ir families here to fly the simulator.
We will have a significant piece of the space program sitting right here at Texas A&M so that space enthusiasts can come visit it and get to see something on the same quality and significance level as anything at the National Air and Space Museum or one of the NASA museums. So lots of people are excited, and I'm excited too because this will be the only large piece of the space shuttle program that will remain in Texas. I'm excited that Texas A&M students, faculty, former students and friends will be able to use and enjoy it, and get to experience just a little bit of what flying into space on the shuttle is like. You won't be able to do that anywhere else in the world.
I'd like to be the first one to fly the SMS once it's up and running here, but I'll reserve that honor for the student technicians who have worked so hard on it. I flew it when it was at NASA, so I know the experience everyone will have—and it's going to be good. Even though I have worked on and flown simulators in industry and academia for my entire career, flying the SMS was still even better than I thought it would be. Everyone needs to experience this—it's great!
Lisa Warren ’12
SMS student volunteer coordinator
Aerospace Engineering major
A Current Student's Perspective
Every good Aggie will boast of Texas A&M’s prowess and grandeur. College Station will soon be a national landmark as home of the only Space Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS) in existence. I am excited that we are receiving not only a vestige of space exploration history but also a critical piece of American history.
The SMS has been a crucial part of the space shuttle program since the program began in the 1970s. Every astronaut who has undertaken a shuttle mission has trained on this extraordinary machine. The SMS is the only major item from the shuttle program that is staying in Texas after the final mission in July 2011.
A team from NASA will assemble the SMS at the Texas A&M University Services Building. The team of student volunteers is aiding reconstruction of the SMS in several ways, including the inventory of parts arriving from Johnson Space Center. Multiple interior walls had to be demolished to install the simulator, and the walls will be rebuilt the full two stories after the simulator’s reconstruction. The student volunteers will continue to assist with every aspect of the up-and-coming SMS program. The next step will be to design and set up the area where the SMS will be housed to ensure that the overall experience is out of this world.
Working with the SMS has reignited the spark that is my passion for aerospace.
When I was a kid, astronauts and the space program fascinated me. I have wanted to know what experiencing spaceflight would be like since the first time I was exposed to the idea of humans going to outer space at Hardin-Simmons University day camp. This interest continued to develop during my sixth-grade field trip to Johnson Space Center. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I might one day fly the SMS, much less be a part of the group maintaining this living piece of history to inspire future space enthusiasts.
I think all college students reach a point in their careers when they ask themselves, “Why am I doing this?” As a senior majoring in aerospace engineering, I have asked myself this very question on many occasions. But experiences such as working with the SMS remind me why I love aerospace engineering, and that’s what gives me the desire to prevail.
Working with the SMS has reignited the spark that is my passion for aerospace. It will be a living piece of history and act as a beacon to future Aggies. We will always be able to remember the significance of the space shuttle program, and having the SMS will allow anybody to experience it firsthand.
Paul Sean Hill ’84
Director, Mission Operations
NASA Johnson Space Center
A Former Student's Perspective
The Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS) Motion Base Simulator (MBS) is on its way to reactivation in Aggieland by the aerospace engineering department. What a poignant trans