A NASA Research Center employee will discuss challenges of working with the news media and his involvement in the Columbia disaster in a speech Monday.

As part of Public Relations Week, Alumnus Keith Henry, deputy for public affairs for the NASA Langley Research Center, will speak to students about his involvement as a public relations official for a research center that had direct ties to the tragedy.

“I’m not coming to speak primarily on the shuttle [disaster]; I’m coming to talk about the challenge of how to deal with news interest … how to do all of this and keep interest with the organization [you’re working for],” Henry said.

During the first few days after the Columbia disaster, the research center in Langley had no idea they had a connection to the disaster, Henry said.

It was later discovered one of the engineers at Langley had been asked to analyze the shuttle before the disaster to outline worst-case scenarios. The engineer outlined some worst-case scenarios and had discussed these scenarios in an e-mail to a fellow engineer friend, which later became public record, Henry said.

“It was being reported erroneously that engineers knew there was a problem and that we warned Johnson Space Center,” he said.

Henry said the scenarios outlined by the engineer were reported, but the engineer never thought they would happen.

When Langley employees realized they were involved with the Columbia disaster, Henry said they decided to go public with the information they had at a news briefing to allow major news media to ask questions.

Henry said in the situation he was faced with, it can be a challenge to stay true to all parties, keep the engineer involved comfortable and try to advise the engineer without telling him what to do. “It’s quite a delicate dance to strike that balance,” he said.

Before his work at NASA, Henry was involved in college media at Iowa State.

Henry worked at the Iowa State Daily, and was also involved in college radio and television.

Henry stressed the need for good communication skills in any career field. He said his work with engineers in his field has caused him to believe it’s vital for engineers to realize the importance of communication in their job fields.

Erin Wilgenbusch, faculty adviser for Iowa State’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and lecturer for the Greenlee school of Journalism and Mass Communication, also stressed the need for knowledge in communication.

“At some point in your career, you will realize the value of communication,” Wilgenbusch said.

Public Relations Week is sponsored by the PRSSA chapter at Iowa State. Other speakers during the week include Geoff Goldman, media relations manager for FOX Sports Net Midwest, and Tom Kroeschell, communications manager for the ISU athletic department, in a panel discussion on sports marketing Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Monica Fischer, press secretary for Governor Tom Vilsack will speak.

All speakers will begin at 7 p.m. in room 2432 in the Food Sciences Building.