I go because there is work to do. In the case of large aerospace companies like Boeing, I traveled to meet the President of the Networks and Space Systems, Roger Krone. Mr. Krone will be speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Space Transportation (ISPCS) here in October. The Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST 100), is a crew capsule proposed by Boeing's and Bigelow Aerospace as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA is partnering with commercial companies to build the next space vehicles to take crew and cargo to the International Space Station.

There are few certainties in the world, here's one. Mr. Krone was not going to walk in my door and offer to speak at ISPCS. I had to go hunt him down- figuratively. Mr. Krone understood, I am a hired gun, a salesperson. We are looking to grow the commercial space industry in our region. We believe it is necessary to include humans in this space era. Only 517 people have been to space since Uri Gagarin orbited earth in 1961. Until we put systems in place to put humans in space, the commercial space industry will grow slowly. The chance for a new transportation industry to evolve with all the innovation transportation industries spur is within our grasp. During his talk, Mr. Krone will examine partnerships Boeing has begun with commercial companies like Bigelow Aerospace. He specifically asked to tour Spaceport America. Cool!

That was one of over sixty meetings I had in the last six weeks off campus. Speaking of campus, I am grateful to work at New Mexico State University. State universities have gone through drastic downsizing in the last five years. NMSU is the state's Land Grant institution. We are beginning to do some very interesting work because of Spaceport America and the commercial space industry. Yet, our story is untold. NMSU provides affordable higher education and does research to improve economic development in the state. Returning soldiers who have had experience with multiple space based technologies will be wise to look to state universities, including NMSU. The GI Bill has been one of the most successful pieces of legislation to enable ongoing national security. An economically prosperous nation is a secure nation.

I traveled to Tallahassee, the capital of the State of Florida last week. We were there to attend meetings at Florida State's Universities' Center for Advanced Aero Propulsion (FCAAP) as part of the work I do for the FAA Commercial Space division. We also attended the dedication of the new Aerospace Mechanical Engineering (AME). They started designing and raising funds for this facility six years ago. Florida's space economy was booming then. Funds were provided for the building and for its lab facilities, including a Mach5 Hypersonic experimental facility. Yet, none of the wind tunnels were installed because of a six million in state budget cut. The Provost told me the dedication of the faculty and his administration leave no doubt the facilities will be finished soon.

The Air Force Academy is one of the nation's premier and inspiring undergraduate institutions. They are engaged in both aeronautics and astronautics education. I toured their wind tunnel facilities, some of them built in the nineteen fifties. I met with faculty including the Dean of the Aero and Astro programs, Colonel Neil Barlow. Their dedication is permeates every aspect of their day. Colonel Barlow went to Central Elementary school.

What was my take away message? Why was I out on the road? All of us have the need to capture the same illusive fugitive - funding and support. Our nation benefits from the education we provide our students. Without exception, the administrators, faculty and staff at each of the institutions I visited are dedicated to their students. Many are hunting the same fugitives, education is expensive. I was building the posse for commercial space fugitives. Now I am going to get a manicure, gun slinging is so hard on my nails.

I go because there is work to do. In the case of large aerospace companies like Boeing, I traveled to meet the President of the Networks and Space Systems, Roger Krone. Mr. Krone will be speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Space Transportation (ISPCS) here in October. The Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST 100), is a crew capsule proposed by Boeing's and Bigelow Aerospace as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA is partnering with commercial companies to build the next space vehicles to take crew and cargo to the International Space Station.

There are few certainties in the world, here's one. Mr. Krone was not going to walk in my door and offer to speak at ISPCS. I had to go hunt him down- figuratively. Mr. Krone understood, I am a hired gun, a salesperson. We are looking to grow the commercial space industry in our region. We believe it is necessary to include humans in this space era. Only 517 people have been to space since Uri Gagarin orbited earth in 1961. Until we put systems in place to put humans in space, the commercial space industry will grow slowly. The chance for a new transportation industry to evolve with all the innovation transportation industries spur is within our grasp. During his talk, Mr. Krone will examine partnerships Boeing has begun with commercial companies like Bigelow Aerospace. He specifically asked to tour Spaceport America. Cool!

That was one of over sixty meetings I had in the last six weeks off campus. Speaking of campus, I am grateful to work at New Mexico State University. State universities have gone through drastic downsizing in the last five years. NMSU is the state's Land Grant institution. We are beginning to do some very interesting work because of Spaceport America and the commercial space industry. Yet, our story is untold. NMSU provides affordable higher education and does research to improve economic development in the state. Returning soldiers who have had experience with multiple space based technologies will be wise to look to state universities, including NMSU. The GI Bill has been one of the most successful pieces of legislation to enable ongoing national security. An economically prosperous nation is a secure nation.

I traveled to Tallahassee, the capital of the State of Florida last week. We were there to attend meetings at Florida State's Universities' Center for Advanced Aero Propulsion (FCAAP) as part of the work I do for the FAA Commercial Space division. We also attended the dedication of the new Aerospace Mechanical Engineering (AME). They started designing and raising funds for this facility six years ago. Florida's space economy was booming then. Funds were provided for the building and for its lab facilities, including a Mach5 Hypersonic experimental facility. Yet, none of the wind tunnels were installed because of a six million in state budget cut. The Provost told me the dedication of the faculty and his administration leave no doubt the facilities will be finished soon.

The Air Force Academy is one of the nation's premier and inspiring undergraduate institutions. They are engaged in both aeronautics and astronautics education. I toured their wind tunnel facilities, some of them built in the nineteen fifties. I met with faculty including the Dean of the Aero and Astro programs, Colonel Neil Barlow. Their dedication is permeates every aspect of their day. Colonel Barlow went to Central Elementary school.

What was my take away message? Why was I out on the road? All of us have the need to capture the same illusive fugitive - funding and support. Our nation benefits from the education we provide our students. Without exception, the administrators, faculty and staff at each of the institutions I visited are dedicated to their students. Many are hunting the same fugitives, education is expensive. I was building the posse for commercial space fugitives. Now I am going to get a manicure, gun slinging is so hard on my nails.

I go because there is work to do. In the case of large aerospace companies like Boeing, I traveled to meet the President of the Networks and Space Systems, Roger Krone. Mr. Krone will be speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Space Transportation (ISPCS) here in October. The Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST 100), is a crew capsule proposed by Boeing's and Bigelow Aerospace as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA is partnering with commercial companies to build the next space vehicles to take crew and cargo to the International Space Station.

