Orbital Maneuvers

Biographie de RC Davison

Who am I?I am an electrical engineer and have been for the last twenty-some years, but I did not start out as an engineer. In college I majored in physics and astronomy and graduated with a BS in Physics after the university dropped the astronomy program. After realizing that a four-year degree in physics was not the most marketable degree to have, I went on the get a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering.
Throughout my professional career I fed my fascination for science by reading whatever I could find on all sorts of subjects from astronomy to zoology and watching everything I could on television. While I was growing up in a small town in upstate New York I lived for the National Geographic Specials that were not on often enough for my satisfaction. I was ecstatic when my parents got a subscription to the magazine.
As there was a dearth of science programs on TV in the sixties, I fed my desire for science by reading books and watching science fiction programs on our black and white television. TV offered a few programs that were on during the time I was allowed to watch it: Twilight Zone (Scared me.), Outer Limits (Scared me even more!), Lost in Space (Wanted to be part of the Robinson family.), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (Interesting, but every week it was a new monster trying to destroy the sub.), Land of the Giants (Didn't get to watch this one too much.) and the one that blew them all away-Star Trek! (Ahhh!) The technology, the characters and the special effects mesmerized me.
(Yes, special effects. Don't laugh! Taken in the context of TV sci-fi programs in the sixties, Star Trek was a quantum leap above the rest.)I found myself particularly fascinated with Mr. Spock-the pure intellect, the cool, emotionless logic and the apparent mastery of everything having to do with science and math. Mr. Spock was my inspiration to pursue a career in the sciences. Star Trek, coupled with the fervor growing with the Apollo Space Program, and the goal of landing on the Moon by the end of the decade, fueled my desire to be out there exploring The Final Frontier.
I wanted to be on the Starship Enterprise and even though I was old enough to know better, I couldn't help but look up at the night sky in hopes of seeing that amazing starship streak across it after being thrown back in time, yet again!As time moves forward, as it always does, I grew up and realized that I probably wasn...