IU alum talks of NASA work

During the Cold War, science and technology were revolutionized, leading to such creations as weapons of mass destruction and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics program -- later to be known as NASA.\nSuch progression required the skills and expertise of scientists, historians and politicians. Greats such as Werner Von Braun and Robbert Goddard gathered in the United States to transform the way the world looked at science. \nOne such man, Joseph N. Tatarewicz, stood in Room 140 of the Student Building Tuesday before his lecture, fumbling with one of the great products of this technological age -- a projector. The irony was not lost on the array of faculty, professors and students present. When the lecture, "Two Accidents Rooted in History and Culture: The Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia in Perspective" began, the audience sat at rapt attention.\n"This is a topic that is very relevant for me as an Instructional Systems Technology major," said Jim Marken, a Ph.D. candidate sitting in the back row. "It combines a couple of things that interest me in a more historical and cultural context."\nTatarewicz received his Ph.D. in the History and Philosophy of Science at IU in 1984 before becoming a curator at the Smithsonian Institute and a key player at NASA. While employed by NASA, Tatarewicz worked on the Hubble telescope and operated in tandem with experienced astronauts. Later he became the author of numerous books and manuscripts including "Space Technology and Planetary Astronomy." \nFor Tuesday afternoon, though, the now-University of Maryland professor was back at IU discussing what he loves most -- space shuttles. The lecture was based on design, ingrained in history and politics and peppered with witty political humor. Not only did the professor explain basic blueprints of the shuttles in question, but he also pointed out the importance of the cultural context in which they were deeply rooted.\n"Both cases show how seemingly minute technical issues can have wide-ranging social, political as well as other dimensional effects," he said, referring to the investigations into the causes of the Columbia and Challenger explosions. \nAt the conclusion of the lecture, Tatarewicz passed around a two-foot block of styrofoam composed of the same material as the insulation that broke off Columbia's left wing on Feb. 1. Tatarewicz said the foam was eventually cited as the cause of Columbia's demise. \nThe two-hour lecture ended with an extensive question-and-answer session and a souvenir of the simulated insulation foam he had demonstrated with earlier.\n"I didn't really have much background going into it," sophomore Taylor McDougal said. "I had no idea the amount of scandal involved or how many technical problems existed."\n-- Contact staff writer Lauren Schaefer at lamschae@indiana.edu.