
researching fire.
I don't think a lot of
people do, but it's-
it's something that
when I started to learn more
about it, it really seemed
important to me.
I think kind of in the back
of my mind, I always had
the idea of NASA being
a cool place to work,
but it never really seemed
like a place that was
gonna make sense for me.
And, you know, eventually,
between my experience,
in kind of, aerospace related
research, I ended up
getting a job here.
You know, if you want to
get into aeronautics,
if you want to really pursue
this in the future,
I don't think there's
any one skill set
that really makes you able
to do aeronautics research.
So many people I work with
have completely different
backgrounds,
and I think the- the just
really important thing is
being able to communicate
what you think is important.
Being able to maybe work with
other people who have
a different background than you,
and make sure that you can
take your specialized knowledge
and make it useful to someone
who doesn't have the same
specialized background as you.
Really, the thing that has
helped me the most
in working at NASA
and working in aeronautics
is just being able to
communicate with people well,
and I think that's oftentimes
a really undervalued
and underrated aspect
of STEM as a whole.
STEM isn't one thing.
There are so many people
who have non-STEM backgrounds
and non-STEM roles
who still work at NASA
and support the NASA mission.
Focus on what you think
is interesting
and keep kind of following
where your curiosity
is leading you.
And I think that's really
a good way to find
some really interesting niches
that maybe you wouldn't
think about working in,
but end up being a great fit.
♪♪