Manifesting Space Dreams Into Reality

 

Forming my dreams at the 2010 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference

Human spaceflight always has been emotional for me. From the very first space shuttle launch I saw at NASA Kennedy Space Center when I was a new freshman in college to the new commercial vehicles conducting test flights, there's a mix of rush, excitement, and fear. Lives are on the line. The memory of those we've lost are a constant reminder that these brave pioneers could die before my eyes. But spaceflight is one of the most grand undertakings humanity has ever accomplished. And I want to join them, personally.

It's difficult to express how meaningful it is to know someone preparing to fly to space and to watch them make that dream a reality. I've met over 50 flown astronauts and a few who were selected by NASA but hadn't yet had their chance to fly. But of the astronauts I've gotten to know for more than a brief meeting or two, I knew none of them before their spaceflights. When I met them, they already symbolized that beyond-sky-high achievement that seems out-of-reach for so many of us.

When Alan Stern was selected in October last year to become NASA's first sponsored suborbital researcher on a future Virgin Galactic flight, I was elated. I've known Alan since I was a graduate student and I've worked with him on a number of small projects. I've watched him champion for human-tended suborbital science within NASA and the wider space community.

Alan and two of his colleagues at Southwest Research Institute, Dan Durda and Cathy Olkin, already held tickets to fly as researchers on Virgin Galactic (and XCOR Aerospace back in the day) via SwRI. But there was something about the NASA selection that made it feel more real, more official, more notable. NASA astronaut selection and training is a highly rigorous process with an elite group of very few people wearing the coveted title of NASA astronaut. For NASA to select someone outside of that tight selection process to fly on a suborbital spaceflight on behalf of NASA, that stood out to me as different. As more attainable. As a way for me and others like me to fly as a researcher someday.

My friend Kellie Gerardi blew me away with the way she defined her dream to fly to space (read her book Not Necessarily Rocket Science) and then made it happen! In June, the International Institute of Astronautical Sciences selected her to fly on a future Virgin Galactic research flight. I burst into tears when I heard the news! Not only was I thrilled for Kellie, I recognized her in myself. We share the same dreams and the same motivations. She's making her dream happen. So can I.

On July 1, Virgin Galactic announced the crew of its next test flight with Sirisha Bandla on board. One of my first memories of Sirisha was watching her assist with a raffle at the 2012 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, both of us watching as someone in the audience won a trip to suborbital space with XCOR Aerospace. XCOR may not have made it, but Sirisha did.

Knot in my throat, I teared up as I watched Virgin Galactic astronaut 004 Sirisha Bandla soar to space today with the rest of the Unity22 crew, focused on suborbital science all the while. Sirisha accomplished her dream today. I can too. And so can so many others who saw her fly today and were inspired by her accomplishment.

One of the first times I met Alan when I was a graduate student, he asked me what I was doing to accomplish my goals. He meant it as a rhetorical question to emphasize a point: it's not enough to dream, we need to take actions to pursue our dreams. It wasn't until Alan spoke at the first Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in 2010 that I even considered the possibility of becoming a suborbital researcher. Now I've witnessed Sirisha make history doing so and I'm cheering on Kellie, Alan, Dan, and others who will someday as well. My dream is to fly suborbital science myself someday. And/or go to the Moon, of course.

What am I doing to make my dream happen? The beauty of this new industry is that there are multiple ways to pursue my dream. I'm involved in the space community, assisting with space payloads and supporting space companies. I'm entering various contests by Inspiration4, DearMoon, Omaze, and others to win a trip to space. I've spoken with flown astronauts and future flyers for my upcoming book on private spaceflight, hoping to better prepare my readers and myself for a future where we ourselves will fly. I'm always open to someone sponsoring my ride – call me!

They can do it. The crew of Unity22 have done it. The crew of Blue Origin's upcoming New Shepard flight are preparing to do it. We can do it too. Space belongs to all of us. This is just the very beginning of newly paved narrow-but-widening paths to allow us all to reach our dream of spaceflight.

The 7th Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference

Before the chaos of the coronavirus and mass cancellations, there was the 7th Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference. I’ve attended all 7 of them, usually spaced 1.5 to 2 years apart. This year, I was a member of the organizing team. In addition to running the social media accounts, I organized a panel and helped with other things along the way. Additionally, I gave a talk and was a panelist for another panel.

It was fun but anxiety-inducing to organize a panel on the connection between suborbital research on new vehicles launched by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic and orbital research on the ISS. I’ve organized panels before and have no problems identifying and inviting potential panelists. I confirmed four speakers: two ISS managers (one from NASA and one from my former employer CASIS / ISS National Lab, a nonprofit that handles Earth-benefitting ISS research) and two researchers who have flown experiments to suborbit and orbit (a NASA engineer and a university medical doctor and professor).

What made this panel different was a SpaceX CRS launch to the ISS scheduled Sunday night after the official start of the conference. Two of my panelists were attending the launch. If the launch was delayed a day, they would be unable to attend my panel and I’d be down to two panelists. It turns out the SpaceX launch was delayed – by 5 days! So my panelists attended the conference and then attended the launch.

Snow! Just before conference kick-off on Sunday.

In addition to constant social media posting and engagement, I staffed the registration desk Sunday evening and Monday morning. I’m an extrovert, so greeting people when they arrive is fun. Find their name badge, hand them their program and flyer packet, give them some give-away swag (this time, a conference pen and a Virgin Galactic “remove before flight” keychain tag), let them know about the ZeroG Corporation raffle, and ask if they have any questions. If they are a friend, catch up a little bit with small talk. If they are a journalist, student, or VIP, there was additional information to tell them. I had helpers during both sessions who I trained to take over when things got too busy.

Sunday evening was the conference opening reception. We wandered around the hotel’s side lobby while caterers carried plates of food around and a couple Colorado politicians spoke words of welcome. I spent most of the time at the registration desk but ran off for a few minutes at time to take photos of the speakers for social media posts and grab some food.

