TRACY MINISH

I have been blessed with a 36+ year career with NASA.  For the first 15 years, I was a Shuttle instructor, responsible for training Shuttle astronauts and flight controllers.  For the next 20+ years, I served as a branch chief over Shuttle and Space Station flight software.  After that,  I served as the Station Ground Segment Control Board chair, and later as the Mission Systems Operations Branch Chief.  I am currently the Mission Control Center (MCC) Operations Manager.  My plan is to hang up my NASA cleats in December 2021 after one more orbit around the Sun.  Here is a link to a  short documentary on my NASA career: https://vimeo.com/437470779.

I have Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) with less than 5 degrees of my field of vision.  I have been legally blind since high school. RP has attacked my family for 5 generations, but the Foundation Fighting Blindness and doctors like Jean Bennett, Eric Pierce, and other amazing doctors from around the planet Earth are on the edge of eliminating blindness. The question is no longer if, but how soon. My family has given DNA samples, I like to say “spit, blood, and meat” that will be used soon to end blindness. 
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Tracy is a strong advocate for DNA testing, research, and human trials to cure blindness. On the Vanderbloemen blog, he shares his story of embracing and working through his disability and how God has used the challenges of being legally blind to further appreciation for disability diversity.

  Find part one of his blog series here.