Kwatsi Alibaruho
Encyclopedia
Kwatsi Alibaruho is a Flight Director
for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He is the first African American
NASA Flight Director.
As of November 2005, only 58 people had directed human spaceflight
missions. The Flight Director class of 2005, of which Alibaruho is a member, is the second largest ever appointed and the most diverse. The nine-member group also included three women and two Hispanic
s. 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.
, and Dr. Gloria Alibaruho of Macon, Georgia
. His mother is a retired university professor of social sciences
, and his father is a retired economist
. From his early beginnings, Alibaruho's parents encouraged his interest in mathematics
and science
by exposing him to printed material about rocket
s and about NASA as well as by exposing him to science fiction
media of the time.
"I caught the science bug very early from watching science fiction programs, and I wanted to learn about real science," Alibaruho has 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
.
in 1994 from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. In May of 2011, he earned a Master of Business Administration
from Rice University
through Rice's Executive MBA Program, which he attended full-time while concurrently performing his duties as Flight Director.
/ISS-2A, STS-101
/ISS-2A.2a, STS-106
/ISS-2A.2b, STS-97
/ISS-4A, STS-105
/ISS-5A.1.
In May 2001, Alibaruho was selected as the Manager of the ISS Life Support Systems Group where he managed and trained a team of approximately 25 Flight Controllers. He served in this capacity for just over three years until he was selected as a Flight Director in February 2005.
/ LF-1, a flight led by his long time mentors Paul Hill
and Mark Ferring.
Shortly after, Alibaruho completed training as a Space Shuttle Flight Director, now qualified to manage operations on both spacecraft. During his Flight Director career, Alibaruho served as an Orbit ISS Flight Director for Assembly Missions STS-115
/ ISS-12A and STS-123
/ISS-1J/A. He served as an Orbit ISS Flight Director for Expeditions 11 – 28, logging literally hundreds of shifts in Mission Control. Alibaruho served as a Shuttle Orbit Flight Director for Missions STS-126
/ ULF-2, STS-127
/ ISS-2J/A, STS-128
/ ISS-17A, and STS-134
/ ULF-6.
During his tenure, Alibaruho served as the Lead ISS Flight Director for Russian EVA 15 and for STS-119
/ ISS-15A, the mission which delivered the S6 Solar Array & Truss Segment to the International Space Station. As a Space Shuttle Flight Director, Alibaruho also served as the Lead Flight Director for Mission STS-130
/ ISS-20A, the mission that delivered the Node-3 and Cupola to the International Space Station.
After STS-130, Alibaruho was selected to serve a 7 month temporary assignment as Deputy Chief of the EVA, Robotics, and Crew Systems Operations Division, where he assisted the Division Chief in management of approximately 200 civil service and contractor personnel and the Division’s two major facilities, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
(NBL) and the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility
(SVMF).
As his temporary assignment as Deputy Division Chief concluded, NASA directed the addition of one final Space Shuttle Flight to the Program Manifest, STS-135
/ ULF-7, which was to be the last Shuttle Flight in U.S. history. Senior Management of Mission Operations Directorate selected Alibaruho to serve as the Lead Space Shuttle Flight Director for this historic mission along-side Lead ISS Flight Director, J. Chris Edelen.
Flight director
The term flight director can refer to any one of the following:* the flight controller of a space flight* the flight director of an aviation navigation system...
for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He is the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
NASA Flight Director.
As of November 2005, only 58 people had directed human spaceflight
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....
missions. The Flight Director class of 2005, of which Alibaruho is a member, is the second largest ever appointed and the most diverse. The nine-member group also included three women and two Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
s. 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
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
flights and International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
expeditions. A flight director also leads and orchestrates planning and integration activities with flight controllers, payload customers, space station partners and others.
Background
Alibaruho was born to Dr. George Alibaruho of UgandaUganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, and Dr. Gloria Alibaruho of Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
. His mother is a retired university professor of social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, and his father is a retired economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
. From his early beginnings, Alibaruho's parents encouraged his interest in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
by exposing him to printed material about rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
s and about NASA as well as by exposing him to science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
media of the time.
"I caught the science bug very early from watching science fiction programs, and I wanted to learn about real science," Alibaruho has 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
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
.
Education
Alibaruho earned a Bachelor of Science in AvionicsAvionics
Avionics are electronic systems used on aircraft, artificial satellites and spacecraft.Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems and the hundreds of systems that are fitted to aircraft to meet individual roles...
in 1994 from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
. In May of 2011, he earned a Master of Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
from Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
through Rice's Executive MBA Program, which he attended full-time while concurrently performing his duties as Flight Director.
Early NASA Career
Alibaruho started with NASA in 1993 as a Cooperative Education student serving in the Mission Operations Directorate's ISS Life Support Systems Group. Post-graduation, he serviced as an ISS Life Support Systems Flight Controller (MCC Call Sign: ECLSS) from 1995 – 2000. During that time, Alibaruho became one of the first ECLSS officers qualified for duty in the new International Space Station Program and served on missions ISS-1A/R, STS-88STS-88
-Mission parameters:*Weight*Liftoff: *Landing: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Orbital Period: 92.4min-Launch attempts:-Mission highlights:Node 1, named Unity, was the first space station hardware delivered by the space shuttle. It has two Pressurized Mating Adapters , one attached to either end...
/ISS-2A, STS-101
STS-101
-Mission parameters:* Mass:** Orbiter landing with payload: ** Payload: * Perigee: * Apogee: * Inclination: 51.6°* Period: 91 min-Space walks:* Voss and Williams – EVA 1...