As he was filling out his raffle ticket, three-time space shuttle astronaut and first commercial astronaut Charlie Walker, who I’ve met several times at this conference throughout the years, informed me that he had experienced plenty of microgravity time and would give away his ZeroG parabolic flight ticket if he won. He offered to give it to me. What a story that would be – an astronaut winning a raffle and giving away his ticket! Every time he saw me at the conference, he knew the exact number of hours until the winner would be selected on Wednesday morning. He was so excited about it for someone who didn’t plan to keep the winnings!

Astronaut Charlie Walker filling out his ZeroG Corporation raffle ticket

Alan Stern kicked off the talks Monday morning. Although he is a planetary scientist and can speak endlessly about Pluto and other Kuiper belt objects, he’s also passionate about the commercial space industry and suborbital science. This conference is his baby and he has tickets to fly himself with an experiment someday. As a grad student, Alan was my inspiration realizing I could be a scientist and work in the space industry simultaneously, that the two worlds can come together.

Other Monday morning speakers included Ryan Hamilton of Southwest Research Institute, Kevin Coleman of the Federal Aviation Administration’s commercial spaceflight office, George Whitesides of Virgin Galactic, Steve Squyers of Blue Origin, Eric Stallmer of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, Steven Collicott of Purdue University and CSF SARG, and finally, my favorite, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who high-fived me as he was boarding an elevator after his talk.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaking at NSRC-2020

Fellow book author Alan Ladwig had a whole table for book signing. His book is a historical look at space tourism. I had brought 6 copies of my book to sign and sell. We traded: a signed copy of mine for one of his. He’s also an artist and doodled as he signed. He gave a talk about his book during the conference which was great because it was full of amusing old stories.

Alan Ladwig and I showing off our books at NSRC-2020

I attended as many of the talks as I could so I could be there with my phone to take photos and write up content for social media. I was constantly sharing the posts of others as well. It kept me quite busy. I didn’t take as much time as I usually do to network in the hallway.

My talk was second-to-last Monday afternoon. I presented insights on how to market suborbital spaceflight to millennials based on the research I conducted for my book. I didn’t know if anyone would still be in the room or if they’d be off at the poster and networking session starting 15 minutes later. There was still a small audience, so I gave it my best. And despite some initial technical difficulties displaying my presentation correctly, it went great! There was no time for audience questions, but I got so many complements after the talk.

I wrote up a one-pager on how to market spaceflight to millennials, available here.

Giving my talk on how to market spaceflight to millennials at NSRC-2020

Tuesday was exciting to me because of one newly arriving attendee: Beth Moses. She is Virgin Galactic’s astronaut trainer. In 2018, she became the first woman astronaut on a commercial vehicle, the first woman suborbital astronaut, and the first person to unstrap and float around in a suborbital spaceflight. She was the seventh person to be awarded FAA commercial astronaut wings, the first six being pilots and she being the first passenger. She’s my suborbital astronaut role model.

I met her briefly at the registration desk, which I wasn’t working at the time but happened to be there resting. I sat front row to watch her panel with Michelle Peters of ZeroG on how to train for microgravity research missions. I finally got a chance to pose for a photo with her at the VIP reception that evening.

Meeting Beth Moses

Tuesday was also the panel I organized which went quite well! We only had a few minutes for audience questions, but the information presented was great and Q&A session went well too. Mission success.

The very last hour of the Tuesday afternoon sessions was the panel I was added to a week before the conference on the importance of researchers flying with their research on suborbital spaceflight missions. There were seven panelists, which is a huge number for a one-hour panel, but it worked out pretty well. Only astronaut Charlie Walker gave intro slides and the rest was Q&A. I took a different approach than most of the others and spoke about what I learned from researching for my book about normalizing spaceflight, creating that human connection, bringing spaceflight to the masses to stabilize the field financially and politically the way we take air travel for granted today, and opening space to other scientific disciplines such as psychologists researching the way humans perceive the planet and ourselves after experiencing spaceflight.

Wednesday was the final day of the conference. I sat in on talks by my graduate advisor Josh Colwell and former lab college Addie Dove of UCF, reminiscing about the experiments I spent years on in grad school.

The two raffle winners were announced for free tickets on ZeroG’s “weightless” parabolic aircraft flights. I’ve flew two campaigns in grad school and absolutely loved it, even though I got sick. I’d still fly again in a heartbeat! I was chatting with my former CASIS colleague Ed Harris who now works at Keck Observatory in Hawaii. He was in the middle of telling me that if he won, he plans to donate his ticket to a scientist in Hawaii who can fly Hawaiian student experiments, when suddenly the whole lobby was looking over at us. Ed had won! I’m so glad because his generous donation to support Hawaiian schools is much better than me flying for a third time.

The final session of the conference, right after lunch, was full of more top speakers. My favorite space journalist Jeff Foust of Space News gave an analytical view of suborbital spaceflight: where it was predicted to be, where it is now, and where it could grow to be. Beth Moses gave another talk, this one a more detailed look at her job as an astronaut trainer and research facilitator with more details about her own spaceflight. Dylan Taylor of Space for Humanity inspiring talk about the philosophy of opening up spaceflight with ideals that mirror my own. And Alan Stern wrapped up the conference with thank-yous.

Those 5 remaining books I brought with me to autograph and sell? I sold all of them! I probably could have sold a couple more if I had brought more.

Why do I continue being involved in NSRC when my work is now broader and I’m no longer directly working with suborbital research? It’s a small an intimate gathering, a welcoming community, a good mix of multidisciplinary attendees and presenters, and very forward-thinking topics. It’s a seamless fusion of science, engineering, public outreach, government, and commercial space. And because it’s not annual, it’s not repetitive in an ever-changing field. Even though my work is broader now, I still wish to be a suborbital astronaut/ space tourist. When I fly, I’ll take an experiment with me. I’ve trained to be a suborbital scientist. Aside from a lunar astronaut, suborbital astronaut who I desire to become.

What Inspires Space Millennials?

Original image by NASA
Will millennials become the Artemis Generation?

