Amy Ross is an advanced spacesuit designer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. She is the daughter of astronaut Jerry Ross—who has set two US records by flying in space seven times and conducting nine spacewalks—and Karen Ross, a dietician who worked with shuttle crews. Amy completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University while simultaneously participating in NASA’s Cooperative Education Program. One of the world’s leading experts in spacesuits, Amy works at the cutting edge of NASA’s enterprise to build new spacesuits for the Artemis expeditions to the moon and future flights to Mars.

Amy joins us today to discuss spacesuit technology design and development. You’ll hear about what it’s like to have an astronaut as a father and why she chose her career path. She describes her experience studying at Purdue and doing internships at NASA. You’ll also learn what it takes to be a great spacesuit engineer and discover the value of storytelling in any career.

“When you’re signing off to send a piece of your spacesuit hardware on a mission, you know that lives matter—and you’re making sure that you’re bringing them home safely.” - Amy Ross

This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:

• Amy’s background and what it was like to have an astronaut as a father
• Her early interests as a child and how she chose a career in the space industry
• Why you don’t have to be a hardcore math lover to enter STEM careers
• How Amy’s interest and skills in the liberal arts brought a different aspect to her studies in engineering
• The variety of engineering roles and careers
• Why I switched from Liberal Arts and Languages to STEM
• The value of storytelling and marketing skills in any career
• Why Amy chose to study at Purdue for her undergraduate
• The cooperative education program at Purdue and Amy’s internships at NASA
• Amy’s path to spacesuit technology development
• Her experience working with veteran spacesuit designer, Joe Kosmo
• Designing spacesuits for different uses
• Commercializing spacesuits and the Artemis program
• Field analog testing and Amy’s experience with NASA’s Desert RATS
• SpaceX spacesuits and how they’re different from the suits Amy works on

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “That’s one of the great joys of working at NASA—everybody’s there because they want to be there and they understand what we’re doing and the gravity of it.” - Amy Ross
• “You can’t be a good spacesuit engineer if you haven’t been in a suit doing this work.” - Amy Ross

Connect with Amy Ross:

• Amy Ross on LinkedIn

Spaceship Not Required

I’m Kathy Sullivan, the only person to have walked in space and gone to the deepest point in the ocean.

I’m an explorer, and that doesn’t always have to involve going to some remote or exotic place. It simply requires a commitment to put curiosity into action.

In this podcast, you can explore, reflecting on lessons learned from life so far and from my brilliant and ever-inquisitive guests. We explore together in this very moment from right where you are--spaceship not required.

Welcome to Kathy Sullivan Explores.

Visit my website at kathysullivanexplores.com to sign up for seven astronaut tips to improving your life on earth and be the first to discover future episodes and learn about more exciting adventures ahead!

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