• Question: What is the hardest part of your job

    Asked by Inoo to Andrea, Charlie 🚀, Col Op, Kirsty, Vinita on 22 Jun 2016. This question was also asked by jmb1rdb, 643tch48, matthew2004.
    • Photo: Kirsty Lindsay

      Kirsty Lindsay answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      Handling lots of data- our experiments measure lots of things. Something like height or weight we measure once, but other things, like how a muscle is working,we measure 100’s or 1000’s a time a second. So even if the experiment only lasts 1 minute there are lots and lots of numbers to look at!

      We try and make sense of them all- looking for patterns and changes using statistics, but this is the hardest thing for me- putting all the numbers in the right place to get a useful answer and useful understanding out again. I do like drawing graphs though- pictures make understanding easier.

    • Photo: Andrea Boyd

      Andrea Boyd answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      Getting my words right, and fast.

      We have to understand things quickly, listen to multiple people at the same time and relay technical information concisely and accurately. With everyone listening live in all the mission controls, in space and on the internet and our words archived forever online…

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