Biography:
Michael A. Comberiate is
currently a Systems Manager for NASA, working at the Goddard Space Flight
Center since 1969. As a design engineer with a Masters in Electrical
Engineering from Maryland University, 1971, he has designed electronics for
numerous satellite projects. Some of the projects he has contributed to have
reached the moon and beyond.
Since 1984, he has
initiated over 120 Special Projects http://mediastream.ndc.nasa.gov/COOLSPACE/spioffice/albums/spioffice_menu.htmlhttp://coolspace.gsfc.nasa.gov,
involving interagency cooperation to produce quick response results, where no
means is readily available and resources are limited. On the recommendation of
the National Science Foundation, the US Geological Survey named the “Comberiate
Glacier” for one of 15 historic milestones, which applied NASA-unique
technologies to Antarctica and remote regions.
“NASA Mike” has been
recognized internationally as a leader with outstanding, innovative ideas and a
clear vision, who can outline doable steps towards accomplishing it, muster the
necessary resources, and get the job done in spite of all the obstacles. In the
mid-1990s, he was the innovator and expediter of a unique Hi-tech Educational
Outreach program called, “Exploring Technology with Satellite Imagery”, which
enabled schools across the USA to receive raw, realtime
satellite imagery data of the weather directly from the satellites and to
post-process it on PCs. Those satellite
weather loops you now see routinely on the nightly news were first done on a PC
in this program. Another of his programs
was called, "You Be The Scientist",
sponsored by NASA's EOS Aqua Project. In this program students and teachers would
meet his NASA teams in the field and participate in their research for a short
time. This was one way NASA hoped to inspire the next generation of explorers
to get into technical careers, “as only NASA can”. In April, 2003 Mike took 25
professors and college students to the North Pole to collect science data on
the thinning Sea Ice. The project helped
calibrate satellite data to better estimate the volume of sea ice below the
waterline, so scientists could better monitor the effects of Global Warming. From 2004 until 2011 he created and ran a
novel Robotics and Engineering Boot Camp program at NASA-GSFC. Hundreds of
college engineering grads and undergrads developed marketable skills doing real
NASA jobs in large multi-discipline teams that emulated the workplace.
Among his other
interests Mike has been a house builder and a Master level Martial Artist. He
has taught martial arts since 1968 and holds a 5th degree black belt. Fighting
in national championships and house building were both responsible for
developing in him a strong "can do" spirit. These challenging pursuits
teach you that you can recover from mistakes and that you can do more than you
might think if you have persistence. He is also quite a traveler, having been
around the world dozens of times including to the South Pole seven times and to
the North Pole four times. He has lectured on every continent including both
Poles.
Mike was born into a
continuous line of Catholics dating back at least as far as the first
millennium. Never satisfied with minimal explanations for his faith, he
questioned everything and eventually found that the Bible had more answers in
it than most Christians realize. Applying his engineering and scientific
background to understanding this ancient text, he has worked relentlessly with
many theologians and technologists since 1988. In that time, they have been
able to unravel some long-standing mysteries in a logical way that a rocket
scientist could accept. "God must be logical," he says, "and
there is one overriding truth, which He sees very clearly. He says, “When I
pray, I ask God to share it with me, so I might know Him better. I take God on
His word, that I will find Him when I seek Him with all my heart. This
relentless search for understanding, if nothing else, has brought me closer to
God." In 2011, he finally put some
of his key understandings in a book entitled, “How a Rocket Scientist Can
Believe in God”.
Since 1984 people all over the world have sent post cards to “NasaMike 20777 USA”, but now with
the terrorist activities we encourage you to just reach him by email. Please
email any comments to nasamike@nasamike.com
Mike picked up this handle, “nasamike”,
at the South Pole in December, 1984 and it has stuck ever since. We use it on
this website because it is so well known internationally, but we stress that
this is a personal website and the US government agency NASA does not endorse
nor comment on the material contained in it.
October 26, 2001, Updated October 14, 2011