News by "Patricia Hynes" as an author

Do you remember the 2000 election? Al Gore won the popular vote and George Bush won the Electoral College. Electoral College is the institution that elects the President of the United States. There are currently 538 members of Congress, therefore, 538 Electoral votes. New Mexico has 5 members of Congress, therefore 5 Electoral votes. The Electors in the State of New Mexico are chosen by our State Legislature. By State Law our 5 Electors are ...


Calculating in the Dragon that lives nearby.

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote books for his children. Like all great children's books, lessons were hidden in big adventures and larger than life characters, even if they were short in stature. I am sharing a favorite quote from The Hobbit. I've kept it in mind when making big decision in my life and it seems timely now in light of the latest change in Administration at NMSU. "It does ...


Fiesta and conference season are upon us here in the Land of Enchantment. As we work overtime daily to put the finishing touches on the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight and the Community Partnership Luncheon, the event organizing roller coaster ride continues. I have a suggestion for everyone participating in any of our community events, whether football or fiesta. Show gratitude to those folks who labored to create these events. We are a ...


I have a picture in my office of Len Sugerman and Neil Armstrong at a conference in Berlin, Germany in 1975. They were attending a guidance, navigation and control symposium. In those days, the now very well known Global Positioning System was a US military program and was used to assure accuracy for ICBMs. In the 1980s, the government made GPS available for civilian use. It has only been recently that commercial applications have evolved ...


This column has never been political, and it still isn't. Republicans and Democrats alike agree, the commercialization of human Spaceflight makes sense. How did this bi-partisan support within the space program occur? In the case of the Shuttle replacement project sending Americans to orbit on American made spacecraft, it started under President George Bush, and has been continued under President Obama. Congress agreed, it is best for the government to buy rides on private ...