WEBVTT

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Intro music.

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Hi. My name is Shawn Quinn. I work at the Kennedy Space Center in the Exploration Office, and I'm the operations and requirements manager.

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Music.

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At the Kennedy Space Center, I work in the KSC Exploration Office. I am the operations and requirements manager,

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and this job is in direct support of the nation's Vision for Exploration, and it's all about going back to the Moon and Mars.

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The return of the Space Shuttle to flight is one of the first steps in implementing the nation's Vision for Exploration.

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That was one of the key points that the president made when he announced the nation's Vision for Exploration last January.

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By returning the Shuttle to flight, we will be able to complete the International Space Station that will allow us to

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continue to conduct important microgravity experiments on the human body.

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So we understand how the zero-G environment and the unique radiation environment of space effects the human body.

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It's important that we have a complete understanding of those effects so that we can safely prepare for long-duration

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missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

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In a typical workday, I spend a fair amount of time establishing Center support for various exploration programs,

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such as Project Constellation, development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle, development of systems to systems requirement documents.

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. I spend a lot of time on video teleconferences, I spend a fair amount of time traveling up to NASA Headquarters and other Centers,

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and we have, needless to say, a lot of meetings here at the Kennedy Space Center providing important documents in support of the exploration vision.

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Well, I first came to work for NASA as a co-op back in the mid-1980s. While I was going to school at Georgia Tech for

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my bachelor's of electrical engineering,

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I applied for the co-op program and got a job offer to come to work down here as a co-op at the Kennedy Space Center,

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and it was the best job offer I could have gotten.

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I had a, I had a lacrosse coach that made sure that every one of the graduating seniors in our high school applied and got into a four-year school.

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So he taught me the importance of, of getting ready for, for, for the educational experiences.

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He made, you know, his drive for the extra mile for the lacrosse program transcended just the athletic aspect of it.

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It was all about preparing the student athlete for his next step and I'll never forget that, that was very inspirational to me.

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He, he said, "Don't stop till you cross the, till you get to the end of the finish line," and that stuck with me

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forever. It's still here with me today, and I teach my own children that.

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You know, this has been a personal dream of mine since I was three feet tall. I mean, this is something that I've

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wanted to do since as long as I can remember.

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So, you know, working on this vision is a passion to me. It's a privilege to come to work every day for NASA, it really is.

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I think it's most important for young people to recognize early on that they are in the most control of their own future.

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It's decisions that they make, as a person, as an individual, that will have the most influence on their future.

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It's important that young people understand that every little bit of success that even you get in grade school will open more doors in the future.

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So as you're going through your elementary school career, your middle school, your high school, every success will count

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and build, and allow you to have more choices as you get ready to make your decisions on where you're going to go to

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school after you graduate from high school.

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Music.

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