NASA scientist to address Science Olympiad Invitational
Jack Bacon, an expert in spacecraft integration
and in aerospace systems architectures, will be the keynote speaker
at the Invitational Science Olympiad tournament, scheduled Jan.
25-26 at the University of Delaware in Newark, Del. Mr. Bacon, a
NASA scientist, will speak at the opening ceremony on Jan. 25.
Mr. Bacon works at the Johnson Space Center as systems
integration lead of numerous Russian and American spacecraft, including
the Zarya' (also known by its Russian acronym: FGB): the first element
and bridge module of the new International Space Station, launched
November 20, 1998.
His duties at NASA have included several assignments
in the integrated architecture, design and operations of the Shuttle
and of all systems in the US, Russian, Japanese, European and Canadian
elements of the International Space Station. His duties have taken
him to space development facilities all over the world, including
previously secret Russian installations.
He has presented NASA topics on all levels to worldwide
audiences, and on numerous radio and TV events. He is an award-winning
author, whose current book is "My Grandfathers' Clock," a nonfiction
work that traces the development of technology and society through
28 known generations of his family, dating from medieval times to
today.
Bacon received his bachelors degree from the
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1976, and his masters
and doctoral degrees in 1978 and 1984, respectively, from the University
of Rochester, where he worked on laser-fusion power reactors, fusion
propulsion systems and on microgravity fluid surfaces.
A former sailplane pilot, scuba diver and skydiver,
he volunteers regularly as a test subject in numerous NASA flight
medicine and physiology experiments and has logged more than 30
minutes of zero-gravity experience in medical test programs aboard
parabolic aircraft flights. He is an applicant in the current astronaut
selection round.