Spring Break
Spiders travel in space shuttle
Josh Byerly shares experiences with students about work at NASA
By: Calli Turner
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: News
Josh Byerly, Texas A&M Class of 1999, serves as one of the voices of NASA mission control and has acquired out-of-this-world stories along the way.
Byerly shared his experiences with A&M students Monday. Brittany Hock, a senior animal science major, said she enjoyed a story that did not involve astronauts, but rather spiders.
Byerly said NASA sent up spiders on the last shuttle mission as part of an educational experiment.
"These spiders completely freaked out," he said.
The spiders were not yet adjusted to the zero gravity and had difficulty spinning webs. But the next morning, the NASA crew witnessed a spider tear down his imperfect web and spin a symmetrical one in its place.
"That spider, within 24 hours, had learned to adapt," Byerly said.
Hock said she was fascinated that the spider could adapt so quickly even though astronauts who have worked in zero gravity for years are still coping with the change.
Byerly spoke with a journalism class about his experience with broadcast journalism, corporate communications and public relations. To him, the three go hand in hand.
"It's the same thing," he said. "If you know how to write and know how to tell a good story, the only thing that changes is the audience."
Byerly went on to say that if you have the foundation you can do whatever you want and form your own path. True to his advice, he did just that in the nine years since obtaining his bachelor's in journalism.
He worked at KBTX-TV Channel 3 while at A&M and after graduation worked as a producer at KBTX.
He covered events such as the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum opening, the Jasper dragging trial and the Bonfire fall.
"I worked during a very exciting time. Not everybody that goes to KBTX will be able to cover the kind of things I did," he said. "You get to wear a different hat every day in terms of what you cover."
Then he made the switch to public relations.
Byerly shared his experiences with A&M students Monday. Brittany Hock, a senior animal science major, said she enjoyed a story that did not involve astronauts, but rather spiders.
Byerly said NASA sent up spiders on the last shuttle mission as part of an educational experiment.
"These spiders completely freaked out," he said.
The spiders were not yet adjusted to the zero gravity and had difficulty spinning webs. But the next morning, the NASA crew witnessed a spider tear down his imperfect web and spin a symmetrical one in its place.
"That spider, within 24 hours, had learned to adapt," Byerly said.
Hock said she was fascinated that the spider could adapt so quickly even though astronauts who have worked in zero gravity for years are still coping with the change.
Byerly spoke with a journalism class about his experience with broadcast journalism, corporate communications and public relations. To him, the three go hand in hand.
"It's the same thing," he said. "If you know how to write and know how to tell a good story, the only thing that changes is the audience."
Byerly went on to say that if you have the foundation you can do whatever you want and form your own path. True to his advice, he did just that in the nine years since obtaining his bachelor's in journalism.
He worked at KBTX-TV Channel 3 while at A&M and after graduation worked as a producer at KBTX.
He covered events such as the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum opening, the Jasper dragging trial and the Bonfire fall.
"I worked during a very exciting time. Not everybody that goes to KBTX will be able to cover the kind of things I did," he said. "You get to wear a different hat every day in terms of what you cover."
Then he made the switch to public relations.
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