“I have a celebrity crush on Elon Musk. I love his brazen, fearless approach. I see him doing more than just energizing space exploration itself; I see him inspiring my generation to be bold and fearless in the face of 'impossible' missions.”
- Interviewee quote from Rise of the Space Age Millennials.

Apollo inspired a generation. In a short time, NASA accomplished the seemingly impossible. The iconic Apollo 11 Moon landing unified much of the world as people from all walks of life gathered around TVs to watch those first steps into a new era.

Many from the Baby Boomer generation (born 1946 – 1964) remember this defining moment from their childhood or early adulthood. Some were so captivated by the moment and the movement, they pursued space careers and remained lifelong advocates of space exploration.

Last summer, the United States celebrated the 50^th anniversary of Apollo 11 with great fanfare and reflection. Nostalgic essays, books, and films looked back on the grand days of the early space program and the feats NASA was able to accomplish.

But for many, including millennials (born approximately 1981 – 2000), Apollo 50^th anniversary celebrations were a source of frustration. Millennials were not yet born during those glory days. No one from the millennial generation or Generation Z (born approximately after 2000), and many from Generation X (born approximately 1965 – 1980) have ever seen humans step foot on another world. If we could land humans on the Moon 50 years ago, why can't we do so today?

Older millennials grew up during the era of the Space Shuttle program. For many, their source of inspiration were astronauts floating in the International Space Station, doing somersaults, playing with droplets of water, and advancing science. For many millennials in the United States, the space shuttles were all they knew of vehicles capable of taking humans off-world.

Robotic space voyagers also served as a source of inspiration for generations born after Apollo. Mars rovers Pathfinder's Sojourner (landed 1997), Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity (landed 2004), and Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity (landed 2012) brought the red planet into the imaginations of the millennial generation. The astrophysics-advancing Hubble Space Telescope (launched 1990), Saturn-exploring Cassini–Huygens (launched 1997), Pluto-imaging New Horizons (launched 2006), and exoplanet-hunting Kepler Space Telescope (launched 2009) are also among the missions that inspired millennials to contemplate the cosmos.

But by far, the #1 source of inspiration and excitement cited by over 100 millennials I interviewed for my upcoming book, Rise of the Space Age Millennials (released January 17, 2020), is the emerging commercial space industry, or “NewSpace.” Top of the list: SpaceX with its charismatic founder Elon Musk and its impressive rocket booster landings, enormous Starship, and ambitious plans, including human missions to the Moon and Mars. The quote at the top is by a millennial interviewee in Space Millennials and echoes many of the other interviewees' sentiments.

With feats never before seen (landing two rocket boosters back to the ground simultaneously) to public-engaging showmanship (launching a Falcon Heavy carrying a Tesla Roadster with a spacesuited mannequin playing David Bowie music), it's no surprise SpaceX motivates and excites millennials just now entering and growing in their space careers. Other sources of NewSpace inspiration from my millennial interviewees: Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and Bigelow Aerospace.

This isn't to say Apollo didn't also inspire millennials. Apollo inspired me when I was a child. NASA's current human exploration Moon-to-Mars program Artemis calls the explorers of this time the Artemis Generation. When humanity returns to our nearest celestial neighbor again, many will be inspired for generations to come. Perhaps, with determination, luck, and public-private partnerships, millennials and Generation Z will be celebrating the Apollo 11 centennial from on the Moon in 2069.

Space Innovations & Parties in Atlanta

Just before the conference began.

Not many conference attendees understand and appreciate the months of preparation that goes into putting together a successful event. For the second year, a small group of dedicated Atlanta space professionals hosted a space conference, the Symposium on Space Innovations. We had a little more to work with this year after last year's first successful event, but we had ambitious goals: increasing from one day to two days, boosting the number of registrants, securing more sponsors, and booking higher profile speakers. And we did quite well! I'm uncertain what the final count was, but we had close to 200 attendees!

I'm a space loving extrovert. Surrounded by like-minded people doing great things, I feel alive and vibrant. Although most certainly not a morning person, I was happy to be there at Georgia Tech at 7 AM on Tuesday to set up and prepare for the event. My company Astralytical was again a sponsor but I opted not to have a booth, instead dedicating myself to social media, meet & greet, and after-party planning activities.

The top of the morning was a briefing by retired Admiral James Ellis, Chairman of the National Space Council Users' Advisory Group. I've been following the NSpC and UAG activities closely. It was a pleasure to meet Admiral Ellis in person, a great speaker who commanded the attention of the audience. We are all space users and he asked us all for input. The space policy geek that I am, I would love to be part of the NSpC in some capacity in the future.

During the morning parallel sessions, I chose the Space Science & Deep Space Missions track. The Lunar Exploration Advisory Group (LEAG) meeting was going on in Maryland, but we had our own lunar exploration discussions. It was fun to get an update from my graduate school labmate Addie on the latest activities and successes in my former university group. Dropping marbles into sand and floating around in microgravity – for science!

Our lunch speaker was former astronaut and current CEO of Ad Astra Rocket Company, Franklin Chang-Díaz. I had heard interviews with him and had the impression he was a good guy, and I was correct. He gave us an overview of the VASIMR engine and spoke a bit about his experience as a 7-time space flyer. His push is for humanity to become a multi-planet species. He sees the VASIMR engine as the diesel trucking solution of the future.

With astronaut Franklin Chang-Díaz

Following lunch, I was the moderator for the Rise of Commercial Space panel. This was my first time moderating a panel and I was quite excited about it. One of my panelist had fallen ill a couple days before and was unable to attend, but I made sure she was there in spirit. I kicked off the panel with one of my questions, then asked one of her's. The audience took over from there.

It was great fun when the discussion got heated over the debate about the usefulness of NASA's heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). One of the panelists had quite a strong opinion on the subject, admittedly mirroring my own opinion, though I stayed neutral. I was pleased when an audience member jumped in without raising his hand, passionately expressing the opposing point of view. Our missing panelist would have made the same points, so again I felt she was there in spirit. It was an amicable debate cut too short because of time constraints.