There are few certainties in the world, here's one. Mr. Krone was not going to walk in my door and offer to speak at ISPCS. I had to go hunt him down- figuratively. Mr. Krone understood, I am a hired gun, a salesperson. We are looking to grow the commercial space industry in our region. We believe it is necessary to include humans in this space era. Only 517 people have been to space since Uri Gagarin orbited earth in 1961. Until we put systems in place to put humans in space, the commercial space industry will grow slowly. The chance for a new transportation industry to evolve with all the innovation transportation industries spur is within our grasp. During his talk, Mr. Krone will examine partnerships Boeing has begun with commercial companies like Bigelow Aerospace. He specifically asked to tour Spaceport America. Cool!

That was one of over sixty meetings I had in the last six weeks off campus. Speaking of campus, I am grateful to work at New Mexico State University. State universities have gone through drastic downsizing in the last five years. NMSU is the state's Land Grant institution. We are beginning to do some very interesting work because of Spaceport America and the commercial space industry. Yet, our story is untold. NMSU provides affordable higher education and does research to improve economic development in the state. Returning soldiers who have had experience with multiple space based technologies will be wise to look to state universities, including NMSU. The GI Bill has been one of the most successful pieces of legislation to enable ongoing national security. An economically prosperous nation is a secure nation.

I traveled to Tallahassee, the capital of the State of Florida last week. We were there to attend meetings at Florida State's Universities' Center for Advanced Aero Propulsion (FCAAP) as part of the work I do for the FAA Commercial Space division. We also attended the dedication of the new Aerospace Mechanical Engineering (AME). They started designing and raising funds for this facility six years ago. Florida's space economy was booming then. Funds were provided for the building and for its lab facilities, including a Mach5 Hypersonic experimental facility. Yet, none of the wind tunnels were installed because of a six million in state budget cut. The Provost told me the dedication of the faculty and his administration leave no doubt the facilities will be finished soon.

The Air Force Academy is one of the nation's premier and inspiring undergraduate institutions. They are engaged in both aeronautics and astronautics education. I toured their wind tunnel facilities, some of them built in the nineteen fifties. I met with faculty including the Dean of the Aero and Astro programs, Colonel Neil Barlow. Their dedication is permeates every aspect of their day. Colonel Barlow went to Central Elementary school.

What was my take away message? Why was I out on the road? All of us have the need to capture the same illusive fugitive - funding and support. Our nation benefits from the education we provide our students. Without exception, the administrators, faculty and staff at each of the institutions I visited are dedicated to their students. Many are hunting the same fugitives, education is expensive. I was building the posse for commercial space fugitives. Now I am going to get a manicure, gun slinging is so hard on my nails.

I go because there is work to do. In the case of large aerospace companies like Boeing, I traveled to meet the President of the Networks and Space Systems, Roger Krone. Mr. Krone will be speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Space Transportation (ISPCS) here in October. The Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST 100), is a crew capsule proposed by Boeing's and Bigelow Aerospace as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA is partnering with commercial companies to build the next space vehicles to take crew and cargo to the International Space Station.

There are few certainties in the world, here's one. Mr. Krone was not going to walk in my door and offer to speak at ISPCS. I had to go hunt him down- figuratively. Mr. Krone understood, I am a hired gun, a salesperson. We are looking to grow the commercial space industry in our region. We believe it is necessary to include humans in this space era. Only 517 people have been to space since Uri Gagarin orbited earth in 1961. Until we put systems in place to put humans in space, the commercial space industry will grow slowly. The chance for a new transportation industry to evolve with all the innovation transportation industries spur is within our grasp. During his talk, Mr. Krone will examine partnerships Boeing has begun with commercial companies like Bigelow Aerospace. He specifically asked to tour Spaceport America. Cool!

That was one of over sixty meetings I had in the last six weeks off campus. Speaking of campus, I am grateful to work at New Mexico State University. State universities have gone through drastic downsizing in the last five years. NMSU is the state's Land Grant institution. We are beginning to do some very interesting work because of Spaceport America and the commercial space industry. Yet, our story is untold. NMSU provides affordable higher education and does research to improve economic development in the state. Returning soldiers who have had experience with multiple space based technologies will be wise to look to state universities, including NMSU. The GI Bill has been one of the most successful pieces of legislation to enable ongoing national security. An economically prosperous nation is a secure nation.

I traveled to Tallahassee, the capital of the State of Florida last week. We were there to attend meetings at Florida State's Universities' Center for Advanced Aero Propulsion (FCAAP) as part of the work I do for the FAA Commercial Space division. We also attended the dedication of the new Aerospace Mechanical Engineering (AME). They started designing and raising funds for this facility six years ago. Florida's space economy was booming then. Funds were provided for the building and for its lab facilities, including a Mach5 Hypersonic experimental facility. Yet, none of the wind tunnels were installed because of a six million in state budget cut. The Provost told me the dedication of the faculty and his administration leave no doubt the facilities will be finished soon.

The Air Force Academy is one of the nation's premier and inspiring undergraduate institutions. They are engaged in both aeronautics and astronautics education. I toured their wind tunnel facilities, some of them built in the nineteen fifties. I met with faculty including the Dean of the Aero and Astro programs, Colonel Neil Barlow. Their dedication is permeates every aspect of their day. Colonel Barlow went to Central Elementary school.

What was my take away message? Why was I out on the road? All of us have the need to capture the same illusive fugitive - funding and support. Our nation benefits from the education we provide our students. Without exception, the administrators, faculty and staff at each of the institutions I visited are dedicated to their students. Many are hunting the same fugitives, education is expensive. I was building the posse for commercial space fugitives. Now I am going to get a manicure, gun slinging is so hard on my nails.

I go because there is work to do. In the case of large aerospace companies like Boeing, I traveled to meet the President of the Networks and Space Systems, Roger Krone. Mr. Krone will be speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Space Transportation (ISPCS) here in October. The Crew Space Transportation 100 (CST 100), is a crew capsule proposed by Boeing's and Bigelow Aerospace as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA is partnering with commercial companies to build the next space vehicles to take crew and cargo to the International Space Station.

