2017: Experiencing Space in New Places and in New Ways

This year was a time of transition, adjustment, and growth for me professionally. In 2016 we moved from the Space Coast of Florida to Atlanta, Georgia. We moved 4 times in 6 months, finally settling into our current home in December 2016. Atlanta is a technology hub with a small and growing space community. The year 2017 gave me the opportunity to learn, grow, and find my place within this new space community.

I won’t sugarcoat it: I was at a low in January. I was exhausted from the moves and felt isolated in a new area. I felt stuck in a bad contract with an unhealthy client: overworked, significantly underpaid, and dissatisfied with the direction of my work. Just a year after forming my company Astralytical, I seriously considered calling it quits and finding a traditional full-time position in my new city. I learned some very valuable lessons about valuing myself, standing up for myself, and structuring a contract so I’m not taken advantage of. The experience made me a better professional and small business owner.

The beauty of running my own business is the freedom to change direction. In the second week of January, I celebrated the sweet gift of a blank canvas and refocused my efforts on the direction I wanted to grow professionally. I published a small report predicting U.S. orbital launch rates in 2017 (which I will soon update for 2018). I joined local space-related organizations and met new colleagues.

In December I joined the local NDIA chapter’s Space Committee and attended their annual space breakfast with guest speaker George Nield of FAA AST. In January I began attending space advocacy briefings with state-level elected representatives and other state government officials with the NDIA Space Committee.

George Nield, Dec. 7, 2016

Posing at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta - Feb. 1, 2017

In mid January I had the pleasure of getting a tour of SpaceWorks and their related companies with John Olds. I was so grateful to feel so welcomed in my new community.

Hello SpaceWorks! Jan. 10, 2017

In February I began a new area of business: space career coaching. This has been a very rewarding direction. I truly enjoy assisting students, recently graduates, and mid-level professionals in their space career journeys. This has also been a more popular service than I intended, demonstrating the strong demand for guidance while pursuing a space career.

Also in February I attended my first Georgia Space Working Group meeting. This group quickly turned into the planning committee for the first annual Symposium on Space Innovations hosted here in Atlanta in October.

By the end of February, I set up the Astralytical laboratory for space resources, focused on lunar and Martian regolith (dirt) simulant.

Measuring lunar regolith simulant - Feb. 17, 2017

In March I joined my local astronomy club and started attending monthly meetings. I also took my daughter to a local science museum with fun space exhibits and to the Atlanta Science Festival dressed as a mini astronaut. In connection with the science festival, I attended a talk by astronaut Mark Kelly.

Astronaut Josephine and me at the Tellus Museum - March 5, 2017

Posing with the Atlanta Science Festival mascot at the Mark Kelly talk - March 14, 2017

Atlanta Science Festival - March 25, 2017

In March, after the release of the Trump Administration’s proposed budget, I passionately fought against the cuts to the NASA Education office, an office which has significantly helped me and so many others in starting my space career. Thankfully, these cuts were reversed by Congress.

I was the guest speaker at the AIAA Atlanta chapter dinner in March, which I joined back in January. I gave some preliminary results from my to-be-published book about millennials working in the space industry. I got some enthusiastic and colorful responses from the older generations, the most feedback I’ve ever gotten from a talk.

AIAA Atlanta talk - March 28, 2017

Atlanta is home to several broadcasting companies. In June, I got a tour of the Intelsat facility, including their antenna dish field and control centers.

Intelsat - June 7, 2017

In June I presented preliminary research regarding Spaceport Camden to a group hosted by Camden County, Georgia. A few days later, I was a guest speaker in the Camden Roundtable on the same topic. I had been working on the report for a few months at that point and was ready to discuss some of the findings with the community that would be most impacted by the spaceport.

Spaceport Camden presentation - June 15, 2017

In June I was a speaker at the first annual We Rise Women in Tech conference in Atlanta, highlighting NASA’s coding projects and needs. I was also interviewed by the Women Who Code organization for their blog.

