Meet the Expert: Herb Baker, the Former Manager at the Operations Support Office at NASA/JSC

NASA employee Herb Baker retired from a 42-year career at the space agency. Most of his work was performed at Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, but during his career he also worked at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Baker holds a business degree, not one in engineering.

“I can assure you that you don’t need an engineering degree to work for NASA. They’re always looking for good people from a variety of fields,” he said. Baker followed in the footsteps of his mother, who also had a long career at NASA.

Basically, Baker was a ‘Jack of All Trades’ during his 42 years at NASA. He worked as support on almost every flight from the first Space Shuttle flight to the International Space Station to the Orion project, which is NASA’s hope to get men to Mars by 2030, to attempts to develop commercial space flight. During his time at NASA, Herb was a part of the team that brought the Super Guppy to NASA.

Herb in front of the Super Guppy

The Super Guppy transporting the Orion spacecraft

Learn more about the Super Guppy HERE

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Challenge:   

Learn how airplanes have changed over the years. Then compare them with what you know about NASA planes today. We LOVE hearing from you!! If you liked this episode, leave a comment below OR share with us on our Twitter , Instagram or Facebook page.

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Highlighted Book for this Episode! 

The Complete Guide to Space Exploration by Lonely Planet Kids (Author), Ben Hubbard (Author)

Book list: 

Spacecare: A Kid’s Guide to Surviving Space by Jennifer Swanson