E-mailed press release....never have and never will understand why they singled him out just because he has a different skin colour.
NASA'S FIRST BLACK MISSION-CONTROL FLIGHT DIRECTOR ON DUTY
"I'm humbled and honored to serve in the capacity of flight director,"
said Alibaruho, who spent his childhood in Oakland, Calif., and
Atlanta.
The first African-American to lead Mission Control is working shifts
as a flight director for the International Space Station. Kwatsi
Alibaruho completed more than 700 hours of training and began active
duty in August.
Since the beginning of America's space program, only 58 people have
directed human spaceflight missions. The flight director class of
2005 is the second largest ever appointed and the most diverse. The
nine-member group also includes three women and two Hispanics.
Leading a team of flight controllers, support personnel and
engineering experts, a flight director has the overall responsibility
to manage and carry out space shuttle flights and International Space
Station expeditions. A flight director also leads and orchestrates
planning and integration activities with flight controllers, payload
customers, space station partners and others.
"I'm humbled and honored to serve in the capacity of flight director,"
said Alibaruho, who spent his childhood in Oakland, Calif., and
Atlanta. "I love the diversity of challenges in space exploration and
in mission operations," he added.
Alibaruho's father, economist Dr. George Alibaruho, is from Uganda,
while his mother, Dr. Gloria Alibaruho, is from Macon, Ga. Several of
his siblings also were born in Uganda.
"I caught the 'science bug' very early from watching science fiction
programs, and I wanted to learn about real science," Alibaruho said.
Every chance he had, he signed up for extracurricular activities and
seminars where he dedicated weekends and summers to further his
knowledge of science and engineering.
Alibaruho earned a bachelor's degree in avionics from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Despite his
intense interest in science, he never thought of working at NASA
until an opportunity arose through the cooperative education program
at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
As a full-time NASA employee, Alibaruho became certified as a flight
controller and accepted increasing levels of responsibility. He was
deputy chairman of the Orbital Space Plane Source Evaluation Board's
operations committee, and immediately before his selection as a
flight director was group lead for the International Space Station
Life Support Systems Group. He already has logged 2,850 hours of
experience working in Mission Control.
He said he looks forward to the challenges ahead while NASA pursues
exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond as part of the Vision for
Space Exploration.
"There is nothing about my job that is routine," Alibaruho said,
"There is something unique and challenging to hold my interest every
day. I'm excited about the prospect of working on new projects and
going through the process of figuring out how to do long-duration
space exploration missions," he added.