John K Fang
Nickname: The Fang (relatively retired)
Hometown: Hamshire / Nederland / Houston, TX
Engineering major: BME
Anticipated date of graduation: May 2005
Why did you choose this major? What interests you most about this area of engineering?:
I was always interested in biology and technology, and this seemed like the thing to do if I wanted to active in both. The great thing about this is that there are really no boundaries as to what you can do in such a broad field like BME.
What are your long term career plans?:
Become an astronaut. Likely? Probably not, and I will be more than content as a civilian physician. Seriously though, the only thing stopping me before was my eyesight, but now that LASIK is here ...
How did you get involved in the microgravity, vomit comet project?:
Funny situation. I was always interested in those random annual emails about the microgravity project sent out by the XXX department, but never could think of a research topic related to my major. After meeting with my future teammates for the first time at the Dillo, we had a nice list of ideas written on a bunch of napkins. Too bad we didn't use any of them, but that first meeting was where we got our spark. Or it might have been the beans.
What do you hope to find out through your research?:
We are investigating whether the cell nucleus changes location or shape in microgravity as compared with normal gravity.
What were your thoughts when you learned you would be flying on the vomit comet?:
I was just relieved that the countless hours spent researching and writing our proposal (on top of regular engineering coursework) panned out into something concrete. After that, I was just amazed that we were the first to be part of this program from Duke.
Do you get motion or air sick? If so, what are you plans for not barfing all over your teammates? And even if you don't normally get airsick, what are you plans for not barfing all over your teammates?:
Absolutely. I have no plans of inhibiting myself at all, and I plan to give the "Vomit Comit" a reason to verify its name. As for where I will vomit, all I can say is that it will be somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico.
What's your favorite food? What food will you be sure NOT to eat before going on the vomit comet?:
I love crawfish etouffee and boudain, and I will be sure not to eat any dairy beforehand.
What is something funny or unusual that people don't know about you?:
Well, it might not be funny or unusual to some people, but I like country music. Goes well with Mad-Libs.
What kind of training do you have to undergo in order to ride the vomit comet?:
We go through some basic technical training so we will not bring the plane down, and they require some physiological training to make sure we will not pass out or have a heart attack under 7+ g-forces.
What part of the experiment(s) are your responsibility?:
My primary responsibility is preparing our cell samples for fluorescent viewing under the BME confocal microscope. Learning how to use the monster was an ordeal in itself. I also look at the samples and take pretty pictures using the confocal.
How is the experimental setup different from what you would do in a normal gravity environment?:
We have to guarantee that no hazardous liquids or materials will suddenly leak out and float into say... someone's eye or something. Also, we need to consider that we only have 25 second windows of microgravity to perform our experimental procedures.
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