American Astronautical Society’s Post

Today marks the third and final day of the sixth annual Glenn Space Technology Symposium hosted at Case Western Reserve University by the American Astronautical Society (AAS). The event included panels and presentations on the current state and future of space exploration technology featuring top industry leaders, professionals, and students. I enjoyed the diversity of topics discussed at the conference. The various speakers talked about challenges facing the space industry that had not previously occured to me. In particular, the panel "Lunar Surface Communications Architecture" showcased challenges facing data transfer on the lunar surface and the approaches being taken at both NASA and in the private space industry to meet these challenges. Over the past few days I have gleaned new insights into just how fast the private space industry has grown in recent years and how important private space companies are and will be going forward into NASA's #Artemis missions and beyond. It is motivating that private industy is allowing a wider range of people to contribute to the space industry. A highlight of this sentiment was a keynote by Pete McGrath, the COO of Intuitive Machines, a start up founded in 2013, who, in February of this year, completed the first successful soft-landing on the moon by a private spacecraft, called Odysseus, in the IML-1 mission. Hand in hand with the private space sector, sustainability was made a focus of the event as per the theme of the conference "Increasing the Thrust of Space Sustainability". By outsourcing R&D and other responsibilities to private companies NASA has managed to not only accomplish more at less cost, but has invested in the public and benefited the taxpayer by supporting new jobs. The panel "Building a Sustainable Workforce" discussed challenges and solutions for maintaining a workforce that can scale with the rapidly expanding space industry. Speaking of the new space industry workforce the symposium also held a student poster conference showcasing the research and work that has been done in the field of space technology. Students from across the nation and even from UNAM, Mexico and The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI in Japan. Jennifer Zayac, who works in the same department as me at NASA Glenn Research Center, presented her research about microgravity combustion and won the poster contest in the undergraduate engineering category. Congratulations Jennifer! It was great to have one-on-one conversations and engage with so many leaders in the space industry and academia: Casey Swails, Deputy Associate Administrator of NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Brian Davis, Associate Dean at Cleveland State University; John Zoldak, Director of the Space Science Division at ZIN Technologies (Now Voyager Space); Jacqueline Cortese, Senior Director of Civil Space at Blue Origin and Jamahel Fayall, MLS, Senior Contracting Officer at NASA Glenn Research Center.