I wrapped up the panel asking a surprise question: what were the panelists most excited about in 2019? Universally, all four of us are excited about human spaceflight, both SpaceX and Boeing's plans to launch astronauts next year through NASA's Commercial Crew Program and the efforts to return humans to the Moon.

Moderating the Rise of Commercial Space panel

I chose the Human Spaceflight track during the afternoon parallel session. I learned about putting humans in hibernation during long space missions and got an update from Northrop Grumman about former Orbital ATK's latest activities.

The talks wrapped up with four-time astronaut and current professor Stephen Robinson who gave an excellent presentation about space shuttle reentry thermodynamics and his role with the space shuttle tile gap filling after the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. I got to chat with him after his talk before he had to catch a flight home. I can't remember how the topic got brought up, but Stephen Robinson has the distinction of being the first person I've spoken with about my second book idea (which intimately involves astronauts). He was also the 50th astronaut I've ever met according to the list I've been keeping since high school.

Astronaut Stephen Robinson

The day was not done. We gathered elsewhere on the Georgia Tech campus to enjoy an evening reception: food and student posters. Mainly I chatted with a couple colleagues about space policy, travel, and science fiction before exhaustion from the day caught up with me.

We reconvened Wednesday morning with an opening talk by the Chief Technologist of the National Reconnaissance Office. He read from a script of prepared remarks with no slides, and I was told not to share anything on social media. Given how technical his talk was, slides would have been useful, but I understand his position. He then proceeded to dodge every question asked of him, including my question about collaborating with international allies. He didn't answer the questions but he was so skilled and smooth at not answering them.

The morning panel was about spaceports. Representatives from Georgia and Florida spaceports chatted together on the same panel, which makes sense given we're neighbors. I knew the Kennedy Space Center and Cecil Spaceport representatives from my days working in Florida, and the Camden representative is a colleague and former client of mine. The two emerging spaceports made good arguments about their benefits, including the ease of decision-making and operations. KSC/Cape Canaveral will always have a draw based on the existing infrastructure, expertise, and rich history.

During the morning parallel sessions, I chose the Space Resources & Materials track. My NASA Academy internship colleague Tracie gave an overview on her work about manufacturing in space on the International Space Station. I learned a bit more about the surface-bounded exosphere on the Moon and what it means for future lunar miners.

We ate lunch in the banquet hall and talked amongst ourselves. I sat with some ladies from Atlanta-based space company SpaceWorks and learned a bit more about their company culture. I also spent some time preparing for the next session.

I moderated the Next-Generation Launch & Propulsion Systems track after lunch. A really fun executive vice president from Rocket Lab gave an overview of their successful small launch company. Although I've never been there, I think Rocket Lab's spaceport in New Zealand is the most beautiful in the world. Unusual for a space conference, we had an 8-year-old boy attend and present a poster. This enthusiastic young student joined the speaker on stage and gave thumbs up throughout.

Moderating the Next-Generation Launch & Propulsion Systems track

A speaker from SpaceWorks gave an update about their company Generation Orbit and their suborbital vehicle X-60A. I am looking forward to seeing it fly in the next year or so.

In the final parallel session of the conference, I sat in on the Student Activities & Programs track. I recently attended an event hosted by two of the presenters so I was quite familiar with their work launching small sensors on weather balloons to teach students about building satellite payloads. I learned about the smallsat lab at nearby University of Georgia that I had no idea was so successful.

And finally, the moment I had been most excited about: the Georgia Space Alliance conference after-party Galactic Get-together. GSA began with the conference after-party last year and we're still in the process of building and growing. In the cold and rainy wind, I walked with two boxes to a nearby bar and restaurant that was closed for renovations. The owner was kind enough to open the venue just for us. As I struggled with the large GSA banner, helpers came in early to assist and we finally got it hanging. The personalized take-home GSA rocket name tags were a hit. Both conference attendees and local space enthusiasts mingled and relaxed with finger food, drinks, and space-themed napkins. I have plans to make the party even bigger next year!

We finally got the Georgia Space Alliance banner hung

Enjoying the GSA Galactic Get-together party

I'm so thankful for the efforts of my fellow conference organizing team members, especially Jud and Caleb. I'm looking forward to the third Symposium on Space Innovations next fall!

Dream, Imagine, Create, Explore: The Art of Space

Original image by SpaceX

Last night, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa surprised us all when he announced he purchased a private flight to orbit the Moon on SpaceX's under-development rocket BFR to fly not only himself, but also six to eight artist from around the world to create art under the #dearMoon project.

First I want to talk about this image which captured my heart when SpaceX showed it in June. Elon Musk discussed his desire for fun and entertainment on long human spaceflight missions. Although I have no musical talent of my own, I have a lifelong love of the violin which Lindsey Stirling's talent has intensify. This artist's rendering of a violin concert in space is beautiful.

This image invokes questions, wonder, and imagination. What will the acoustics be like in a BFR-sized spacecraft? How will the vibrations of the violin strings sound in the pressurized air? What kind of music and tempo will be inspired by the flight? What natural background noises will contribute to the music? Concerts are visual as well as auditory. Look at the flow of her dress and imagine how fabrics and cuts will move in microgravity. What motions of the musician's violin playing will move her around the room in any direction and orientation? Will she even notice or care? Will she dance? Will she sing? How might the audience hear her music differently if she is upside down, hovering above them? There is so much unexplored art to be discovered in space.

The #dearMoon project is as unprecedented as it is inspired. Picture a spacecraft of artists traveling around the Moon, our closest celestial neighbor, the glowing orb that has universally inspired so many throughout human history. The Moon inspired me on my career path into space science and the space industry. Countless art has been produced with the Moon as a muse, including by Alan Bean, an Apollo 12 astronaut who touched the lunar surface and used the dust from his flightsuit in his paintings.

Like most of the rest of us, these lunar artists will be able to view but not touch the Moon. But they will get a significantly better view of this familiar yet new world than most of us ever will. They will witness humanity once again spreading out into the stars, and this time, their primary mission will not be science, engineering, or political victory. Their primary mission will be art.

