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Juan Perez

Antarctica Launch Site
Antarctica Launch Site

Graduated from UT Tyler: May 2003
Degree: Electrical Engineering
Joined CSBF team: June 2005

Juan Perez never dreamed he would use the skills he learned at UT Tyler as a 2003 electrical engineering graduate to explore the atmosphere. But he says the real work happens well before the balloon takes flight.

“Our job is to make sure the instrumentation is working, functioning and ready for flight. In the field there shouldn’t be any adjusting. You should just take it out of the package and fly it.”

Perez said there can be adjustments and changes that need to be made at the launch site, but the systems and instruments have been through countless checks and tests in the months leading up to the big launch day.

He said, as an engineer, he might be at launch sites like Antarctica or Sweden for up to two months, depending on conditions. “It depends on weather and science. The weather can be a downfall. We need calm conditions to launch.”

Perez said safety concerns dictate that launches happen in areas with very low populations. “You can feel a little isolated (out in the field),” he said. But members of the launch team get to know each other pretty well, he said.