From Classrooms to Space Stations: Analog Astronaut Experience and a Career at NASA
Jonathon Guthmiller just spent two weeks on top of a Hawaiian volcano as an analog astronaut and will soon head to NASA to begin his career as a flight control planner.
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/ JAN 3, 2024
Initially drawn to the space industry after traveling from his hometown of Flower Mound, Texas, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch the first-ever Orion spacecraft launch, Jonathon Guthmiller (’23) wanted to attend a university that could give him the foundational knowledge and experience he needed to succeed in his dream field.
Now, Guthmiller is finishing his B.S. in Spaceflight Operations (now renamed the B.S. in Space Operations) with minors in Human Factors and Project Management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Landing a Job at NASA
At Embry-Riddle, Guthmiller is an active member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and involved in research in the Astra Lab, where he helped develop surface sampling tools for spaceflight.
Recently, during his final semester, Guthmiller interviewed for a position working for NASA's Johnson Space Center as an International Space Station flight control planner.
“NASA flew me out to Houston, showed me a tour of the whole facility and was super welcoming to me. It was amazing because I personally never would've seen myself doing this four years ago,” he shared, recalling the hiring process.
With his goal of one day becoming an astronaut in mind, Guthmiller accepted the position at NASA and is eagerly awaiting his move to Texas for the role, which is coincidentally not far from his hometown.
“I'm going to be working in an operations planning position to develop methodologies for the ISS in day-to-day life. I won't be working with astronauts directly, but I'll be working with the other chair positions at mission control,” he shared. “Over the next couple years, I'll be hopefully transitioning over to the Gateway Space Station and hopefully working for Artemis in the next five years.”
Analog Astronaut Experience
The very week he accepted the position at NASA, Guthmiller heard back from another opportunity he had applied for: an analog astronaut experience with the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS. Guthmiller and other participants were sponsored by Henk Rogers, managing director of The Tetris Company.
“I wanted to get more experience in space flight and start working on my initial phase of maybe applying to be an astronaut one day... Within a month, I was flying out to Hawaii. The summary of the trip was a two-week mission, spending two weeks on top of Mauna Loa.”
Analog astronauts participate in simulated lunar or space missions while on Earth. Guthmiller’s mission took him to the HI-SEAS igloo-shaped habitat on Hawaii’s (and the world’s) largest active volcano, Mauna Loa, where he and a team of five other participants studied the potential effects of lunar missions on the human body, gained familiarity with exploring real lava tubes and more.
“They have a plan to either build a habitat on the surface [of the moon] and cover it with lunar surface or build it inside of a lava tube. We have zero experience going inside of lava tubes on the moon since it's so far away,” he said. “We were using the analog environment in Hawaii as a simulated lunar lava tube because they both have lava environments and things called permanently shadowed regions.”
Although analog astronauts complete their missions on Earth, protocol throughout the experience is taken just as seriously as it is beyond our atmosphere.
“The only time we were allowed to leave the habitat was when we had a spacesuit on, which means we had to put the spacesuit on, depressurize the airlock, go out of the airlock and get approval from our mission control,” he shared. “Then it was about an hour hike up the mountain in that spacesuit. Then you go down into a lava tube that you find – we either use drones to find lava tubes or Google Earth... then we would explore the lava tubes.”
Guthmiller shared that the dome-shaped habitat had two bathrooms with composting toilets, six computer stations, an exercise bike overlooking the clouds out the window and six individual bedrooms. The astronauts ate dehydrated food, were permitted just one shower halfway through the mission and learned how to prepare and wear spacesuits.
Regarding his peers on the mission, Guthmiller was surrounded by bright minds and experienced professionals. His peers consisted of his commander, who was experienced in analog astronaut training and traveled from Belgium for the mission; a lead engineer who works for SpaceX’s Starlink; a mission specialist from Los Angeles; a Belgian student also studying spaceflight; and lastly, a space therapist, who created research on the impact of crew isolation and lunar simulation on human behavior as well as the overview affect.
“Our diet was part of our study as well, and I actually lost 12 pounds. Our two main goals were studying our diet and studying our bodies within isolation,” he shared. “A lot of our side projects were studying lava tubes and studying surface sampling methods. I brought a personal experiment that I was working on with JSC, where we were studying how to surface sample inside of a spacesuit more efficiently.”
Preparing for a Career as an Astronaut
Guthmiller’s goals for the future align with the experience he’s gaining now.
“A long-term goal of mine would definitely be to explore my career at NASA and stay at NASA for my whole life. Honestly, I don't really see anywhere that would be better than that,” he remarked. “Hopefully, I’ll work my way up through the system... and when I'm 31, I’ll send my first astronaut candidate application. I can't apply when I'm 30 since the applications are in August and I am 30 in December.”
Guthmiller cited his fraternity experience as helpful to mastering the skill of time management and advised prospective students of just how valuable it is.
“Time management is important! It's very easy to fit everything you enjoy in your day, but only if you stay focused,” he said.
For students with dreams in space operations, he had additional insight to offer.
“I would say not to doubt yourself because personally, I never saw myself doing this... but I kept trying and I kept pushing my entire life. Everyone thinks it's a joke until you do it,” he said. “I think you definitely just have to keep telling yourself you can do it because, at the end of the day, you have to work hard for what you want.”
You can do anything you set your mind to – and a degree from Embry-Riddle can give you the competitive advantage you need when chasing your dreams. Apply today!
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