There are few certainties in the world, here's one. Mr. Krone was not going to walk in my door and offer to speak at ISPCS. I had to go hunt him down- figuratively. Mr. Krone understood, I am a hired gun, a salesperson. We are looking to grow the commercial space industry in our region. We believe it is necessary to include humans in this space era. Only 517 people have been to space since Uri Gagarin orbited earth in 1961. Until we put systems in place to put humans in space, the commercial space industry will grow slowly. The chance for a new transportation industry to evolve with all the innovation transportation industries spur is within our grasp. During his talk, Mr. Krone will examine partnerships Boeing has begun with commercial companies like Bigelow Aerospace. He specifically asked to tour Spaceport America. Cool!

That was one of over sixty meetings I had in the last six weeks off campus. Speaking of campus, I am grateful to work at New Mexico State University. State universities have gone through drastic downsizing in the last five years. NMSU is the state's Land Grant institution. We are beginning to do some very interesting work because of Spaceport America and the commercial space industry. Yet, our story is untold. NMSU provides affordable higher education and does research to improve economic development in the state. Returning soldiers who have had experience with multiple space based technologies will be wise to look to state universities, including NMSU. The GI Bill has been one of the most successful pieces of legislation to enable ongoing national security. An economically prosperous nation is a secure nation.

I traveled to Tallahassee, the capital of the State of Florida last week. We were there to attend meetings at Florida State's Universities' Center for Advanced Aero Propulsion (FCAAP) as part of the work I do for the FAA Commercial Space division. We also attended the dedication of the new Aerospace Mechanical Engineering (AME). They started designing and raising funds for this facility six years ago. Florida's space economy was booming then. Funds were provided for the building and for its lab facilities, including a Mach5 Hypersonic experimental facility. Yet, none of the wind tunnels were installed because of a six million in state budget cut. The Provost told me the dedication of the faculty and his administration leave no doubt the facilities will be finished soon.

The Air Force Academy is one of the nation's premier and inspiring undergraduate institutions. They are engaged in both aeronautics and astronautics education. I toured their wind tunnel facilities, some of them built in the nineteen fifties. I met with faculty including the Dean of the Aero and Astro programs, Colonel Neil Barlow. Their dedication is permeates every aspect of their day. Colonel Barlow went to Central Elementary school.

What was my take away message? Why was I out on the road? All of us have the need to capture the same illusive fugitive - funding and support. Our nation benefits from the education we provide our students. Without exception, the administrators, faculty and staff at each of the institutions I visited are dedicated to their students. Many are hunting the same fugitives, education is expensive. I was building the posse for commercial space fugitives. Now I am going to get a manicure, gun slinging is so hard on my nails.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I like a schedule, and an agenda. I believe a schedule is a commitment, an agreement. A transportation industry must include schedules. Otherwise there is no industry, just people, goods and vehicles going on their own at random times to random places. That's why I am well suited to work on this space transportation business. I am working to increase predictability and decrease random nature of space travel.

If you have ever traveled to watch a Space Shuttle launch, you knew to put an end date on your stay. You may see a launch, you may not. But, don't wait around; launches can be delayed for months. For good reason launches are delayed. Those days of millions of moving parts and unsustainable maintenance costs are gone. Building in complexity to a transportation system creates more complexity. The Shuttle was likely the most significant transportation machine ever built by man. Those who flew in them honor all the dedication, innovation and creativity that went into the vehicles and program. We will continue to reap benefits from this vehicle and its support systems for years. We are moving on to less expensive, more sustainable vehicles for a more diverse industry.

Simplicity. What is so hard about giving people a schedule? Be at Gate 37 by 12:15 to board your plane. As I discussed the confusion with my colleagues, it became a cherished thread linking each of us closer during the trip. Every time we discovered we didn't know where we were going or why we were all standing around hoping someone knew what was next, each discovered how the others dealt with ambiguity. Sometimes the best parts of a trip include the ridiculous.

Yet, I believe the lack of predictability in the access to space has contributed to the ambivalence people have about the industry. If no one knows for sure when they will have access to a place, it is forgotten. Think about our downtown mall. It was inaccessible for many years, people just didn't go there. It was certainly not a market place.

At a recent meeting in the Long Beach Convention Center, I was intentionally looking at the spaces where people gathered. There was a main auditorium that seated 800 people. Lectures started at 8:30am and continued until 5:30 pm. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and our Poet Laureate. There were fifteen hundred people in attendance. Throughout the Convention Center there were small lounges where small groups of people could watch the lectures on video, check their email and also talk. I had not seen bean bag chairs since I left college, but they were all over the place. And in use as people relaxed and listened.

I was sent a software tool prior to the meeting to help me connect with people who had similar interest to mine. I discovered most people did not use the tool. As the days progressed I became more focused on my original purpose for attending. I wanted to learn how people gathered at meetings, and how I could determine their interest in what we are working on here in New Mexico. The interesting conversations became frequent, one more exciting than the next, yet, where were they leading? Like this article you may be wondering, where are we going here? Is the feeling of being lost, aimless, uncertain part of the human journey? I avoid it. I like purpose. I am aim to get to space, and others want to go too. They expect to have interesting work to keep them productively occupied, they expect to explore. No lost in space for them or me.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

I am fortunate enough to be asked to speak in public, though I usually feel more fortunate after the talk. If there is a question and answer session after the talk, I feel I could have done better if I had known before hand who was in the audience. Have you ever come up with a perfect retort after the person left the room? It's like that. Is the post-talk Q&A anti-climatic? I wonder as I prepare for my next talk.

Think about the Gettysburg Address. There was no Q & A. Two hundred and seventy two beautifully crafted words delivered by the Ancient One, who was only 54 when he delivered that speech. It is reported, those who were in the audience said they could not hear Lincoln, others said they did not even know he had spoken, his talk was so short. It is the words, and their message that live on. Most don't report Lincoln was a great speaker like, John Kennedy or Winston Churchill. In this age of YouTube and the internet, public speaking skill and skill crafting the right message for the audience is important I am learning.

When I write a talk, I look to others who are more eloquent than I. Lincoln spoke about the opening of a cemetery. That's a tough subject to write a talk for. In 1863, during the depths of despair at being a country at war with itself, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers, were looking for solace. They came to escape for a moment as they looked for hope, for healing, for kindness, for a way out of their individual and collective grief. And so he wrote for them and for himself. He wrote to heal his heart and their souls. Who can know what the human heart will feel? If lucky, a writer knows their own heart, and connects with the audience, heart to heart first.

