I'm Chuck Dovale, launch director for the Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center.
Music.
My first NASA job, believe it or not, was a summer student in the summer of '82, working in the accounting branch looking at
people's vouchers that have traveled.
I didn't have a lot of engineering classes under me yet so once I did get enough engineering courses,
I did get into the co-op program and I was waiting for someone to offer me a co-op job,
And I got a call from the folks at ELV, and they said, "Hey, we've got your name. Do you want to come work in the telemetry branch?"
I said, "Sure, sounds great!" I hung up the phone, ran to the dictionary and looked up what telemetry meant, because I had no idea.
And so, I've remained there my whole career in the ELV or Launch Services Program and it's been quite a ride.
As launch director for the Launch Services Program, I am the single focal point for NASA, for the launch campaign, which is
basically when the time the rocket goes on the pad, for the last three months of the flow.
I'm the focal point for the readiness reviews and the dress rehearsals and the countdown, and people feed into me whether they're go/no-go for launch.
It's great to work on one-of-a-kind missions that NASA is launching to study the Earth, to study the planets and the Solar System.
So it's been a very good place to work.
Some of my other functions within the program are manifest related. We're juggling 30 or so missions at one time.
I also do a lot of public speaking, press conferences, webcasts.
I talk to schools and try to just pass the word on what a great place NASA is to work for, and what great things they're doing for the community.
As a younger person, I was probably about average. I started thinking about going to school. I did, one specific point in time that I do remember,
was I was in a radio and TV repair class and this was in 1981, and I saw STS-1 go up from that class.
And I was immediately enthralled with that whole experience and wished, you know, I could be part of it.
The one advice I could give to students who want to work for NASA would be to make sure you choose a subject that you have a passion for.
Don't necessarily choose a subject because it's popular or it's, you're,
to make a lot of money, because eventually, those kind of things will die out. If you don't have a passion for it, you're not going to be able to sustain a career
with it. So I would make sure you would do that. And just be patient. You know, there's a limited number of jobs for NASA,
but if you work hard enough and you're diligent, doors open and you can step through.
I'm not sure what the future holds for my girls, but, and I certainly won't pressure them to do anything. But if they were to
be involved in the Space Program, I think it would be
great to work with them on potentially like a manned mission to Mars or something like that, because that's probably going to be their generation.
And I would love to maybe end my career working with them on that endeavor.
Music.