Robinson, foreground, gazes up at the "stack" of the Discovery shuttle attached to the fuel tanks that is outside the frame. (Courtesy photo)
Undergrad Robinson experimented with gliders, gas tanks, music
Steve Robinson took courses from me when he was an undergraduate. For his senior thesis project, he chose to make a model of a hang glider and tested it in the wind tunnel.
It worked out fine, but Steve had to take it a step further. He built a full-sized hang glider using the model as a guide and then tested it by jumping off a cliff. It really was not prudent to do this as it had not been tested in full scale and flying it was very dangerous.
Steve is definitely a calculated risk-taker.
He would hang out at University Airport when he was an undergraduate student, willing to do any odd jobs just to be there and soak up anything and everything about airplanes.
He would gas up people' planes. A few years ago, he told the story that he put the gas in the wrong place -- in the transmission. It was a real learning experience! But he made it right and learned another thing about airplanes.
‘Steve is still the curious, wide-eyed guy who marvels at anything to do with space travel.’
Started an astronaut rock band
Steve has always been an experimentalist - in his professional life and personal life. He played tuba in the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh and went on to play many instruments. Then he started his own astronaut rock band when he moved to Houston.
He took design drawing at UC Davis and, although he says he's not very good at being an artist, he continues to experiment with drawing, painting, etc. He took a sketch pad onto Discovery.
He isn't really that much different than he was when he was an undergraduate at UC Davis. Steve is still the curious, wide-eyed guy who marvels at anything to do with space travel.
When I asked him what it's like when NASA postpones a launch date, he said, "It's a bit like seeing the finish line and then having it moved further away. But I know eventually I'll get to be one of the lucky ones who gets to be in space and the double bonus of being a spacewalker."
Visiting Kennedy Space Center
I have a picture of Steve from May when he visited Florida and went around to various areas on Kennedy Space Center. The tour took him to some places he hadn't been to before, including being on the launch pad while the Discovery and fuel tanks were still on the pad after the May flight date had been canceled.
In the picture, Steve is looking up at the "stack" (Discovery attached to the fuel tanks). With glee in his voice, he said, "Wow - look at that! Wouldn't it be fun to take it up right now? "
The look on his face says it all. Steve not only realizes the importance of space travel but he enjoys to the maximum every moment of it.