Gung-Ho for NASA
By Kevin Rayburn
Long before interstellar probes and the Hubble Space Telescope brought Saturn's rings into close view, young Paul Johnson tried to catch a glimpse of them through his rickety backyard telescope.
"All you could see were specks of light," he says.
Growing into young manhood, Johnson remembers wanting to do whatever he could to eventually work for NASA.
"I even took interstellar physics--as an elective," he notes with a smile.
Now, the 45-hear-old Louisville native and 1984 graduate of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering says he achieved his career dreams.
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No, he never became an astronaut as he once pondered, but he's done just about everything else at the space agency.
Johnson works as an engineer in the safety and mission assurance office at NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. He has worked on several projects related to space-flight hardware for space shuttles, domestic and foreign rockets and the international space station.
He recently helped assess the fleet of space vehicles designed to replace the remaining three space shuttles. He is also working on studies for new missions to the moon and Mars.
His work for NASA began in 1982 when he did an engineering student cooperative internship while at Speed. After his graduation he began working at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
At around the same time, Johnson entered the U.S. Navy where he flew jet aircraft and has accumulated more than 1,500 flight hours. Johnson also served in a diplomatic capacity at the NASA Liaison Office in Moscow. There, he worked on phases of the space shuttle in support of the international space station, a joint U.S.-Russian effort.
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"I've been lucky in my career, but only some of it is luck," he says. "The other 99 percent is work."
Johnson visited Speed last spring to tell students and other visitors about the past accomplishments and future plans of the space program.
"You're the next generation that is going to help us get to the Moon and Mars," he told the students.
He added that there are many classes offered at Speed that help students interested in working in space careers.
"When you graduate from Speed, you'll have to really hustle to find out where the jobs are, but they are out there."
Johnson continues his own education. He just completed his master's degree in engineering management at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
He credits his Speed experience with helping him to succeed.
"If it wasn't for Speed School, this all would not have happened," he says.
