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Published October 07, 2006 12:00 am - When space shuttle Atlantis safely glided to earth on Sept. 21, no one was happier - - and more relieved - - than Jennifer Nufer. Nufer, a 1995 graduate of the former St. John High School, has a very special int ... Engineering flight toward the stars Star Beacon
St. John grad is orbiter engineer for AtlantisBy MARK TODDStaff Writer mtodd@starbeacon.com When space shuttle Atlantis safely glided to earth on Sept. 21, no one was happier - - and more relieved - - than Jennifer Nufer. Nufer, a 1995 graduate of the former St. John High School, has a very special interest in the vehicle. As orbiter project engineer for Atlantis, there's little the 29-year-old doesn't know about the super-sophisticated spacecraft. Nufer works for NASA, and helps implement engineering activities for Atlantis from launch to landing. There are 30 different engineering systems involved with Atlantis, and she "integrates the effort," she said. It's an important position, and the best possible job for someone who has gazed at the heavens for as long as she can remember. "I've always been interested in spaceflight," Nufer said. "The more I got into math and science, I thought about the possibility of working (for the space program)." She graduated from Case-Western Reserve University with a degree in system and control engineering. During that time, she had an internship at the NASA Glenn center in Cleveland. "That was my foot in the door," Nufer said. "I was hooked after that." A job at a NASA facility in Hampton, Va., followed, as did a master's degree at Virginia Tech. She has worked at NASA's launch center near Titusville, Fla., for the past 14 months. The latest Atlantis launch on Sept. 9 provided Nufer the experience of a lifetime - - a seat in the firing room three miles from the launch pad. 
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