[ real wv ]
Eye on the Sky
An in-flight view of Tropical Storm Harvey
before it intensified into a hurricane.
KATLIN SWISHER
NICK UNDERWOOD/NOAA
Growing up in Beaver, WV, Nick Underwood dreamed of
becoming an astronaut.
“West Virginia is nothing short of beautiful, and growing up
so close to so many parks really fostered a sense of adventure
in me at a young age,” he says. “My parents
helped with that too. They were always push-
ExEdge ing me to do well in school, explore new things
and ask questions.”
The eye of
a hurricane
After seeing his first rocket launch at the Ken-
can range
nedy Space Center as an eighth grader, he knew
in size from
nothing would stop him from someday making
5-120 miles
his dream come true.
across, though
most are only
“It was incredible—the rush of wind from the
20-40 miles
engines flowing past me, the rumble in my chest,”
in diameter.
he says of the experience. “I remember look-
Source: www.
ing at my dad and saying, ‘I want to do that.’”
lwin.la.gov
Today, Underwood, a graduate of West Vir-
ginia University (WVU), is an aerospace engi-
neer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-
tion (NOAA) Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) in Lakeland,
84
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
FL. The youngest employee at AOC, he designs and imple-
ments structural modifications for NOAA’s fleet of nine craft:
two WP-3D Orions, a G-IV, four Twin Otters, a Turbo Com-
mander and a King Air.
Underwood’s work isn’t limited to a desk. He is also part of
the aircrew on mission flights that conduct hurricane recon-
naissance and research, where he operates equipment and de-
ploys expendable atmospheric probes, called dropsondes, to
collect data.