In my heart I have a message, yes one of hope, one born of struggle. It's a travel story, and if done right people love stories.

It was a long trip starting at 3am in Fairbanks. We landed in Seattle on September 10th at 10am in the morning. The Alaskan cruise liners dump thousands of tourists at the Seattle airport daily. Over a thousand people were on the security line at the Southwest Airlines terminal. I got all the exercise I needed finding the end of the line. But I got home. The next day was Tuesday, September 11. Many of my colleagues did not get home for days.

We all have travel stories. Humans have traveled across the globe since we started walking upright. It is part of our evolutionary journey. It is one of the things we all have in common. We travel to be with each other, to learn, to explore and to relocate. When we travel we go in groups and we always bring and buy stuff. It may be gifts, food, clothing, cars or houses. While researching human transportation I discovered interesting relationships.

Humans have evolved only 5 major transportation industries in the 3.3 million years we have been on earth; ground, sea, rail, air and space. Space transportation is the last of the major transportation industries to evolve. Humans own over 1 billion cars, took 19 million cruises and flew over 32 million trips on 1,000 airlines last year. Over 29 million passengers traveled by rail last year. Know how many humans have been to space in the last fifty one years? 517.

Humans are not in the transaction loop in the space transportation industry yet. The transaction between supplier and consumer does not exist yet. That will change first in New Mexico. The first spaceline transporting humans will be operated thirty miles from here. When humans are involved in the space transportation they will create demand. They will bring others, they will explore, they will create demand for services. We humans always do. I have a message to deliver; we have a human transportation industry growing in New Mexico. Humans travel, it is what we do. Space travel for humans. New Mexico First.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

NASA has some of the most extraordinary people working with them. It is a magnet for great scientific minds, exemplary program managers, and even economists have an important role to play in the agency. I met a young economist who works with NASA at Ames Research Center. In less than one minute he explained his position. For the next ten years at least, the government will be a prime investor in the commercial space industry. NASA will continue to have a presence of importance. His research has led him to believe, given the long term prognosis for investment in space infrastructure, launch vehicles and workforce development; the government will be involved as a prime in the development of the space transportation industry. He made a clear concise case. I asked him to give a three minute talk at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) in October.

In 2005, New Mexico held the first XPRIZE Cup here in Las Cruces. We competed for and won this challenge, sponsored by the XPRIZE Foundation. New Mexicans convinced the XPRIZE Foundation the story of leadership in space convinced them we can do it again. Not one shovel had yet been turned at Spaceport America. It was also the first year I held ISPCS. Over 200 people attended, we held it at Corbett Center on the NMSU Campus. I knew the first year we were going to need a bigger building.

As the conference grew, a dialog emerged that had been hidden for many years. It was heresy but some in the space industry felt the Shuttle was too expensive to maintain, the promise of low cost access to space was not realized, and maybe the role of government in space should end. In 2005, the young entrepreneurs at my conference were considered too inexperienced by the elders. Yet, they persisted.

They improved, they gained the confidence of their peer reviewers. They made their case for investment, not just with words, but with successful launches and improved technologies. The government began to invest as partners in these new companies. Now, our country is relying on them to safely and reliably bring humans and cargo to space, including the International Space Station. Building a transportation industry is a big undertaking, and it is growing here in New Mexico.

New Mexico Space Grant, in partnership with many schools was launching rockets in the early 1990s. We began launching high powered model rockets at White Sands Missile Range in 1995. Model rockets were the start, then with the support of Admiral Paul Arthur at WSMR, we began building and safely launching high powered model rockets. Keep in mind, our community has been launching rockets to space since 1946. We are not amateurs in the space business in New Mexico.

Many employees dedicated their off Fridays to support us. It was a labor of love for sure. The point of that program was to teach teachers and student - yes you can build rockets and experiments. We can launch them in three days, download data and present it all within a one week Summer Institute. The success stories were many. We and they learned together and went well beyond what we all thought was possible. We never were alone. Our colleagues at White Sands Missile Range and NASA White Sands Test Facility were always by our side. They know this business.

Now, instead of launching experiments maybe five miles we launch them 73 miles. The difference between what we did with amateur rockets and the rocket we use now is night and day. We are doing extraordinary things here in New Mexico. I met the founder of AutoDesk. He told me about their software that will help me explain in 3D how we design experiments and fit them into the rocket. Download it at usa.autodesk.com. I hope it will help me become a better communicator and tell our story.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

Why do I care about another grocery store coming to town? And why is the media and everyone talking about the "Experience" of grocery shopping? The last time the media covered grocery shopping was when it encouraged men to hit the produce section to see what might develop over the bananas. Today for working Americans, the reality of grocery shopping is get in, get out and get home. That's the "Experience". Until Pros Ranch came to town.

Grocery shopping in Juarez was an experience. Not because of the bargains, but because it was fun. I have experienced in Juarez as well as in Asia and Europe, grocery shopping as a contact sport. The shopper is part of the team. People who work in the markets draw you into play immediately. Everyone is involved; they are growing, packaging, selling, or transporting food products. Everyone is part of the supply chain. Grandparents tend fish stalls while watching the grandchildren. There is constant activity, and acres of stalls. Each family has their place, their piece of the market place. Block after block of shoes, dresses, crafts, chile, jewelry and plastic. Young, old, rich, poor, male female, even the family dogs are there. There is growth. First we observed this growth at our Farmer's Market. Then, the 'Out of the box' thinkers, the Provenzano family, saw what was and wasn't happening in our region and opened the Pros Ranch market. It's just what we needed, affirmation that smart, professional and opportunistic investment can succeed in Dona Ana County.

The benefits of going against the mainstream are not often discussed until after the success. Operating on the margins requires quick learners. They must focus, grow in increments, build their support systems and constantly look for opportunities. Make mistakes that are small, fix them quickly, and keep moving.

Our economy is recovering at the margins. The mainstream market place is being de-constructed because of its weaknesses. The big banks, the big industries, companies and organizations not able to operate on a smaller scale and take advantage changing consumer conditions will continue to contract.

New Mexico is not California, Texas, New York or Florida. We often operate at the margins. Senators Domenici and Bingaman worked most of their careers to help us capitalize on our strengths. White Sands Missile Range and Los Alamos National Laboratory created world class capability in New Mexico.  

