Talk Focuses on NASA's Role in Chilean Miners' Rescue

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Jan 07, 2011, 02:54 ET

HAMPTON, Va., Jan. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In August 2010, it seemed like the whole world was watching as trapped copper miners survived deep beneath a Chilean desert. On October 13, a member of the NASA team that was asked to offer help watched their rescue.

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On Tuesday, Jan. 11, at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Clint Cragg will present "Chilean Miner's Rescue, NASA Plays a Part," at 2 p.m. in the Reid Conference Center. Cragg, a member of NASA's Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) at NASA Langley was a member of the four-person NASA team invited to assist with the Chilean miners' rescue.

Media who wish to interview Cragg at a news briefing at NASA Langley at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday should contact Chris Rink at 864-6786 or by e-mail at [email protected] by noon for credentials and entry to the center.

That evening, Cragg will present a similar talk for the general public at 7:30 p.m. at the Virginia Air & Space Center in downtown Hampton. The evening presentation is free and no reservations are required.

On Aug. 5, 2010, the San Jose Mine in northern Chile collapsed trapping 33 miners. Seventeen days later, all of the miners were found to be alive and the government of Chile asked for assistance from NASA. Cragg will discuss NASA's site visit, the situation at the mine at the time and the assistance NASA provided.

The miners endured more than two months in a tunnel 2,041 feet below the surface in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Cragg, a 1978 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, began his military career in the submarine and naval nuclear power training program. His first assignment was the USS Sand Lance, a Sturgeon-class attack submarine. In 1984, he was assigned as the assistant engineer on the USS Trepang and followed that assignment with a tour as the ship's engineer on the USS Alabama. He reported to his first shore tour in 1990 at the Naval War College where he earned masters degrees in strategic studies and international relations.

Cragg did four separate overseas deployments as the executive officer of the USS Tunny and became commanding officer of USS Ohio in October 1996. After completing four strategic deterrent patrols, he was assigned as the Chief of Current Operations, US European Command. While in Europe he participated in a number of military operations including the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2003, Cragg joined NASA as a founding member of the NESC. As a principal engineer, he leads teams of engineers to solve some of NASA's toughest challenges.

For more information about NASA Langley's Colloquium and Sigma Series Lectures, visit: http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/Lectures/.

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SOURCE NASA