As scientist Ellie Arroway said in Carl Sagan's Contact when witnessing humanity's journey through the stars, "No words to describe it. Poetry! They should have sent a poet. So beautiful." Although most of us will not be chosen for this flight, I'd argue we are all artists in our own ways. We all creatively express the emotions and motivations of life and humanity. The #dearMoon project brings out the emotion and humanity in what we do and why we do human spaceflight. It touches us all. I can't think of better representatives to send to the Moon on behalf of humanity than those charged with imagining, dreaming, and creating.

The analyst in me is skeptical this mission will happen, but the soul inside of me hopes it does.

For more information about the #dearMoon project, visit https://dearmoon.earth.

A Moment of Silence for Swiss Space Systems

Taken September 2015 at the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C.

I received the email the same day I got engaged. I had been waiting months for this email, wondering if it would ever really happen. I've had unofficial job offers dangled in front of me in the past, only to become disappointed when they never materialized into paper. Live and learn.

It was a Saturday evening in Florida in May 2013 when I accepted a LinkedIn invitation and struck up a conversation with a stranger in Hong Kong who was part of a team creating a “new space” start-up in Switzerland. It was ambitious and intriguing. He asked me for assistance setting up a meeting in Florida. I was happy to help.

I met the team for a pre-meeting breakfast in July, then again at the Florida office grand opening in March 2014. I met with the man who would head the U.S. subsidiary, my future boss, twice one-on-one. The delays in the start of operations worried me only slightly. I took it as a sign that they were being extra cautious before jumping into the U.S. market.

On August 29, 2014, Swiss Space Systems' US subsidiary S3 USA asked me to run their Florida office. With a shiny new ring on my left hand, I said yes to both the marriage proposal and the job. I finally began two months later. The intent was for me to start hiring employees for the office right away in preparation for parabolic “Zero G” flights that would begin out of Kennedy Space Center's huge SLF runway the following year.

The business plan seemed solid to me. With investments and partners, S3 would purchase and modify a large plane to begin parabolic flights for research and tourism. With that income, funds would be available to build their spaceplane which would fly suborbital flights across the world. Eventually, a small satellite launcher would be added to the suborbital vehicle to launch small satellites into orbit. They even had a smallsat customer lined up. The Swiss are known for their meticulous attention to detail and deep pockets. They sold me on the dream.

Up to that point, I had worked for two space start-ups, both with varying degrees of challenges and successes. I entered into the position eyes wide open. I knew there was a high risk of failure. At that stage of my career, I was willing to take the chance. And I lost.

Hiring a staff never happened. Financial troubles began to trickle down to me in February. It wasn't long before previous months' of paychecks were added to the list of company promises. I was kept out of the loop for the most part. I started part-time tutoring math, physics, and exam prep on the side. I hadn't even reached a year with S3 before being encouraged by my boss to look for other opportunities. The difficulty was, I was pregnant and far along, so beginning a new full-time job at that time was impractical.

December 2015. The sweet front desk administrator at Space Florida's Space Life Science Lab gave me a surprise baby shower gift around the same I was clearing out the S3 Florida office. It wasn't pregnancy hormones that caused me to cry in my empty office. It was only because my immediate boss is a truly decent, protecting, generous human being was I able to give birth with health insurance that S3 HQ had cut off the month prior. As 2015 came to a close, so did my employment with the Swiss space start-up that wasn't meant to be.

With notice of its bankruptcy last week, I'd like to take a moment of silence to reflect on the short life and long decline of Swiss Space Systems. As I unpack my belongs in my new home this month, I find reminders: a stack of holographic bookmarks, a bomber jacket, a spaceplane pin, and a high-quality print-out of a graphically rendered spaceplane that hung in the S3 Florida office. Long gone, S3 will always hold a place in my memory.

Lesson learned. By wary of start-ups. But it's okay to take that chance sometimes. You never know what will happen if the dreamers succeed.

Next Generation Inspired by Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference

A decade ago as a senior just before graduating with my bachelor's degree, I attended my first conference. I've been loving conferences ever since. But my absolute favorite is the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC). I've been to every NSRC ever held thus far. I'm delighted that the streak continues and I'll be attending this year's NSRC in Broomfield, Colorado from June 2 – 4. I'm so excited I can hardly wait!

NSRC began in 2010 in Boulder, Colorado. I was a graduate student in my second month at a new university pursuing my doctorate in planetary science. My grad advisor, Josh Colwell, was one of the organizers of the conference along with Alan Stern, the man of many hats. Attendance exceeded expectations. Speakers included Lori Garver, Pete Worden, George Nield, Jeff Greason, and Rick Searfoss. SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, XCOR, and Masten were present, among others. Research topics included spectroscopy, solar observations, vulcanoids, suborbital observatories, and regolith dynamics.

Posing with Virgin Galactic's model spaceplane. - NSRC 2010

Being so new to the commercial space industry, I really felt inspired by NSRC. This conference came at an important time for me, right after President Obama's FY2011 budget request and the cancellation of the Constellation program when I felt hopeless about the future of spaceflight. I wrote, “This conference gave me a true sense of belonging among people such as these. I feel like the doors are open to me wider than I realized before. I am very optimistic about my future and the future of the space industry. The dream is still alive!”

I was personally involved in NSRC 2011, hosted by my advisor Josh at my university in Orlando, Florida. I was the volunteer coordinator, recruiting and organizing 40 student volunteers helping to make the conference happen. I was even interviewed by a local news station.

Spreading the love of space on TV - NSRC 2011

This second conference was just as magical as the first. I wrote, “I remember feeling this way during the first NSRC last year in Boulder: energized, passionate, enthusiastic, optimistic, and grateful. All of those feelings came flooding back to me today at the start of NSRC 2011.” Speakers not already mentioned included George Whitesides, Robert Braun, Frank DiBello, David McBride, David Masten, Keith Cowing, and Eric Seedhouse. Even more microgravity research was presented than the year before.