NASA White Sands Test Facility has operated successfully at the margins of the space industry since the Apollo program. They had to be efficient and focused. They prevented problems and what you didn't see is the story of their success.

Now they have another role to play in growing the commercial space industry in our country. They are small, nimble and capable to support our emerging space industry. Our strengths in New Mexico enable us to succeed at operating at the margins, particularly in the space industry. Small contractors, suppliers who are members of the supply chain are critical to the success of the market we are developing here in New Mexico. The spaceport is like an airport because it will operate in the open market. We must have a strong competitive supply chain. Protecting the supply chain and consumers has been a part of our national manufacturing economy for years, and has enabled the automobile industry to recover quickly.

What's this got to do with not going to the moon? Look around at what is not happening. National competitive advantage in the space industry is being ceded to China. The United States is the only country to carry humans to and from the moon. The space industry market place encompasses living and working off earth. China, for national security reasons, cannot send astronauts to the International Space Station. It has launched the Taintong-1 space lab and has publically stated it will ferry individuals to and from the moon by 2020. They are being forced to operate on the margins. Has our country ceded our national competitive advantage to the Chinese? In the short run, we might keep our friends close and our competitors closer. Small, nimble companies and space programs may outlast large government programs in the long run.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

"I'm thankful to all those who said NO to me. It's because of them I did it myself". Albert Einstein said that, and likely you understand this quote like I do. Life can be rewarding, but like most things you get out what you put in. The legislative session has started. Our legislators must hear lots of NOs all day long during the session. Each legislator struggles individually and eventually they must come together and translate what they hear into some cohesive plan that becomes our state budget. Individual effort rarely can accomplish great things, yet accomplishment starts with individual effort. Belief in representative democracy is faith in the power of individual struggle.

We give our representatives the power to create law. Embedded in representative democracy is a belief citizens can govern themselves. At the core of that belief is the assumption citizens will be educated. Becoming educated is a survival skill, not only for the individual but for the survival of our nation.

I taught English at Las Cruces High in 1970, it was part of a post graduate student teaching experience. I met students who were Juniors in high school who could not read.  I went to catholic school. You learned to read. Period.

When I gave my first test, I got some papers back with only a name at the top. I was insulted. "Why did you only put your name at the top", I asked the kid who was sitting on my right in the front row? He said he could not read the test. That's when I got it, physically, I felt like I was on stage at a comedy club with no jokes. I put my papers down, and headed for Mr.Foltz, the Principal's office. I was outraged about kids who could not read and how could he let this happen? Poor man.  Then I began to realize how angry those student must be every day. They were not able to read the phone book, street signs or even paint cans. What would happen if they got really mad? I did not have the knowledge or ability to face down the challenge I met that day. I deeply respect those who take it on each day.

I have not forgotten my NOs, they drive me still. On Friday, I got an email from Gene Kranz's daughter, Jeannie. She wrote about Richard Garriott's new film, "Man on a Mission". Gene Kranz was the Flight Director best known as the Director of the Mission Control team that saved the Apollo 13 crew. It was Mr. Kranz who said "failure is not an option", which is also the title of his book.

Richard made his money in video game development. His father, Owen Garriott was an astronaut. Richard wanted to follow in his father's footsteps until bad eye sight derailed his plans. I spoke to Richard three years ago. He described the struggle, the feeling of frustration not being able to go to space. He felt it was his destiny. In 2008, he paid $30 million and spent two weeks on the International Space Station (ISS). Richard is part of a very exclusive club of second-generation space travelers.

Space Adventures is the company that brokered Richard's trip, it is a company co-founded by Peter Diamandis. Peter came to Las Cruces when the State of New Mexico won the competition to host the XPRIZE Cup in 2005. Peter, has a medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the founder of the XPRIZE. The XPRIZE was won by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Burt Rutan in 2004. It began the era of private-sector manned spaceflight. Burt Rutan and Richard Branson are designing the vehicles that will operate under Virgin Galactic and fly from Spaceport America. SpaceShipOne was the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft .

Peter also wanted to be an astronaut. The NO drove him to create not only the XPRIZE Foundation, but also to co-found the International Space University (ISU), and the Zero G Corporation which flies many New Mexico student experiments. Being left out or being left back is not the end, and can be a beginning.

We held a workshop on Saturday, January 21^st, for teachers. It is in preparation for the 4^th annual Student Launch, which provides annual access to space for student experiments.  Do you know how many teachers and students tell us they never thought they'd have this chance? Lots.  For those who are selected to fly, it will be a big YES.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Does anyone remember the State of New Mexico Alien's "Best Place in the Universe" advertising campaign? It started in 2007. It was the right campaign at the right time, although not everyone agreed. You can still see the videos on youtube.

Secretary of Tourism, Mike Cerletti came to Las Cruces to speak to the Advertising Federation group about the campaign. I discovered then why he was loved and respected. He was smart, opinionated, articulate, and most important for a half hour talk during lunch, he was prepared. Mike died on January 2nd, 2012.

The hook idea of the campaign was to capitalize on the UFO buzz brining tourists to the state and, in particular, to the UFO conference in Roswell. Mike did not like the campaign, nor did he propose it to Governor Richardson. He preferred to promote our cultural tourism destinations because of their pristine beauty. We were beginning to promote Eco-Tourism in the state at the time. Mike thought the UFO campaign was a distraction and not in alignment with our overall image of becoming a leader in green energy, energy conservation and Eco-Tourism. Pristine landscapes, beautiful parks, skiing, fishing, hunting are still among New Mexico's tourism strengths. Yet, keep in mind the context of the times. Richard Branson had also just announced he intended to operate the recently conceived spaceline company, Virgin Galactic from the recently named Spaceport America. Space was a unique niche.

Five years later, we have come a long way quickly. In 2007, there was no great credibility for the Space Tourism industry. In 2007, there was little belief New Mexico would become the leader in commercial space and there was certainly no statewide campaign focused on positioning New Mexico as a space technology leader. Who were we kidding?

That was became the point of the UFO campaign. The research firm who measured the impact of the two different campaign concepts discovered audiences remembered the "Best Place in the Universe" concept more than the Eco-tourism campaign. The Governor chose the aliens campaign, and our float in 2008 Rose Parade won the Grand Marshall's Trophy for creative concept and design. The UFO themed float, "Passport to our World and Beyond", was criticized, yet we had the last laugh. We knew we were kidding ourselves and the world laughed with us. Ever a good sport, Mike was escorted by two of the Alien creatures when he spoke at ISPCS in 2008.