/ISS-2A.2a, STS-106
STS-106
STS-106 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis.-Crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: 233 mi...
/ISS-2A.2b, STS-97
STS-97
STS-97 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour. The crew installed the first set of solar arrays to the ISS, prepared a docking port for arrival of the Destiny Laboratory Module, and delivered supplies for the station's crew.-Crew:-Mission...
/ISS-4A, STS-105
STS-105
STS-105 was a mission of the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station, launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 10 August 2001. This mission was Discoverys final mission until STS-114, because Discovery was grounded for a refit, and then all Shuttles were grounded in the wake...
/ISS-5A.1.
In May 2001, Alibaruho was selected as the Manager of the ISS Life Support Systems Group where he managed and trained a team of approximately 25 Flight Controllers. He served in this capacity for just over three years until he was selected as a Flight Director in February 2005.
Flight Director Career
By August of 2005, Alibaruho had completed more than 700 hours of training as an International Space Station Flight Director and reported for active duty in Mission Control immediately following completion of NASA's "Return-to-flight" mission, STS-114STS-114
-Original crew:This mission was to carry the Expedition 7 crew to the ISS and bring home the Expedition 6 crew. The original crew was to be:-Mission highlights:...
/ LF-1, a flight led by his long time mentors Paul Hill
Paul Hill (Flight Director)
Paul Sean Hill is the director of Mission Operations at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He was formerly a Flight Director in the Mission Control Center for Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions....
and Mark Ferring.
Shortly after, Alibaruho completed training as a Space Shuttle Flight Director, now qualified to manage operations on both spacecraft. During his Flight Director career, Alibaruho served as an Orbit ISS Flight Director for Assembly Missions STS-115
STS-115
Note:The P3/P4 Truss segment and batteries were so heavy that the crew count was reduced from seven to six.-Crew notes:...
/ ISS-12A and STS-123
STS-123
-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: 336 kilometers * Apogee: 346 kilometers * Inclination: 51.6 degrees* Period: 91.6min-Mission payloads:...
/ISS-1J/A. He served as an Orbit ISS Flight Director for Expeditions 11 – 28, logging literally hundreds of shifts in Mission Control. Alibaruho served as a Shuttle Orbit Flight Director for Missions STS-126
STS-126
-Crew notes:Originally scheduled to fly on STS-126 was Joan E. Higginbotham, who was a mission specialist on STS-116. On 21 November 2007, NASA announced a change in the crew manifest due to Higginbotham's decision to leave NASA to take a job in the private sector. Stephen G...
/ ULF-2, STS-127
STS-127
STS-127 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . It was the twenty-third flight of . The primary purpose of the STS-127 mission was to deliver and install the final two components of the Japanese Experiment Module: the Exposed Facility , and the Exposed Section of the...
/ ISS-2J/A, STS-128
STS-128
-Crew notes:Nicole Stott was originally scheduled to return aboard Soyuz TMA-15, but a change in the flight plan was made due to the possible flight delays in future shuttle missions, which may extend Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk's mission beyond the six-month duration preferred for station...
/ ISS-17A, and STS-134
STS-134
STS-134 was the penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The mission marked the 25th and final flight of . This flight delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station. Mark Kelly served as the mission commander...
/ ULF-6.
During his tenure, Alibaruho served as the Lead ISS Flight Director for Russian EVA 15 and for STS-119
STS-119
-Crew notes:This mission was originally scheduled to bring the Expedition 9 crew to the ISS. This crew would have consisted of:-Mission parameters:* Mass:* Orbiter liftoff: * Orbiter landing: * Perigee: * Apogee:...
/ ISS-15A, the mission which delivered the S6 Solar Array & Truss Segment to the International Space Station. As a Space Shuttle Flight Director, Alibaruho also served as the Lead Flight Director for Mission STS-130
STS-130
STS-130 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . 's primary payloads were the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center, providing a 360-degree view around the station...
/ ISS-20A, the mission that delivered the Node-3 and Cupola to the International Space Station.
After STS-130, Alibaruho was selected to serve a 7 month temporary assignment as Deputy Chief of the EVA, Robotics, and Crew Systems Operations Division, where he assisted the Division Chief in management of approximately 200 civil service and contractor personnel and the Division’s two major facilities, the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory is an astronaut training facility maintained by and located at the Sonny Carter Training Facility on NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The NBL consists of a large indoor pool of water, the largest in the world, in which astronauts may perform simulated...
(NBL) and the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility
Space Vehicle Mockup Facility
The Space Vehicle Mockup Facility is located inside Building 9 of Johnson Space Center in Houston. It includes several Space Shuttle mockups, as well as mockups of every major pressurized module on the International Space Station...
(SVMF).
As his temporary assignment as Deputy Division Chief concluded, NASA directed the addition of one final Space Shuttle Flight to the Program Manifest, STS-135
STS-135
STS-135 was the final mission of the American Space Shuttle program. It used the orbiter Atlantis and hardware originally processed for the STS-335 contingency mission, which was not flown. STS-135 launched on 8 July and was originally scheduled to land on 20 July 2011, but the mission was...
/ ULF-7, which was to be the last Shuttle Flight in U.S. history. Senior Management of Mission Operations Directorate selected Alibaruho to serve as the Lead Space Shuttle Flight Director for this historic mission along-side Lead ISS Flight Director, J. Chris Edelen.
External links
- NASA Biography
- Further Biography
- NPR Interview
- UNAA Times
- Hear the correct pronunciation of Kwatsi Alibaruho