Touch Down

Abstract

NASA astronaut and COE alumnus Shane Kimbrough spoke at Georgia Tech on Friday, June 26, as part of NASA’s Hometown Heroes Campaign 2009. Hometown Heroes is a program that brings astronauts to their home states to share the exciting message of continued space exploration and scientific research represented by the International Space Station.

Kimbrough, who flew into orbit for the first time aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour last November, is a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and a 1998 graduate of the Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering with a master's degree in Operations Research. During Endeavour’s mission, Kimbrough performed two space walks logging a total of 12 hours and 52 minutes of EVA (extra vehicular activity). Endeavour returned to Earth after completing 250 orbits in over 6 million miles.

Kimbrough was joined on the mission by COE graduates Eric Boe, who earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1997, and Sandra Magnus, who earned a doctorate in materials science and engineering in 1996.