Station Nation: Meet Ansley Browns, Space Enthusiast and International Space Station Payload Facility Integrator
With over 21 years spent at NASA, Browns shares her career journey that has highlighted the importance of research and has guided astronauts to organize countless experiments on the International Space Station.
What ISS office do you support (e.g., Vehicle, External Integration, etc.)?
The Vehicle Office (OB).
What is your job title?
Payload facility integrator.
Describe what your position entails:
I work with engineers across the agency to ensure that several of our International Space Station payload facilities are working well to support station science and research objectives. I coordinate sustaining engineering activities, manage spares planning, and enable processes that will keep our payload facilities functional to continue research through the life of the International Space Station.
How would you describe your job to family or friends who may not be as familiar with NASA as employees who are reading this?
I help make sure that the research equipment aboard the International Space Station is working so that our astronauts can execute all the amazing experiments that scientists send to them aboard the space station!
How long have you been working for the agency?
I have been with NASA for over 21 years!
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What was your path to NASA?
I have wanted to work for NASA since I was in the second grade. We had to read about a famous American, and I picked Neil Armstrong. My parents helped me make a Neil Armstrong costume for my book report at school, and I was hooked on flying people to space! I loved watching shuttle launches on TV and was inspired by seeing folks in mission control working those missions. I went to Space Camp three times in middle and high school and went back as a counselor in college.
I attended Birmingham-Southern College, a small liberal arts college in Alabama, as I wanted to go to a smaller school and had interest in the arts as well as math and science, but I always had this dream that somehow, I'd get to NASA. My senior year in college I had to do a research project outside my major, and I chose to research the history of the astronaut program.
I came to NASA’s Johnson Space Center for the first time during the fall of my senior year to conduct several interviews for my project, and one of the people I was able to arrange an interview with was Duane Ross, then manager of the Astronaut Selection Board. I mentioned to him that I was graduating in May, and he suggested I contact Johnson's human resources department. I called them when I got back to school, and they said that while they were not hiring at that time, I could mail in my resume. I did that and was just thrilled to receive a postcard back in the mail with the NASA meatball, thanking me for my interest in our nation's space program!
A few months later, I got a phone call from the associate director of the Information Systems Directorate (now the Johnson Office of the Chief Information Officer) that they had reviewed my resume and wanted to speak with me about an opportunity to come work in the IT department here at Johnson. I came for an interview over spring break and a few weeks later got my job offer. I graduated in May 2001, moved to Houston in July, and I've been here ever since!
Is there a space figure you look up to? Someone in the space, aerospace, or science industry who has motivated you or inspired you to work for the space program? Or, is there someone you discovered while working for NASA who inspires you (e.g, an astronaut, astronomer, flight director, fighter pilot, space communicator, etc.)?
Neil Armstrong was my first inspiration for wanting to work at NASA through my second grade book report. I started reading about other astronauts, and I was particularly inspired by Judy Resnik. I loved seeing pictures of her first mission to space with her long curly hair floating around her head. I remember thinking she showed that as a woman, you could be smart, technical, and pursue your dreams while maintaining your own sense of self and personality.
What do diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you? How does it guide you in your work at NASA?
I feel strongly that it's important to make sure everyone's voice is heard and to consider inputs from others whose experience may be different from your own. The more perspectives we have, the better decisions we can make. I also believe that representation matters — as Sally Ride said, "You can't be who you can't see." I try to help foster an environment in my teams at Johnson where people can authentically be themselves, which makes our organization better. I am inspired by leaders across NASA who work hard to make sure opportunities are available to a wide audience so we can be an agency that reflects what our country looks like. I'm proud of NASA’s Johnson Space Center for leaning into these Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion concepts through our employee resource groups, bringing in speakers with diverse backgrounds, and emphasizing our JSC Expected Behaviors so that everyone can bring their best to fly people safely in space!
Do you have any advice for others, like yourself, who may be contemplating a career at NASA?
Go for it! Don't be afraid to express your interest in things and ask questions. I have had several experiences in my career where opportunities presented themselves because I told someone I was interested in what they were working on or asked questions. I’ve found that most people here enjoy sharing their experiences and expertise with others and are genuinely interested in helping when they’re asked.
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What is your favorite NASA memory?
This is a hard one, as I've had so many amazing experiences so far at NASA! One of the highlights was certainly being the Lead Trajectory Operations and Planning Officer (call-sign TOPO) in mission control for Expedition 16. Being a flight controller for the International Space Station was a second-grade dream come true for me. It was such an honor to have my first lead space station assignment be the mission led by the first female International Space Station Commander, Peggy Whitson. I loved supporting that mission and working with other teams across the operations community to make the mission a success.
What is the most meaningful project you've worked on during your time with NASA?
The International Space Station! I have supported the space station in several different roles over the years, from mission control in the early days of my career to working in the ISS Program now. I love being a part of a truly peaceful endeavor, supporting the largest engineering effort in space, and working with people around the world! We show every day that when we put our best efforts in and work together, we can accomplish anything. I truly believe that the International Space Station is making the world a better place every day.
What do you love sharing about the station to general audiences (in regard to getting the general public to understand its role and how it benefits life on Earth)?
I have gotten more involved over the last several years with the speaker’s bureau, and I love to give outreach talks to all ages. It's always fun to remind people that we have people living and working in space right now! When I speak to kids, I'll have everyone raise their hands if they were born after November 2000, and then I'll tell them that the whole time they've been alive the entire human population has not been on planet Earth — we’ve always had at least two people living and working on the space station! Adults, too, love to contemplate that when they hear that fact!
What are your hobbies/things you enjoy doing outside of work?
My husband, Scott (who also works at Johnson), and I are huge sports fans! We love watching our favorite college teams, the Florida Gators and Iowa State Cyclones, going to Astros games, and following all sorts of other sports. We really enjoy going to performing arts shows across the city — musicals at Hobby Center, the Houston Symphony at Jones Hall, and the Houston Ballet at Wortham Center. We are so fortunate in Houston to have access to world-class performances, museums, and sports.
Day launch or night launch (watching)?
Night launch, for sure! I was fortunate to be at Kennedy Space Center when Artemis I launched for an unrelated work activity and watched the launch by the Vehicle Assembly Building. It is always amazing to see the sky lit up as bright as day with a night launch!
Favorite Space Movie?
I love them all (except Gravity — too many inconsistencies with real-life spaceflight and physics!). Apollo 13 was super inspiring to me when it came out — I will always stop and watch when it's on. I like Armageddon because it was filmed at Johnson and is so over-the-top from reality that I can turn my "space brain" off and just have fun with it! I also love The Martian (both the book and the movie) because it gives a glimpse into the team-focused problem solving we do at NASA every day. And, Matt Damon growing potatoes on Mars is hilarious!
NASA worm or “meatball” logo?
Meatball all the way!
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The International Space Station Program recognizes the countless women who have contributed to the assembly of the station, the research being conducted aboard, and operation on a daily basis, which, in turn, enables research that benefits us all here back on Earth.
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