NASA and Aviation with Nancy Currie-Gregg - #29

In this episode I talk with Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg, a formerArmy aviation officer, NASA astronaut and current Professor of Practice, Industrial & Systems Engineering and Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University.In the episode, we discuss how Nancy became interested in aviation at a young age, her decision to join the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Nancy’s work as an Army Aviator, her time as a NASA flight simulation engineer, attending the Astronaut Candidate Training Program, the experience of taking off into space, her role as a flight engineer across fourNASA space missions, the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, Nancy leading the Space Shuttle Program’s Safety and Mission Assurance Office after the Columbia disaster, her recommendation to aspiring Astronauts and much more. I hope you enjoy! ARTICLES:STS-57: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-57/STS-88: https://www.nasa.gov/mission/sts-88/Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) Report (2003): https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/caib/news/report/volume1/default.htmlThe Challenger STS-51L Accident: https://www.nasa.gov/challenger-sts-51l-accident/What we know about the midair plane and helicopter crashnear Washington, D.C.: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5280198/plane-crash-washington-dc-helicopter-potomacNeil Armstrong, Ohio teachers inspired astronaut NancyCurrie-Gregg: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/usa250/2026/04/12/nancy-currie-gregg-astronaut-challenger-explosion-ohio/89441020007/ BOOKS:The Challenger launch decision by Diane VaughanNormal Accidents by Charles Perrow MUSIC INTRO/OUTRO:massobeats - bonsai (https://youtu.be/BgjrxtC_WlE) CONNECT: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrian-dolinay-frm-96a289106/ GitHub: https://github.com/ad17171717 X:https://twitter.com/DolinayG Odysee: https://odysee.com/@adriandolinay:0 Medium: https://medium.com/@adriandolinay PODCAST: Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-aspiring-stem-geek/id1765996824 Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Aspiring-STEM-Geek/B0DC73S9SNiHeart Radio: https://iheart.com/podcast/202676097/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/60dPNJbDPaPw7ru8g5btxV |-Video Chapters-|0:00 – Intro 0:21 – Nancy’s interest in math and science growing up 1:09 – Studying Biological Science and joining Army Reserve Officers' TrainingCorps 4:55 – Army aviation school 8:17 –Helicopter Instructor Pilot 10:22 – NASA Simulation Engineer 14:54 – NASA’s Shuttle Training Aircraft 19:14 – Fault injection in flight simulation 21:57 – NASA’s Astronaut Candidate Training Program 24:56 – Space Transportation System 57 (STS-57) 32:16 –Space Transportation System 88 (STS-88) 37:00 – The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the aftermath 41:38 – Breaking into the space industry 43:56 – Book recommendation 46:34 – Conclusion