Cerletti was an enthusiastic supporter of New Mexico's four-time participation in the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, Calif., and defended the state's decision to spend $160,000 to participate in the 2010 parade. He recently indicated the reason for his support of the state's participation in the parade, "Our purpose in participating in this event, like all our advertising efforts, is to get noticed and achieve tangible results," Cerletti said at the time.

I understand Governor Martinez's decision not to participate in the parade this year. There are many ways to spend tax payer money, and she is committed to being a good steward of our money. She is considering the consolidation one of the most important components of our state's public image, possibly joining the Departments of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. How do we assure we coordinate dollars spent promoting the culture, the heritage and beauty of our state? It is a tough question to answer.

We are celebrating our state's Centennial right now. People who work together don't always agree. Yet, we continue to look beyond single issue differences and collaborate to work toward bigger goals. The Centennial Parade told the story of our state as a living history lesson. The Amador Hotel Restoration is a great story in the making. This project, like Spaceport America, will take many years to yield the desired end result. Yet, the visionaries have started on the journey and are working to preserve our heritage on both projects.

Tourists who came to New Mexico in 1939 were treated to the first Hilton Hotel constructed by Conrad Hilton. Built with 160 rooms, it was tallest building in New Mexico and it had air conditioning. In 2005, the property was closed for a $30 million dollar renovation. It has re-opened and is now called the Hotel Andaluz. It is fabulous, and a great example of what can happen when legacy properties and visionaries come together. The legacy Mike left was his love for our all the state's properties and his quest to share her gifts. He laughed a lot, enjoyed people and lived strong.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

Their recently announced "Payload Users Guide" is now online at the Virgin Galactic website, it is under the topic "Conducting Research". Last year at the Runway Dedication event, Sir Richard acknowledged their support for our education partnership. Yet, we have been working for many years to get ready for the day we fly with Virgin. It takes a long time to get students and teachers prepared to fly worthwhile experiments into space.

Right now, we are using the UP Aerospace rocket. That is a very different platform than SpaceShipTwo(SSII). Sort of like the difference between a frying pan and a pressure cooker. We will be ready when we are able to use the Virgin system.

Right now, we use the UP Aerospace rocket to successfully get to space from Spaceport America. We have been buying rockets from Up Aerospace for three years now, and I have written about the Student Launch Program before.

Our partnership with NASA for the Student Launch Program has been a blessing indeed. First and foremost, I will not be buying our next rocket for students, NASA will buy this rocket, as we are now part of the NASA Flight Opportunities Program. The rocket will contain more than New Mexico student experiments. There is a plus right there. Our students will interact with students from other schools and universities. I have seen student interaction at both NASA Wallops Flight facility and at Ellington Field in Texas. NASA does a great job of making students the focus of the entire experience. Working at New Mexico State and having the benefit of faculty and NASA partners who know their way around the space industry is helping us get ready for our next launch.

We are going to focus most of our efforts this year on flying experiments to determine the first steps in answering the question, "Can we manufacture crude oil in space from algae?" We will fly multiple student designed experiments to examine questions like; will the algae survive the 16Gs of launch? The rocket spins six times a second, will they survive this dynamic of flight, will it get too hot for them in the desert heat while they wait to launch? We don't know the answer to any of these questions for a lot of reasons. We are going to put algae in different solutions, in different containers, in different locations in the rocket. As we work with the schools to help them solve for known problems that might be preventable, we have talked with our NASA colleagues, as well as consultations with Sapphire energy and colleagues here at NMSU.

During a recent conversation with Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, NASA's Director of the University Research and Partnership Office, I discovered he has just written a book on the research conducted during the one hundred and thirty five launches of the Shuttle Program. He co-authored the book with Wayne Hale, former Shuttle Program Manager, and session chair at the 2011 ISPCS. What a wonderful surprise! I immediately ordered a few of these books, one of course as a resource for our students, and then a copy for our Vice President of Research here at NMSU who introduced me to Dr. Lulla three years ago. I realize what a privilege it is to do this work here in our community. If Ms. Kissel lived in Las Cruces, she'd know, sixty seven student experiments have gone to space, and more will be going every year. What a life.

My father is a veteran of WW II. We were both invited to the White Sands Missile Range Christmas Ball on Friday night, December 9^th. We sat with young men on active duty, some soon to be deployed. All were without their families. They sang the Christmas songs, but soon fell silent. It was easy to see they had a lot on their minds.

I also met Colonel Ferrari, the new WSMR Commander. In a recent Alamogordo Daily News interview, Colonel Ferrari said "WSMR's workforce, most of whom live in Las Cruces, has earned wide acclaim and respect for the quality of work it has done since White Sands opened as a military weapons test and evaluation range on Jan. 9, 1945. Soldiers and civilian employees at WSMR have continued to turn conceptual ideas into reality, and Ferrari wants to be able to continue the initiative of taking a good thing and making it better".

In this time where many people are still struggling with unemployment and we have a tent city within our city limits, I feel it is important to go back in time to remember what about us is still great. Colonel Ferrari said it well, our workforce can take good ideas and make them more useful, and hopefully continue to build our belief that one person, one group, one well run test can lead us away from a belief that maybe we are nation whose better days are behind us.

The Norden bombsight was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the US Military during World War II.  Invented by Carl Norden, it was a mechanical analog computer made up of gyros, motors, gears, mirrors, levers and a telescope.  Mathematically it determines the exact moment bombs had to be dropped to hit the target accurately. On later versions of the B-17G, the Norden bombsight would actually fly the plane through the bomb run while coupled to the airplanes controls.  The official Norden website is http://www.squadron13.com/B17/Norden.htm.

We evolved a technology, a computer of sorts that would fly a plane in the 1940s. The Norden was used to navigate and control bomb release. This was among the other analog computers that were used at the time to help predict the tides for the D-Day landing, and also help with guidance and navigation for submarines. The analog computers did the work of mathematical calculations faster than humans and were less prone to error. Analog computers were used in the space program after the war, helped us in the early days of the satellite industry, and of course, were enabling technologies for the evolution of digital computing.

