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Prof. Juan P. Rivera

Astronomy

Valencia College

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY

When I saw the news about the first satellite launched by the Russians better known as Sputnik; I was a Physics professor at the University of Puerto Rico.  That day I decided to study rocketry.  Prior to the Sputnik, when I was in High School,  I used to go to the University of Puerto Rico baseball field, to fly model airplanes that I put together from kits.  I started building my own kits airplanes with balsa wood.  Then when the Remote Controlled (RC) airplanes kits came out, I bought one.  They used vacuum tubes at that time.  I build a big RC airplane and crashed it several times.   Then I turned my attention to rocketry and Astronomy. 

In 1960,  I earned by Bachellor Degree In Physics from the University of Puerto Rico.  As a Physicist it was easy for me to understand the concepts rocketry and Astronomy.  My main problem was making the rocket fuel.  After some research and my mother’s patience I was able to come up with the right formula to power a small rocket.  My mother’s kitchen was my laboratory.  After several failures; one day I was able to fly the rocket about 1,000 feet high in the air.  Then I turn my attention to my graduate education. 

I married in 1965 after I got my Master Degree at Columbia University in New York City.  I could not continue my doctorate degree there because Columbia University at that time was the center of students protest against the war in Vietnam.  In 1966, I returned to Puerto Rico and continue teaching Physics and Astronomy.

In 1969, I went to get my Doctorate in Physics at “UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTONOMA DE MEXICO.”  I was not aware that in 1968, the MASSACRE OF TLATELOLCO occurred.  What started as a peaceful student protest against the President of Mexico on one hand and against the War in Vietnam on the other hand, ended in the slaughter of hundreds or perhaps thousands of students, women and children.  The dead were buried in the night by the Mexican militia. Nobody knows exactly the amount of dead bodies buried.  In spite of the tumultuous years in Mexico, I was able to complete the requirements for my doctorate in Physics.  Then in 1972, I was awarded a grant to pursue a post-graduate degree at THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  While there,  I turn my attention into Astronomy.  I also worked at LOS ALAMOS LABORATORIES.  I did research in high atmospheric physics with NASA as the sponsor.  I ended up working for NASA.  First I worked at the MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER in Huntsville, Alabama and then at KENNEDY SPACE CENTER. in Florida.

In 1972, I moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico to pursue my PhD at the University of New Mexico.  My field of study was Astronomy.  In, 1974, I went to work as a graduate student at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratories.  I enjoyed being there and having some fun during weekends with the craziest of scientists.  I learned to launch balloons to study the high atmospheric physics.

As I said earlier, I went to work for NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama.  I was lucky to be working in the office of Werner Von Braun because of my Physics degree.    At that time I have a heavy accent and my colleagues at the laboratories thought that I was German.  It was hard for them to understand that a Hispanic guy like me was pursuing a doctorate in Physics.  There were many Germans in that place and I learned from them the science of rocketry.  I concentrated my research in high atmospheric physics.  I became an expert launching all kinds of balloons to study the high atmosphere.

My wife didn’t like Huntsville so I got a transfer to Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in 1976.  When I arrived at KSC we started phasing out the Apollo program and started developing the Space Shuttle program.  I worked as a Physicist some simulation scenarios to test the Space Shuttle avionics and payload support. Also we continue working all kinds of scenarios and simulations until we witness the first successful launch of the space shuttle Columbia maiden voyage.  Later, I started working with a new group of NASA engineers that was known as LEVEL IV Payload Group.  I worked several space shuttle missions including the famous the Spacelab program. At the time the Spacelab was our version of the Russian MIR space station.   I have the opportunity to travel to other NASA centers.  I will say that from 1976 through 1984 were the most fruitful years of NASA as an agency.

After 1986 my disillusion with NASA started.  Management started making all kind of mistakes.  Nobody knew what the real rules were.  Some managers started building their little empires.  I pointed out several flaws to the space shuttle design, but, it was like talking to the wall.  I did a study of the deadly impact of a piece of foam in the crystalline space shuttle heat shield jacket.  My supervisor told me that my calculations were wrong.  That it was impossible for a chunck of foam to damage the space shuttle heat shields.  I feel frustrated with my supervisor ignorance.  I was forced to trash my calculations.

In 1977 a recruiter from Johnson Space Flight Center, asked me if I was interested in becoming an astronaut. They were looking for a Hispanic scientist with a Ph. D. education. He told me that my name was in the list of candidates. I told him that I was familiar with the Space Shuttle design and there were many flaws, especially in the abort procedure. I told him that I was not going to sit on top of a bomb that could explode right there in the launch pad. On top of that there was no ejection seat for the astronauts to escape the inferno. Yes, I screw up my road to fame right at that moment. That was the price that I paid for my honesty. As a physicist and a mathematician I knew that the odds were against the astronauts (because I did the calculations.)  Weeks later I received a rejection letter from the astronaut office signed by George Abbey.  The Challenger accident and the Columbia fiasco proved that I was right

Then I went to work for McDonnell Douglas Aerospace Company. I started working in the Space Station Freedom Program. The company was later on bought by Boeing Aerospace Company.  After some years working for Boeing at Kennedy Space Center, I became disillusioned with the way the Space Station Freedom Program was being developed.  I became convinced that the plan of the construction of the  Freedom Space Station was going in the wrong direction.  In fact, the Russian have already a working Space Station for several years.  So I left Boeing and  went to work for Northrop Grumman Electronics Division in Chicago, Illinois. 

Later on, I learned that the Clinton administration decided to shelved the initial plans of building the Freedom Space Station and that it was decided to bring the Russian as a partner that will culminate in an International Space Station.  Many countries are partners in this program. The future of NASA at this point is in the hands of politicians.

In year 2000, I left Northrop Grumman Electronics Division and retired completely from the Aerospace and Military work.

Since 2000 I have been teaching at different institution in the Orlando area.  At present I work for Valencia College.

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