1 00:00:00,010 --> 00:00:04,040 My name is Debbie Fairbrother, I'm the 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:08,070 Chief of the NASA Balloon Program Office and I am 3 00:00:08,070 --> 00:00:12,120 the management structure for the balloon program. 4 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:16,130 (music) 5 00:00:16,130 --> 00:00:20,150 I don't know what I wanted to do when I grew 6 00:00:20,150 --> 00:00:24,190 up. When I went into college, I liked math and 7 00:00:24,190 --> 00:00:28,220 science, so I picked engineering. I didn't know what engineering 8 00:00:28,220 --> 00:00:32,240 job could do. My aunt was an engineer so I knew 9 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:36,280 that a female could do engineering. But, I was more just getting 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:40,300 tools for my tool box and doing something 11 00:00:40,300 --> 00:00:44,340 and I'd enjoyed. I enjoyed the math and I enjoyed the science. I didn't really 12 00:00:44,340 --> 00:00:48,380 understand balloons until I was in grad school and some of my 13 00:00:48,380 --> 00:00:52,390 fellow students were working on balloon film research. But, I didn't 14 00:00:52,390 --> 00:00:56,420 quite understand balloons until I actually got the job. 15 00:00:56,420 --> 00:01:00,440 It was at international and realize how unique 16 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:04,460 and enormous and just cool balloons could be. 17 00:01:04,460 --> 00:01:08,470 (music) 18 00:01:08,470 --> 00:01:12,510 My first day at NASA, I was 19 00:01:12,510 --> 00:01:16,520 kind of in shock that I had actually taken the leap 20 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:20,590 to leave Texas, to leave my family and friends 21 00:01:20,590 --> 00:01:24,630 and venture out on the eastern shore of Virginia 22 00:01:24,630 --> 00:01:28,650 for a job following balloons. So it was 23 00:01:28,650 --> 00:01:32,690 nervous, but I knew some of the people I worked 24 00:01:32,690 --> 00:01:36,740 with because I had done research for them and so that made me feel 25 00:01:36,740 --> 00:01:40,770 a little bit more comfortable and ultimately has become home. 26 00:01:40,770 --> 00:01:44,790 (music) 27 00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:48,830 In my life my family has been a huge influence. Growing up both 28 00:01:48,830 --> 00:01:52,870 sets of grandparents owned small businesses. One owned a small country 29 00:01:52,870 --> 00:01:56,910 store and the other a tavern and I remember 30 00:01:56,910 --> 00:02:00,960 one pair of my grandparents in their will it said 31 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,980 that first thing that their money would go to if they 32 00:02:04,980 --> 00:02:09,010 died would put my brother and I through college. 33 00:02:09,010 --> 00:02:13,060 So before any money would go to my dad or his sisters 34 00:02:13,060 --> 00:02:17,080 they wanted to make sure we had an education. 35 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,120 Understanding that education was so important to them 36 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,140 really instilled in us how important it was to do well in school 37 00:02:25,140 --> 00:02:29,160 and to get our degrees. 38 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,190 The great barrier I had to overcome was, going out of my 39 00:02:33,190 --> 00:02:37,200 comfort zone. Sometimes change is not 40 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:41,230 easy, so the decision to leave Texas and take a job 41 00:02:41,230 --> 00:02:45,250 at Wallops was kind of taken me out of my 42 00:02:45,250 --> 00:02:49,270 comfort zone. My decision to apply for the chief 43 00:02:49,270 --> 00:02:53,290 position took me out of my comfort zone and 44 00:02:53,290 --> 00:02:57,330 sometimes you need to push yourself and 45 00:02:57,330 --> 00:03:01,360 its amazing what you could do. 46 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,390 (music) My greatest accomplishment is being part of the super pressure balloon 47 00:03:05,390 --> 00:03:09,460 team. So, the super pressure balloon is kind of the next generation 48 00:03:09,460 --> 00:03:13,460 balloon development and any research and development we've had 49 00:03:13,460 --> 00:03:17,490 our highs and our lows. So, getting through 50 00:03:17,490 --> 00:03:21,530 the lows and understanding what happen when you had a failure or anomaly 51 00:03:21,530 --> 00:03:25,560 and being able to fix it and move on, has been 52 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,580 very rewarding. It's frustrating but rewarding. 53 00:03:29,580 --> 00:03:33,630 We went to Antarctica back in 2009 with a balloon 54 00:03:33,630 --> 00:03:37,670 and we launched it and went up to float and 55 00:03:37,670 --> 00:03:41,700 it failed. So, here you're half way around the world 56 00:03:41,700 --> 00:03:45,740 it's right around Christmas time and 57 00:03:45,740 --> 00:03:49,760 you got to regroup and investigate and try to find out why 58 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:53,790 did this balloon fail, so you can move the project forward. 59 00:03:53,790 --> 00:03:57,810 (music) 60 00:03:57,810 --> 00:04:01,830 The advice that I would pass on to the next generation is 61 00:04:01,830 --> 00:04:05,870 to find something you like to do. If you work hard 62 00:04:05,870 --> 00:04:09,940 and enjoy what you do. It makes things so much easier. 63 00:04:09,940 --> 00:04:13,960 I typically like going to work. 64 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:18,000 I mean there are some days when you got meetings or reviews that you dread going to. 65 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,060 But I enjoy what I do. I light up when I get to talk about 66 00:04:22,060 --> 00:04:26,070 balloons. I enjoy going 67 00:04:26,070 --> 00:04:30,080 the travel and doing that. So, if they are doing something that they are not 68 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,120 enjoying, find something else. Because you've got to have it 69 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:38,150 in your heart, you want to do this. It will make 70 00:04:38,150 --> 00:04:42,180 life so much easier and so much happier. 71 00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:46,220 (music) 72 00:04:46,220 --> 00:04:50,230 (music) 73 00:04:50,230 --> 00:04:54,250 (music) 74 00:04:54,250 --> 00:04:54,250 end