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May 4, 2009

Russell graduate, NASA engineer talks to students

By MIKE JAMES

RUSSELL — Will Judd always knew he would work for NASA.

He said so when he was a student at Russell High School, where he graduated in 1994.

And now he is — employed by Boeing, he works on contract for the space agency doing stress analysis and moving the space shuttle back to Kennedy Space Center after it lands.

Judd returned to Russell Middle School Monday to talk to students in the earth science class about his job and the shuttle program.

A big part of Judd’s job is analyzing damage — cracks and such — in the tiles and other coverings of the shuttle. He does it primarily by setting computer models of the damage and testing them to determine whether the spacecraft is safe to fly or not and whether the tiles should be repaired or replaced.

After the launch, some of the pressure is off his shoulders. Any damage incurred while the shuttle is in flight triggers a larger team that works quickly to evaluate and solve the problem before time to land.

Sometimes he is consulted during the missions, and during the launch he is always in his office at the space center, just in case he’s needed.

During his visit at the middle school, Judd walked the students through a slide show with images of the space center and some of the massive buildings and machines engineers use when moving and working on the shuttles.

Machines include giant cranes operators can set down on an egg without breaking the shell and 12-foot jackstands.

Judd’s presentation brought back another visitor to the school, retired teacher and academic coach Col. John Burgess, who remembers Judd from his years as a student and on the team.

“He always said he would work for NASA,” he said. “That was always his goal. I never doubted he would.”

Judd was a versatile intellect on the academic team, Burgess said. He could test in any subject and score points.

Judd scored plenty of points with the students.

“It makes me want to learn more about the shuttle,” said eighth-grader Kyle Skaggs. “I’d like to learn how they build them and how they take off.”

There are only eight missions remaining before the shuttle program is retired, with the last launch and recovery scheduled for September. Judd plans to be in Florida for all of them.

Chances are he will continue his launch routine for all of them: After mission control lifts the final routine hold at nine minutes before liftoff, Judd races outside to watch the shuttle thunder into the Florida sky.

“It’s very intense. It takes all five senses ... It’s still very meaningful and rewarding,” Judd said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.

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