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| Photo Courtesy || Czar Augustos Domingo // cmc.nt.gov.au //sciencephoto.com |
Cordillera - A proud Cordilleran engineer from Tabuk, Kalinga is part of the 27-strong NASA team responsible for setting up the launching site for the three two-stage Black Brant IX rocket that will be blast off from Arnhem Space Center in Australia next year.
Czar Augustus E Domingo, Filipino born and raised in Tabuk City is the team's Lead Network Engineer/Data Communication Engineer leading the design and implementation of the launching site's communication network.
“The network is one of the critical parts of this project since it is through which the NASA radar, Telemetry, LSTAR, range command center, launch command center, the communication equipment they use (intercoms), and the data communicate to each other,” Domingo said via Tabuk City Kalinga FB page.
“The data they gather from the experimental equipment in the rockets are being transmitted and validated through the data communication,” he said.
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| Photo Courtesy || Czar Augustus E. Domingo |
Although he feels a bit pressured, Domingo said he feels blessed to be trusted with the job. “Since this is the first NASA commercial sounding rocket launch site outside the US, I am blessed that my boss and NASA Goddard Wallops flight facility have the confident in me to lead in getting the network and data communication established,” Domingo said.
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“There is pressure, but it is just another motivation to work harder and produce the good results that my management is looking forward to accomplish. However, without God, this is nothing,” he said.
As a student of Tabuk National Highschool in the 80s and an engineering student at the Mapua Institute of Technology, Domingo dreamt of becoming an astronaut, but people had often mocked his ambition.
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| Photo Courtesy || Czar Augustus E. Domingo |
Though he is yet to become an astronaut, Domingo said working with the world’s top space agency to launch rockets into space is as close as it gets.
In his tenure at NASA, Domingo has worked in many rocket launches, most notable of which is the lift-off of the Northrop Grumman Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
Carrying four tons of vital supplies for astronauts, the Antares rocket launches are the largest cargo ship ever to the ISS.
READ ALSO: SLU-Laboratory High School grad among NASA's engineers who worked on Mars rover 'Perseverance'
Domingo boasts a stellar career as an engineer. Before the opportunity to work with NASA, he had been with many multinational companies including Johnson & Johnson and telecom giant AT&T.
Domingo said he owes his success to God, to his family, and to his parents who taught him the importance of having relationship with God in his life, education, honesty, patience, hard work and being humble.
“My faith in God has kept me grounded. My family gave me the strength to persevere, as they have been very supportive of my career,” Domingo said.
source || Tabuk City Kalinga FB page
Photo Courtesy || Czar Augustos Domingo // cmc.nt.gov.au //sciencephoto.com