NSRC 2012 was in Palo Alto, California. It was there that I met Neil Armstrong after his talk about suborbital spaceflight history. I am forever grateful that I got to shake his hand before he was gone! XCOR gave away a free Lynx ride to a lucky winner. Speakers not already mentioned included June Scobee Rodgers, Andrew Nelson, William Pomerantz, Carissa Christensen, Rand Simberg, and Jeff Foust. One thing that struck me was the diversity of microgravity research presented compared to previous years. So much science!

Meeting Neil Armstrong, first man on the Moon - NSRC 2012

Prototype future spacesuit helmet - NSRC 2012

NSRC 2013 was back in Colorado, this time Broomfield just outside of Boulder. One of the first things I did upon arriving was climb into a lifesize model of the XCOR Lynx and pretend to fly. I had just started my new job at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space three months prior and I gave my first public CASIS talk at the conference. Speakers not previously mentioned included Charlie Walker, Mike Lopez-Alegria, Scott Parazynski, Stu Witt, Wayne Hale, Mike Suffredini, Mark Sirangelo, and Jane Poynter.

Flying the XCOR Lynx - NSRC 2013

Where will Alan Stern fly us to in this Lynx ride among the stars? - NSRC 2013

I raced my friend Ryan Kobrick in assembling Lego Lynx models (he won, just barely). I sang Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody with a table full of inebriated professionals. I stayed up really, really late chatting about space with other like-minded dreamers. I wrote, “I really can't believe that all of this is happening to me. NSRC is the best conference ever.”

Legos! - NSRC 2013

And now, NSRC is back after a 3 year hiatus! Originally planned to be an every-18-months conference from 2012 onward, the fifth NSRC was delayed until enough progress in the industry justified the meeting. I'm looking forward to hearing from researchers, flight providers, and everyone else involved! Speakers not previously mentioned include Alan Eustace, Steve Jurczyk, David Miller, John Olson, Jason Reimuller, and Steve Collicott. I'm looking forward to seeing old colleagues and meeting news ones!

And what's sure to convince everyone that I'm crazy, I'll be attending with a baby. This will be a challenge, for sure, but I'm up for it!

For more information, visit http://nsrc.swri.org. 

COLLIDE-ing Suborbital Science with Blue Origin

I usually don’t blog on the weekend. I’m usually at the ice skating rink at this time on a Saturday. But amazing feats of science and engineering don’t limit themselves to weekday work hours. Right now, I’m geeking out to the latest successful launch and landing by private rocket company Blue Origin!

After I earned my master’s degree in high-energy astrophysics in Huntsville, I switched over to “experimental planetary science” (my phrasing) at the University of Central Florida with Dr. Josh Colwell as my advisor.

Josh was working on a number of projects, but one that caught my attention was the study of how space and planetary dust (regolith) interact at very low velocities. When the grains or clumps collide, do they stick together, bounce, break apart, or what? Most of what could do in the lab in 1 g (Earth’s gravity) was even faster than we wanted to observe. We built a drop tower in the lab to examine our experiment in microgravity, but our short tower only allowed less than a second of free fall. We wanted more. I flew on two parabolic aircraft campaigns with Josh to gain a few more seconds of microgravity per parabola. But still, we wanted more.

Josh had flown an experiment on orbit on the International Space Station, COLLIDE, Collisions Into Dust Experiment. He was preparing another version of COLLIDE to fly suborbitally on a Blue Origin experimental rocket. I was intrigued by the partnership with an emerging commercial space company. For my first year and a half in the lab, I participated in teleconferences with Blue and worked on preparing the experiment for launch. The engineering students on our team did most of the work, but I was pleased and excited to participate in any way I could.

A COLLIDE box in foreground, the original COLLIDE in background, and me recording something. - February 2011

But in 2011, Blue Origin’s test rocket malfunctioned and was destroyed. Our chance to fly COLLIDE with Blue was postponed indefinitely. We were all disappointed, but that’s the way it works in the space industry. This stuff is hard and set-backs happen.

I’ve been out-of-the-loop with the experiment since leaving UCF. But yesterday, I heard the exciting news that COLLIDE would launch soon. And this morning, it did just that. Blue Origin’s rocket New Shepard launch and landed successfully in Texas.

We’re all currently awaiting the release of the official video of the successful test. I’m awaiting news of how my grad school team’s experiment fared. Knowing first-hand just how tricky those experiment boxes can be, I’m crossing fingers and hoping for the best.

The official Blue Origin COLLIDE video can be seen here:

I will update this entry with the official Blue Origin rocket video once it’s published. But first, ice skating.

Progress Happening at NASA KSC with Center Director Bob Cabana

NASA KSC Director Bob Cabana at National Space Club - March 8, 2016

Every year, the National Space Club Florida Committee is honored to hear from NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, also a former astronaut (STS-41, STS-53, STS-65, and STS-88). Today he was back at the luncheon at Cape Canaveral to give us an update on KSC!

No official NASA talk would be complete with the obligatory Journey to Mars mention and chart. Bob didn't harp on it. Instead, he dove right into the meat of his presentation: upgrades and progress at KSC. The big push here over the past few years has been including commercial industry and making infrastructure modifications to become a multi-user spaceport.

One of the exciting pieces of space hardware I got to see last year was the Orion crew capsule for Exploration Mission EM-1 in the O&C building's high bay being worked on by Lockheed Martin. Orion is officially scheduled to launch in fall 2018, but will likely slip. In addition to mentioning Orion, Bob also talked about SpaceX's Dragon crew capsule and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner crew capsule, both currently scheduled for launch in 2017.

Bob also spoke up modifications to the mobile launcher and the crawler transporter. After modifications, this will be the crawler transporter for the next 30 years, he said. He also mentioned that modifications to the Space Launch System (SLS)'s launch pad 39B have been completed. Because SLS is only scheduled to launch at the most once per year, they are seeking additional users for that pad.

