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MONSERRATE
"Monsi" ROMAN
NASA
Marshall
Flight Space Center
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Ms. Monsi Roman, a Marshall
Center microbiologist, works to ensure safe water and air
for the crew of the International Space Station. Roman studies
microbes, living organisms including viruses, bacteria, fungi
and parasites — only visible under a microscope. Her
job is like a detective, checking the tiny beings to see how
they will behave on the Space Station.
When microbiologist Monserrate
(Monsi) Roman came to the United States from Puerto Rico,
she never dreamed she'd be a scientist working to ensure safe
water and air for the crew of the International Space Station,
the world's largest space laboratory.
As a microbiologist, Roman studies
microbes, living organisms including viruses, bacteria, fungi
and parasites, which are only visible under a microscope.
Microbes are everywhere, but most are harmless, and many do
useful jobs like help us digest food.
"My job is to be a detective,
to determine how microbes will behave under different situations
and in different locations, such as the nooks and crannies
of the Space Station," explained Roman, chief microbiologist
for the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS)
project at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Huntsville,
Ala.
Everyone who visits the Station
comes with his or her own unique set of microbes. And since
crewmembers, visitors, experiments and hardware hail from
15 Station partner countries, Roman must study an international,
multicultural group of the microbes. She often collaborates
with scientists and engineers from other countries.
"Microbes were the first
inhabitants of the Space Station hitchhiking into orbit on
equipment before people ever arrived," Roman said. "Each
microbe is unique, and if left unchecked, some will thrive
and could eventually eat many materials."
The Station was designed with
materials that are microbe-resistant. Temperature and humidity
are controlled to discourage microbe growth. Roman helps ensure
microbes aren't a threat by monitoring the Station's air and
water system. She works closely with MSFC engineers who are
designing and testing the Oxygen Generation and Water Recovery
equipment, a more sophisticated air and water recycling system
to be installed on the Station. It will dramatically reduce
the amount of water supply vehicles deliver to the Station.
Roman's fascination with science
and living organisms blossomed when she was a child. Her science
teachers nurtured her curiosity, encouraged her to participate
in science fairs, and provided opportunities for her to work
with real scientists. Roman carries on that tradition, helping
with classes at NASA's Challenger Learning Centers and at
the agency's Educator Resources Center in Huntsville. Every
summer, she mentors a student who works by her side as an
intern at the MSFC.
Roman earned her bachelor's
degree at the University of Puerto Rico, where she became
so fascinated with microbiology that she washed dishes in
the lab before finally being hired as a research assistant.
She earned her master's degree in microbiology at the University
of Alabama in Huntsville, and joined NASA in 1989.
"As I always tell my three
sons and the students I mentor: Don't listen to anyone who
says you can't," said Roman. "As a little girl,
I never dreamed I would be helping NASA build part of a Space
Station. It has been fascinating watching the Station go from
paper drawings to a real home and workplace in space."
Read article: Latina
scientist keeps an eye on smallest inhabitants of space
JUNE 2003
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