Engineering Survival in Space

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Materials Assurance Engineer, Ben Reed works on making sure things work in space.

Moving from a role at the American Dental Association to one at NASA might seem like a strange career transition. But, for Ben Reed, both roles require engineered materials to withstand unusual environments.

Reed is a Materials Assurance Engineer at NASA who works to ensure sensitive equipment, such as that encased within the Hubble Space Telescope, is protected from the harsh conditions of space. When things do fail, it’s down to Reed to find out why and how it can be prevented in the future.

Hubble was put into space over two decades ago and thanks to four subsequent servicing missions, is still in operation today. Taking over one million images, its service to astronomy and cosmology has been unparalleled, allowing us to determine the age of the universe and explore the existence of dark energy.

View a collection of Hubble image galleries here: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/