Expert: Paul Soderman - 8/11/2010

Question

I am a US citizen, currently finishing my associate degree in aircraft maintenance, and my FAA Airframe and Powerplant (A and P) licenses at a community college in Illinois.

I have always been interested in aircraft design and engineering, and I I was wondering if the technicians at NASA who assist with setting up wind tunnel and aircraft modification experiments, are NASA employees, or contractors.

Do they have airplane/aircraft technical experience, or are they trade persons (plumbers, electricians, etc)

I guess to summarize my question, with the technical skills I have learned, is there a role for me at NASA, to assist in developing better, safer aircraft for tomorrow?


Answer
Justin
When I started work at NASA in 1967, everyone was a NASA employee.  Over the years, the privatization frenzy has kicked in and roughly half the people at the research centers were NASA employees and half were contractors when I left in 2004.  Maybe less are government employees by now.  It allows the government to appear to be smaller, but costs are greater.  So, a given wind tunnel facility might have both types of workers.  Chances are the contractor jobs are easier to get. In many cases, the few NASA openings available are often taken by contractors already on site.

The mechanics working the wind tunnels were often ex-military because of their experience on military aircraft maintenance.  Some were from industry.  The technicians usually had electronic training from industry or military.  Facility plumbing and electrical services were often provided by local businesses.  So, I would say you have excellent qualifications but I don't know what the job openings might be.  Wind tunnel research has been cut back over the years because of budgetary problems and the high cost of the space program. Check the NASA websites for job information.
Paul