We Rise conference - June 24, 2017

I crashed the July AIAA Propulsion conference networking events and got to reconnect with some colleagues. I had the pleasure of meeting astronaut Sandy Magnus again.

AIAA Propulsion conference - July 11, 2017

Also in July I traveled to the new Braves stadium in Atlanta to check out the traveling Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex exhibit on a Mars concept vehicle. The Batmobile design isn’t at all what a Mars vehicle would look like but it’s fun for the public.

Mars concept vehicle - July 16, 2017

Also in July I took a trip to my old stomping ground: Huntsville, Alabama. Thanks to my friend Yohon and a few other friends and colleagues, I got some great tours of old and new sites at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, including accidentally stumbling upon a lab where I used to work.

So many historic sites at Redstone Arsenal and MSFC! - July 14, 2017

While in Huntsville, I attended the 10^th annual Space Camp Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. I worked as volunteer staff for the first event a decade prior, and I’m a 6-time Space Camp alumna. It was fun to reconnect with Space Camp and the U.S. Space & Rocket Center! I also met astronauts Charlie Bolden and Hoot Gibson again.

Posing with the Saturn V rocket at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center - July 14, 2017

In August I traveled to the beautiful town of Helen, Georgia to see the total solar eclipse. It was one of the most beautiful and emotional events I’ve ever witnessed, surprisingly so. I’m now hooked and so excited for the next total solar eclipse!

Solar eclipse totality from Helen, Georgia - Aug. 21, 2017

All smiles after the solar eclipse totality - Aug. 21, 2017

In September I was a guest speaker for two talks in the Space Track of the huge DragonCon in Atlanta. It was a pleasure to speak with my fellow panelists on the topics of commercial space and NASA’s Deep Space Gateway. It was fun re-meeting private spaceflight participant Richard Garriott.

DragonCon! Sept. 2, 2017

Finally in October, the conference planning team was able to celebrate the successful first Symposium on Space Innovations! A lot of work brought us all together and it was a hit. I was especially thankful to moderate a panel on Launch, Landing, and Spaceports.

Astronaut Shane Kimbrough at the Symposium on Space Innovations - Oct. 19, 2017

In partnership with the conference, we kicked off the Georgia Space Alliance, a nonprofit I had been working with a team for months to create! The kick-off party was a great success, a larger turn-out than expected with great enthusiasm for the future.

Georgia Space Alliance kick-off space party with space art - Oct. 17, 2017

The Mission Possible report on Spaceport Camden was finally published in November! After many months of effort, it was so rewarding to release it to the public and get such positive feedback. And a thank-you to those who made the report beautiful with images and graphic art.

I had the pleasure of reconnecting with Eric Stallmer of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation when he came to Atlanta to be the guest speaker for the NDIA annual space breakfast in November.

Eric Stallmer of Commercial Spaceflight Federation - Nov. 9, 2017

Earlier in the year, I connected with another space-related organization SSPI. In November, I attended their program on NASA broadcasting from the ISS and elsewhere. I also got a tour of the Encompass facility which included their antenna dish field and control centers. I was surprised to learn all of NASA TV’s broadcasts go through that facility.

In December, I almost made my space movie premier! I arrived at the studio for a fitting for the movie First Man about Neil Armstrong, but was cut due to being visibly pregnant. Next time.

My First Man costume tag - Dec. 2, 2017

I wrapped up the year with the 6^th Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Broomfield, Colorado – one of my favorite conferences! I’ve attended all six since 2010 and I’ve been on board as conference staff for the past two. Although I got caught in the Great Atlanta Airport Power Outage of 2017 and therefore missed the first day of the conference, I was still able to enjoy two days of suborbital spaceflight and space science fun.

Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, Broomfield, Colorado - Dec. 18, 2017

I'm ending 2017 on a high. I've met so many great people and participated in wonderful spacey things in the past year! I'm grateful for where I am right now. And I suspect 2018 will be even better with more spacey plans in the works! I look forward even more to the surprises to come.