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EPISODE: 003

So, you’re a rocket scientist working at NASA in the center of Mission Control for every mission from Voyager to Mars Curiosity when you decide it’s time to retire – what’s next?

After 26 years at NASA – Susan Kurtik found something with challenges and stimulation of a different kind – she’s become a foster parent. That’s right, she went from being in the center of Mission Control to being the center of a child’s life.

She and her husband, a retired college professor, are now foster parents for babies.

It was tough leaving NASA but Susan said she realizes her new mission is also making a difference. “It doesn’t have to be changing the world but I feel like I’m changing somebody’s world”.

In this podcast, Susan discusses the challenges and rewards of being a foster parent and her career at NASA.

 

There are more than 60,000 children in foster care in California, 3,000 in San Diego County. Susan and her husband received training and assistance through the Angel Foster Family Network, a non-profit that helps to place children with foster families. Susan hasn’t given up on her love for space exploration. She volunteers as an ambassador for NASA’s Solar System Ambassador Program where she shares with young people the challenges and joy of deep space exploration.

Music by David Mumford under Attribution License

All Media property of Patty Lane / Do U Know Who I Am podcast

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