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Station Nation: Meet Chris Wade, Visiting Vehicle Integration Manager for SpaceX Vehicles
- Chris Wade is a visiting vehicle integration manager for SpaceX vehicles in the International Space Station Transportation Integration Office.
- He ensures vehicle requirements are on track for SpaceX missions to the space station and manages real-time mission support personnel.
- Wade manages horizontal integration between SpaceX, Commercial Crew, and ISS Programs, ensuring vehicle requirements are met for missions.
- Advises aspiring individuals to focus on STEM fields, apply for NASA internships, and not dismiss opportunities in the contractor workforce.
- Wade's path to NASA began in the contractor workforce, working for Lockheed Martin before becoming a civil servant at NASA.
- Wade was inspired to work for NASA by the Space Shuttle Challenger STS-51-L crew and vividly recalls watching their launch.
- His favorite NASA memory is witnessing his first rocket launch, HTV-1 in Kagoshima, Japan.
- He cherishes sharing the longevity of the space station, highlighting its continuous crew rotations over the past 25 years.
- Wade would choose to have dinner with astronaut Ron McNair and admires McNair's similar path to NASA from a small town.
- One of Wade's favorite space-related memories is witnessing the SpaceX Demo-2 Crew Mission's arrival at the ISS.
- His key projects at NASA include robotic assembly of the ISS, robotic visiting vehicle capture, and Cargo and Crew Dragon visiting vehicle mission certification.
- Wade's favorite project was the robotic visiting vehicle capture, collaborating with the Canadian Space Agency to develop methods using the space station's robotic arm.
- Outside of work, Wade enjoys running, reading, listening to audiobooks, and spending time with family and friends in Mississippi.
- Day launches are Wade's preference, his favorite space movie is Armageddon, and he leans towards the NASA 'worm' logo over the 'meatball' logo.
- Through his work at NASA, Wade contributes to space research benefiting life on Earth and invites others to follow space station science updates through various channels.
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