The Future of Space Travel: A Conversation with Sarah Chichester

Bruce Bailey (Vice President of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Bell Collaborative)
Hi, Sarah. Could you introduce yourself?

Sarah Chichester (IT Technical Lead for the Space Telescope Science Institute)
My name is Sarah Chichester, and I am the IT Technical Lead for the Space Telescope Science Institute. We support the Hubble Space Telescope, Roman, and the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). I support a team of about 20 staff ranging from service desk to Tier 3 back-end support. We support the infrastructure that supports the telescope.

We are based in the same building as MOCK, which is the Missions Operations Center. That's where the brains of the mission are located that run the command. MOM is also located there, which is the mission’s operations manager. They make sure everybody's in order.

It's a very interesting environment to be in. JWST was my first mission. When I came in, I had no idea what I was getting into. I love my job. The people on the team say I'm crazy, but it's right up my alley. I'm a people person. I like to talk, and I like to talk with different people, and that's what this job does. I coordinate between the IT side and the mission level, which is both NASA side and Space.

BB
Were you on site when JWST launched on Christmas Day?

SC
I was.

BB
Tell me what it was like to be in the room.

SC
We weren't where the telescope launched from, but we had it on the big screen. There were all these VIPs watching, and you could really feel the importance of the situation.
I was in the flight control room–that's where they drive the telescope. I was sitting there, and I just felt giddy, like a kid. We had been delayed so many times. And then it was finally here. There was just silence. You’re watching the countdown, and you are just hoping and praying that it is successful.
And then it happened. It launched. We watched the telescope the whole way to make sure it worked. And then we learned that we used a lot less fuel to get there than we needed, so everything lined up perfectly. The mission itself should only last about 10 years, but it could last even longer because of how much fuel we have.

BB
Where did the telescope launch from?

SC
French Guinea. Space Telescope didn’t have anyone over there, but Raytheon and Northrop did. Bill Oaks was there. He is a project manager and a very down to Earth guy. You know you meet all these people that are at this level, and they treat you like a normal person. They were great.
Communication is key. Being able to talk to people in an environment like this is vital.

BB
That leads to my next question about collaboration and how it worked. I imagine collaboration is key on big projects like this.

SC
Very. It was successful because we all did well together. It wasn't just me. I worked as an intermediary, letting people who worked on different floors know what was going on. You need to be able to know when you should ask for things and when things can wait. Listening is so important for that.

But yes, collaboration and communication were key.

BB
That's excellent. And what does this telescope represent for you? You have spent a lot of time on this project.

SC
It sounds bad, but I see it as a job. I am not a scientist. I am a small piece. It’s an incredible project, but all I do is keep track of the infrastructure.

BB
Now at the beginning of the interview, I didn’t realize you worked on all those other telescope projects. How important is it that that these projects stay funded?

SC
Every mission has its role. For JWST, it's looking further out in the universe to see what's out there, to see where our place is in the universe. But NASA has several other missions and a lot of telescope satellites. A lot of them look at the earth and monitor how the climate changes and other important things. It is incredibly important we fund those projects.

BB
I think those are all the questions I have. Anything you want to add before we wrap up?

SC
I appreciate you taking the time to interview me. It's cool. I haven't been asked by anyone else. I feel very honored. I'm just this little IT person.

BB
Yeah, but you're obviously more than that when it comes down to it.

SC
Yes, in the grand scheme of things, we all have our place. It's all important. That's what I tried to reiterate to the team too, because sometimes you wonder, why am I here? But I always told them that if they weren't here and something were to happen, then we couldn't do it.

BB
Missions fail otherwise.

SC
That’s right.