Messenger Boy

“It’s not rocket science,” says aerospace engineer and DJ Mark Branch about being drawn to deejaying, chuckling to himself. By day, he supervises electromagnetic tests for the Hubble Telescope at NASA; by night, he pumps out rhythms to the dancing masses, from local school children to Bill Gates and 3,000 of his closest Microsoft friends.

Mark’s name on the dance floor is DJ Scientific. To explain to Studio 360’s Kurt Anderson why he, one of the few black aerospace technicians at NASA, plays songs that rhyme about atoms and stars over a hip-hop beat, he says it’s because he loves science and music. And Mark has one governing philosophy: The sky is the limit. To show young people of color that they can dream beyond the environments they grow up in, 3,000 miles up and beyond, he DJs. Just two turntables and a mic. It’s a simple formula for him; speak their language and you’ve got their attention. It doesn’t hurt that he’s clearly loving every minute of it. Hear a broadcast with DJ Scientific at Studio 360:

Now head to his MySpace page.