Although there are more ULA and SpaceX launches scheduled at the Cape in the next few months, the next NASA Launch Services mission isn't until the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-Rex) launches on an Atlas V, currently expected to be in September. I'm excited about this robotic probe mission which will bring back a sample from a carbonaceous asteroid!

NASA and Space Florida recently signed an agreement for Phase B of Exploration Park. For those unfamiliar, the only building currently in Exploration Park is the Space Life Sciences Laboratory (SLSL) where I've coincidentally worked in for three previous jobs or projects. In Phase B, Blue Origin will build a manufacturing plant for its reusable rockets. I was surprised to learn how big this facility will be! According to Bob, it will be seven stories tall and have a bigger footprint than the huge Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at KSC.

Bob spoke a bit about the workforce drop-off after the space shuttle program ended. KSC's NASA workforce is currently stable and predicted to remain approximately constant so long as budgets are relatively constant. He gave an anecdotal story about NASA losing employees to private industry which is ramping up right now.

National Space Club luncheons are always a fun place to catch up with colleagues. Where else can I show off baby photos (the launch photos in my previous blog entry) to the KSC Director, a U.S. Congressman, and so many other space enthusiasts in the room? Bob also graciously gave me a little bit of his time for a 30 second interview (see below): What is your favorite thing happening at KSC in the coming year? Check it out!

“What is Your Dream? What are You Doing to Make it Happen?”

“What is your dream? What are you doing to make it happen?”

A top man in the field asked me this when I was in graduate school. I was puzzled by the question. I was in school pursuing a doctorate. Wasn't I already doing what I needed to do in order to make my dream happen?

Yes, and no. Because of the popularity of the academic track and the bias toward it in academic institutions, I was moving along the pipeline indirectly pursuing my dream. More directly, I was pursuing someone else's dream. Many people strive to secure the rare and coveted professor position at a respected university becoming an expert in a particular subfield due to years of training and research. But at the time, I already knew that path wasn't for me.

The first step in answering that question was to determine what my dream is. I want to be an astronaut, the same dream since childhood. But if I examine more closely, or just take a look at the specialty Florida license plate that I had ordered around this time which proclaimed 2LUNA – to the Moon – I'll note that my dream is to become a lunar astronaut or more broadly, a planetary astronaut. I was in school to be a planetary scientist, after all.

A look at NASA's direction at the time showed a choice: work hard to become an astronaut if you're lucky and you'll orbit Earth, or hold off on astronaut aspirations for a little while until NASA's next mission to somewhere. It didn't take me long to conclude that the private sector might be more in line with my goals. Although I still loved NASA, I had just come from working at MSFC and no longer saw working there as my end goal.

I was inspired by a company called Golden Spike which formed to create private human missions to the Moon. I even did a tiny side project with Golden Spike for a short while. I was just beginning to explore the world of the private space industry and I dove in head first. I knew that this is where I belonged. It seemed like the best avenue to make my dream become reality.

Years in the industry has taught me one thing over and over again: private industry can be as slow as government and doesn't always succeed. At this time, there is no path to me becoming a planetary astronaut. I don't have the funds to become a suborbital astronaut. I likely don't have the genes to become a NASA astronaut. The path forward for the pursuit of my dream is unclear.

So, what am I doing to make my dream happen? I'm joining the doers. I'm learning all I can and contributing to the progress of the space industry as a whole. I'm starting conversations with people smarter and more experienced than myself, I'm analyzing data, and later this year I hope to play with hardware again. I am working as part of something greater than myself.

Lately, I've been envious. I see others along the path with me and I want what they have. But I need to work to get there. I have my own needs and goals. Now, when I catch envy stirring in me, I ask myself not, “Why don't I have that?” but rather, “What do I need to do to get that? And do I even want it?” In discerning my actions, I can take the best steps forward. My life is no one else's.

What is your dream? What are you doing to make it happen? Don't just live on autopilot. Don't pursue someone else's dream. Really consider what actions you're taking to move forward in your pursuit. Don't be afraid of course corrections. Don't be afraid to try something new. Best of luck on your journey!

Finding the courage to pursue my dream, and to tell the world about it! - February 2011

Cape Canaveral Not Busiest Spaceport in 2015, but Did Make History

I was in the room on January 13, 2015 when Col. Thomas Falzarano, commander of the 45^th Space Wing's Operations Group, told the National Space Club Florida Committee that with 24 launches scheduled in 2015, Cape Canaveral may be the busiest spaceport in 2015. I very much wanted this to be true, but I was skeptical. Launches often face delays and space plans usually aren't executed on time. Now that 2015 is completed, how did the year's launch manifest pan out?

Short the 24 scheduled launches, there were 17 launches out of Cape Canaveral in 2015, one more than in 2014. Of those, 7 were SpaceX Falcon 9 launches, 8 were ULA Atlas V launches, and 2 were ULA Delta IV launches.

Russia's Baikonur launch site, which was the busiest site in 2014, again was the busiest in 2015 with 18 launches.

Not all launches were successful. I saw the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch failure from fairly up close on a boat on the lagoon. Two of the Baikonur launches failed. Looking at it another way, Cape Canaveral and Baikonur tied for the number of successful launches in 2015.

I watched the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch out of Cape Canaveral a week and a half ago, the last launch of the year out of the Cape. I heard those sonic booms as the rocket first stage returned to Earth and landed. Although Cape Canaveral didn't meet its goal of 24 launches and wasn't the busiest spaceport in the world in 2015, it made history last year. I'm looking forward to more successes in 2016.

My shot of the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch out of Cape Canaveral on June 28, 2015

New Beginnings: New Life, New Rocket, New Position, New Professional Goals

The beauty of new beginnings: one week ago, after being discharged from the hospital, I watched space history in the making. As my husband drove the car and my one-day-old daughter wailed in the car seat, I watched the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch above the treetops and disappear into the clouds. When I brought my daughter home for the first time and was taking her out of the car seat, we heard the twin sonic booms from the upper stage returning to land vertically. A new life beginning, the sonic booms returning to the Space Coast, and a new stage of rocketry beginning. Cheers for new beginnings at the conclusion of 2015!

