NATIONAL SPACE DAY 2002, Washington DC
The NASA-JPL group picture ->
I'm the second guy from left ->


John Glenn, first American to orbit Earth, is fourth from left
Dr.Sally Ride, first American woman in space, is at John Glenn's left



About Me...
I'm Alan Rich, one of the Ambassadors in a public education program run by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena California. I live in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. A long time ago, I spent almost ten years at the University of Tennessee and Maryville College studying mostly chemistry and related things, after which time I taught mostly chemistry and related things at Tampa College in St.Petersburg Florida. Since then, here at RTP, I've worked in analytical organic chemistry, rocket fuel development, and even clinical chemistry. Teaching and hands-on laboratory work are my favorite occupational things to do. With the NASA-JPL "Solar System Ambassador" program, I do presentations for museums, planetariums, and schools (from elementary schools thru University classes) that focus primarily on our scientific spacecraft missions within our Solar System. It's alot of fun, and I hope the groups I work with enjoy it as much as I do.
Along with a couple of other ex-NASA rocket people, I've co-founded the Cary Technical Consortium (CTC), a think-tank for ideas about robotics,
pulse-jet and rocket engine design, and other fun things like that.

About NASA's JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL)...
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by the California Institute of Technology, is NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system. Our spacecraft have visited all the planets in our solar system except Pluto. JPL telescopes are observing distant galaxies in the universe to study how our solar system was formed. We also manage the worldwide Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. JPL cameras and sensors are aboard satellites circling Earth to study the ozone, oceans and other Earth sciences. To support our continued exploration, JPL is making advances in technology with new instruments and computer programs to help our spaceships travel further and our telescopes see farther than ever before. JPL's main 72-hectare (177-acre) site is at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California, 19 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Los Angeles.



LINKS...
John Glenn
JPL
Dr.Sally Ride

FAVORITE STUFF ...STUFF THAT INTERESTS ME....STUFF THAT I LIKE...STUFF THAT I KNOW STUFF ABOUT...A LITTLE BIO ON ME...


SPACECRAFT Design and Construction technology
ROCKET (Launch Vehicle) Design and Construction technology
Interplanetary ROBOTIC exploration
CATS
....my four cats: Scooter, Fuzz, Splotchie, and Pepper
....I like to foster-home homeless cats and help adoption agencies, especially Cat Angels >> Cat Angels web site <- link.
SCIENCE
....physics
....mechanical engineering
....chemistry
....astrophysics / cosmology
....aerospace engineering
....automotive engineering
Soccer
.... Especially coaching kid's soccer.
.... as a player, however, I suck.
Humor
....Monty Python / Black Adder / a lot of British humor
....South Park, Family Guy, Ren and Stimpy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force
....The Far Side (Gary Larson)
American micro-brewery beer, and European beer
....Flying Dog Brewery web site <- link. Best US beer maybe? Very cool Ralph Steadman art on the labels.
Chocolate. Especially dark chocolate. And fudge so rich it makes you gag.
Health, fitness, and human biochemistry
....in spite of what I say about liking rich chocolate and beer, I'm really sorta a health and excercise nut to some extent
Middle-Eastern / Mediterranean food
....hummous <- that's a link to my favorite recipe. Click it. Make it. Eat it.
....falafel
....baba ghannouj
Music
....Rammstein
....Pink Floyd
....U2
....Enigma
....Blue Man Group
Automotive Engineering
....Audis and their Quattro systems and TDI technology
....BMWs and Porsches. Their incredible "prosthetic" handling
....Mercedes-Benz. Legendary over-engineering
....The German Autobahn and the Nurburgring Nordschleife on a nice dry day without many other cars around
....Road Course auto racing (like Formula One, LeMans stuff. NOT roundy-roundy)

SOME FAMILY PICTURES... click on this >> Brandon, my Dad, me

(left) Me and good friend Gerald Mulvaney, both wearing fire-resistant undies.
..........the legs and hand at the lower right of the photo belong to lunatic Ed Geiger, who claims to not be very photogenic.
(right) Me and turtle who attempted suicide in front of my car.

Complaints about this web site not being very good:
NASA-JPL@alrich.org

E-MAIL ME at
NASA-JPL@alrich.org

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