Winning the war was an all consuming task for our country. After the war, the training in wartime technologies for hundreds of thousands of men and women plus the GI Bill helped our country move into the economic boom of the fifties.  The benefits of getting our ingenuity into the hands of thousands of soldiers paid off in the fifties and it will again. The all volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp and Merchant Marines are the front line warriors not only in winning the war on terror, but also potentially could help us win the battle for a strong economic future.  

Analog computers do not run programs. The digital code evolved in programming languages created by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, created the capability for complex programs to run multiple machines that led to the personal computer revolution.  Allen and Gates both felt powerful computers for home and business use would transform society. They were right. Paul Allen, always fascinated by space, backed Burt Rutan's project that built the first private vehicles that went to space and won the XPRIZE.  It was during those early years that Paul Allen met Richard Branson and realized Branson had a transformative vision.  The first vehicle to go to space flew from White Sands Proving Grounds. Let's look for more partnerships for innovation in the future from WSMR.

My father is a veteran of WW II. We were both invited to the White Sands Missile Range Christmas Ball on Friday night, December 9^th. We sat with young men on active duty, some soon to be deployed. All were without their families. They sang the Christmas songs, but soon fell silent. It was easy to see they had a lot on their minds.

I also met Colonel Ferrari, the new WSMR Commander. In a recent Alamogordo Daily News interview, Colonel Ferrari said "WSMR's workforce, most of whom live in Las Cruces, has earned wide acclaim and respect for the quality of work it has done since White Sands opened as a military weapons test and evaluation range on Jan. 9, 1945. Soldiers and civilian employees at WSMR have continued to turn conceptual ideas into reality, and Ferrari wants to be able to continue the initiative of taking a good thing and making it better".

In this time where many people are still struggling with unemployment and we have a tent city within our city limits, I feel it is important to go back in time to remember what about us is still great. Colonel Ferrari said it well, our workforce can take good ideas and make them more useful, and hopefully continue to build our belief that one person, one group, one well run test can lead us away from a belief that maybe we are nation whose better days are behind us.

The Norden bombsight was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the US Military during World War II.  Invented by Carl Norden, it was a mechanical analog computer made up of gyros, motors, gears, mirrors, levers and a telescope.  Mathematically it determines the exact moment bombs had to be dropped to hit the target accurately. On later versions of the B-17G, the Norden bombsight would actually fly the plane through the bomb run while coupled to the airplanes controls.  The official Norden website is http://www.squadron13.com/B17/Norden.htm.

We evolved a technology, a computer of sorts that would fly a plane in the 1940s. The Norden was used to navigate and control bomb release. This was among the other analog computers that were used at the time to help predict the tides for the D-Day landing, and also help with guidance and navigation for submarines. The analog computers did the work of mathematical calculations faster than humans and were less prone to error. Analog computers were used in the space program after the war, helped us in the early days of the satellite industry, and of course, were enabling technologies for the evolution of digital computing.

Winning the war was an all consuming task for our country. After the war, the training in wartime technologies for hundreds of thousands of men and women plus the GI Bill helped our country move into the economic boom of the fifties.  The benefits of getting our ingenuity into the hands of thousands of soldiers paid off in the fifties and it will again. The all volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp and Merchant Marines are the front line warriors not only in winning the war on terror, but also potentially could help us win the battle for a strong economic future.  

Analog computers do not run programs. The digital code evolved in programming languages created by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, created the capability for complex programs to run multiple machines that led to the personal computer revolution.  Allen and Gates both felt powerful computers for home and business use would transform society. They were right. Paul Allen, always fascinated by space, backed Burt Rutan's project that built the first private vehicles that went to space and won the XPRIZE.  It was during those early years that Paul Allen met Richard Branson and realized Branson had a transformative vision.  The first vehicle to go to space flew from White Sands Proving Grounds. Let's look for more partnerships for innovation in the future from WSMR.

My father is a veteran of WW II. We were both invited to the White Sands Missile Range Christmas Ball on Friday night, December 9^th. We sat with young men on active duty, some soon to be deployed. All were without their families. They sang the Christmas songs, but soon fell silent. It was easy to see they had a lot on their minds.

I also met Colonel Ferrari, the new WSMR Commander. In a recent Alamogordo Daily News interview, Colonel Ferrari said "WSMR's workforce, most of whom live in Las Cruces, has earned wide acclaim and respect for the quality of work it has done since White Sands opened as a military weapons test and evaluation range on Jan. 9, 1945. Soldiers and civilian employees at WSMR have continued to turn conceptual ideas into reality, and Ferrari wants to be able to continue the initiative of taking a good thing and making it better".

In this time where many people are still struggling with unemployment and we have a tent city within our city limits, I feel it is important to go back in time to remember what about us is still great. Colonel Ferrari said it well, our workforce can take good ideas and make them more useful, and hopefully continue to build our belief that one person, one group, one well run test can lead us away from a belief that maybe we are nation whose better days are behind us.

The Norden bombsight was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the US Military during World War II.  Invented by Carl Norden, it was a mechanical analog computer made up of gyros, motors, gears, mirrors, levers and a telescope.  Mathematically it determines the exact moment bombs had to be dropped to hit the target accurately. On later versions of the B-17G, the Norden bombsight would actually fly the plane through the bomb run while coupled to the airplanes controls.  The official Norden website is http://www.squadron13.com/B17/Norden.htm.

We evolved a technology, a computer of sorts that would fly a plane in the 1940s. The Norden was used to navigate and control bomb release. This was among the other analog computers that were used at the time to help predict the tides for the D-Day landing, and also help with guidance and navigation for submarines. The analog computers did the work of mathematical calculations faster than humans and were less prone to error. Analog computers were used in the space program after the war, helped us in the early days of the satellite industry, and of course, were enabling technologies for the evolution of digital computing.

Winning the war was an all consuming task for our country. After the war, the training in wartime technologies for hundreds of thousands of men and women plus the GI Bill helped our country move into the economic boom of the fifties.  The benefits of getting our ingenuity into the hands of thousands of soldiers paid off in the fifties and it will again. The all volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp and Merchant Marines are the front line warriors not only in winning the war on terror, but also potentially could help us win the battle for a strong economic future.  

