KEN PEEK

Ken Peek is the lead Operations Director within the Exploration Planning and Operations Center (ExPOC) for the 2007 Desert RATS campaign. The ExPOC provides a remote interface to the Desert Rats exercise to develop concepts for how Mission Control would interact with future crews on the surface of the Moon, Mars and other destinations. In 2007, the ExPOC team will operate the SCOUT vehicle in Arizona remotely from Houston among other tasks.

Ken has been a flight controller in the Mission Control Center - Houston for over ten years. He has worked numerous Space Shuttle missions and International Space Station increments. When not supporting Desert Rats he spends most of his time supporting the upcoming Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, STS-125. He has Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Engineering Physics from Texas Tech University and a Master’s of Science Degree in Space Studies from the University of North Dakota. He is also an Aerospace Engineering Duty Officer in the US Navy Reserve.

Advice for Students.

Education is important, second only to experience. You learn more from mistakes than when things go well, both in academics and in the workforce. Expect to make a few doozies along the way; just try not to repeat the same mistake twice.