The new year will also bring new beginnings for me professionally. When I was approached to help establish a space start-up company in Florida, it was an exciting opportunity that I couldn't pass up. Although I don't use the term “newspace,” I find myself swept up in the excitement of the emerging space industry with its promise of new technology and more frequent access to space for a larger segment of the population. I knew full well that many space start-ups don't achieve their goals and fade into history. I don't regret my decision to take the job and I have learned a lot in the past year. I've had experiences that I wouldn't have otherwise had and gotten to know some great people from all over the world. But, it is time to move on. We have closed the Florida office and I have resigned from my position managing Swiss Space System's Florida operations.

I'm not one to be idle for long. Already I've been working on a few projects as an analyst for Astralytical, a space consultancy start-up. I am starting small, especially with a newborn to care for. In 2016, I plan to increase my efforts and try new things. I am a highly educated, highly competent space professional, yet I find it difficult to put myself out there to try new things which I've never done but know that I'm capable of. I fear criticism and failure, yet those negatives help to mold me into a better professional. With Astralytical, I will grow professionally to become what I know that I can be.

A merry Christmas and a joyful and successful new year to us all!

Baby Josephine and I wish you the happiest of holidays!

Space Commercialization: Small Sats, Launch Costs, and Florida's Future

Twitter is a very useful communication medium, but I sometimes forget its limitations and my limited skill in utilizing it. I posted a couple of summary tweets from a talk that I gave this morning but wasn't able to formulate my opinions well in the limited space. Blogging seems like the better avenue of expression in this case.

This morning I gave a talk and sat on a panel titled Space Commercialization hosted by the Space Coast Technical Council's Aviation & Aerospace Committee. My fellow panelists were Don Platt, the CEO of Micro Aerospace Solutions, and Mike Vinje, Small Business Technology Manager at NASA KSC. I've met both Don and Mike previously and had a good idea of what they might touch upon. And so, I made my talk a general overview.

Where is the profit in space? It's important to note from the start that money in space is not fictional. According to the Space Foundation's 2015 report, the space industry was a $330 billion business globally in 2014. Roughly half of that comes from government spending. This year was also a big year for venture capitalists with several large investments into companies such as SkyBox, OneWeb, and Planet Labs.

Traditional space profit-makers are large satellite constellations used for navigation (GPS, for example), communications, TV, and radio. Many of the companies involved in these sectors are publicly traded with revenues in the hundreds of millions through tens of billions. Many of these ventures began as military applications with government funding. All have branched out to capture the private commercial market.

Remote sensing and specifically Earth observation is also a huge and diverse industry. Applications for military intelligence are obvious, but alternate applications are vast. Weather and climate monitoring, mapping, and environmental monitoring beyond weather (logging, agriculture, water and plant resources and quality, mineral locations, traffic, infrastructure development or disruption, etc.) are just a few examples of how space data can be useful to businesses on Earth.

The launch industry in the United States is almost entirely commercial with government paying for services as needed. There are too many players to list, but some of the current successes are: Orbital ATK, United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic / Scaled Composites / The Spaceship Company, Blue Origin, XCOR, Sierra Nevada Corporation, Masten Space Systems, UP Aerospace, and zero2infinity.

Space components needed for satellites, launching, and ground infrastructure are too numerous to mention. Space manufacturing is an area of potential profit but has not reached its time. Material science, fluid science, biotechnology, biomedical sciences, and protein crystals are some areas of research which show promise. Recent advances in 3D printing have great potential in space as Made in Space has recently demonstrated. Space utilization and integration – providing means to allow others to utilize space – is a great niche area, as NanoRacks has shown.

Space tourism remains an area for the very rich. Space Adventures has flown 7 paying individuals (private astronauts, spaceflight participants, whatever term you'd prefer) to the International Space Station. Virgin Galactic, XCOR, and Sierra Nevada want to enter into the space tourism market as well. Perhaps someday, space tourism will become more commonplace and affordable. I'm hoping to buy myself a ticket someday!

Potential areas of future space commercialization include space mining (on asteroids, the Moon, Mars, or other planetary bodies), rapid global transportation (sometimes called point-to-point transportation), space-based solar power (beaming solar power to Earth's surface), and advanced tourism in deeper space or other planetary bodies. Sign me up for a trip to the Moon.

Panel discussion that I want to highlight has to do with the bottleneck of small satellites needing transportation to space. The small sat and cubesat community is very active in central Florida. Due to the relative ease and inexpensive of building such small satellites, the door has opened for almost anyone to build one, including student groups. But the means to launch these small sats into space is still very limited. For smaller, newer companies who are trying to respond to this market need, there is a large learning curve. Building a spacecraft and operating successfully is a complex, difficult, expensive, and time-consuming process. I cheer on the small launch community in the hope that soon we will see more frequent access to space for these smaller payloads.

Another area that I want to highlight is the continued high expense of launching to orbit or beyond. Generally speaking, launching has gotten more expensive over time. The old technology of chemical propulsion has not seen many improvements over the decades. More R&D into new propulsion technology is needed. Reusability may bring costs down, but it may not be enough (I apologize for leaving out the word “may” in my tweets). We have yet to see a truly reusable rocket so it's hard to judge how such technology will effect the market. I am a skeptic, and my guess is that it won't be enough to make any major dents in launch costs, but I'd love to be proven wrong. It's certainly a step in the right direction.

Florida's Space Coast remains one of the best areas in the world to launch to orbit because of its existing infrastructure, skilled workforce, and geographic positioning. In a conversation I had at a space function last night, we agreed that more rural areas such as Mojave, Texas, and New Mexico offer better areas for test launches. But to create a transportation hub, a population with establish infrastructure is a better bet. It was slow-going for a few years after the retirement of the space shuttle program, but I had no doubt that this area would bounce back and thrive in the evolving space industry. Florida has a lot to offer and has been making a fantastic effort over the years to evolve with the industry, even lead the industry at times. I'm proud to live here.