Analog computers do not run programs. The digital code evolved in programming languages created by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, created the capability for complex programs to run multiple machines that led to the personal computer revolution.  Allen and Gates both felt powerful computers for home and business use would transform society. They were right. Paul Allen, always fascinated by space, backed Burt Rutan's project that built the first private vehicles that went to space and won the XPRIZE.  It was during those early years that Paul Allen met Richard Branson and realized Branson had a transformative vision.  The first vehicle to go to space flew from White Sands Proving Grounds. Let's look for more partnerships for innovation in the future from WSMR.

My father is a veteran of WW II. We were both invited to the White Sands Missile Range Christmas Ball on Friday night, December 9^th. We sat with young men on active duty, some soon to be deployed. All were without their families. They sang the Christmas songs, but soon fell silent. It was easy to see they had a lot on their minds.

I also met Colonel Ferrari, the new WSMR Commander. In a recent Alamogordo Daily News interview, Colonel Ferrari said "WSMR's workforce, most of whom live in Las Cruces, has earned wide acclaim and respect for the quality of work it has done since White Sands opened as a military weapons test and evaluation range on Jan. 9, 1945. Soldiers and civilian employees at WSMR have continued to turn conceptual ideas into reality, and Ferrari wants to be able to continue the initiative of taking a good thing and making it better".

In this time where many people are still struggling with unemployment and we have a tent city within our city limits, I feel it is important to go back in time to remember what about us is still great. Colonel Ferrari said it well, our workforce can take good ideas and make them more useful, and hopefully continue to build our belief that one person, one group, one well run test can lead us away from a belief that maybe we are nation whose better days are behind us.

The Norden bombsight was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the US Military during World War II.  Invented by Carl Norden, it was a mechanical analog computer made up of gyros, motors, gears, mirrors, levers and a telescope.  Mathematically it determines the exact moment bombs had to be dropped to hit the target accurately. On later versions of the B-17G, the Norden bombsight would actually fly the plane through the bomb run while coupled to the airplanes controls.  The official Norden website is http://www.squadron13.com/B17/Norden.htm.

We evolved a technology, a computer of sorts that would fly a plane in the 1940s. The Norden was used to navigate and control bomb release. This was among the other analog computers that were used at the time to help predict the tides for the D-Day landing, and also help with guidance and navigation for submarines. The analog computers did the work of mathematical calculations faster than humans and were less prone to error. Analog computers were used in the space program after the war, helped us in the early days of the satellite industry, and of course, were enabling technologies for the evolution of digital computing.

Winning the war was an all consuming task for our country. After the war, the training in wartime technologies for hundreds of thousands of men and women plus the GI Bill helped our country move into the economic boom of the fifties.  The benefits of getting our ingenuity into the hands of thousands of soldiers paid off in the fifties and it will again. The all volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp and Merchant Marines are the front line warriors not only in winning the war on terror, but also potentially could help us win the battle for a strong economic future.  

Analog computers do not run programs. The digital code evolved in programming languages created by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, created the capability for complex programs to run multiple machines that led to the personal computer revolution.  Allen and Gates both felt powerful computers for home and business use would transform society. They were right. Paul Allen, always fascinated by space, backed Burt Rutan's project that built the first private vehicles that went to space and won the XPRIZE.  It was during those early years that Paul Allen met Richard Branson and realized Branson had a transformative vision.  The first vehicle to go to space flew from White Sands Proving Grounds. Let's look for more partnerships for innovation in the future from WSMR.

My father is a veteran of WW II. We were both invited to the White Sands Missile Range Christmas Ball on Friday night, December 9^th. We sat with young men on active duty, some soon to be deployed. All were without their families. They sang the Christmas songs, but soon fell silent. It was easy to see they had a lot on their minds.

I also met Colonel Ferrari, the new WSMR Commander. In a recent Alamogordo Daily News interview, Colonel Ferrari said "WSMR's workforce, most of whom live in Las Cruces, has earned wide acclaim and respect for the quality of work it has done since White Sands opened as a military weapons test and evaluation range on Jan. 9, 1945. Soldiers and civilian employees at WSMR have continued to turn conceptual ideas into reality, and Ferrari wants to be able to continue the initiative of taking a good thing and making it better".

In this time where many people are still struggling with unemployment and we have a tent city within our city limits, I feel it is important to go back in time to remember what about us is still great. Colonel Ferrari said it well, our workforce can take good ideas and make them more useful, and hopefully continue to build our belief that one person, one group, one well run test can lead us away from a belief that maybe we are nation whose better days are behind us.

The Norden bombsight was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the US Military during World War II.  Invented by Carl Norden, it was a mechanical analog computer made up of gyros, motors, gears, mirrors, levers and a telescope.  Mathematically it determines the exact moment bombs had to be dropped to hit the target accurately. On later versions of the B-17G, the Norden bombsight would actually fly the plane through the bomb run while coupled to the airplanes controls.  The official Norden website is http://www.squadron13.com/B17/Norden.htm.

We evolved a technology, a computer of sorts that would fly a plane in the 1940s. The Norden was used to navigate and control bomb release. This was among the other analog computers that were used at the time to help predict the tides for the D-Day landing, and also help with guidance and navigation for submarines. The analog computers did the work of mathematical calculations faster than humans and were less prone to error. Analog computers were used in the space program after the war, helped us in the early days of the satellite industry, and of course, were enabling technologies for the evolution of digital computing.

Winning the war was an all consuming task for our country. After the war, the training in wartime technologies for hundreds of thousands of men and women plus the GI Bill helped our country move into the economic boom of the fifties.  The benefits of getting our ingenuity into the hands of thousands of soldiers paid off in the fifties and it will again. The all volunteer Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp and Merchant Marines are the front line warriors not only in winning the war on terror, but also potentially could help us win the battle for a strong economic future.  

Analog computers do not run programs. The digital code evolved in programming languages created by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, created the capability for complex programs to run multiple machines that led to the personal computer revolution.  Allen and Gates both felt powerful computers for home and business use would transform society. They were right. Paul Allen, always fascinated by space, backed Burt Rutan's project that built the first private vehicles that went to space and won the XPRIZE.  It was during those early years that Paul Allen met Richard Branson and realized Branson had a transformative vision.  The first vehicle to go to space flew from White Sands Proving Grounds. Let's look for more partnerships for innovation in the future from WSMR.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

As a gardener, I decided I would visit my friend Max Bleiweiss, a geophysicist, and get more information on La Nina. He works at NMSU, and is the founder of the CARSAME Center.  The Center is a remote sensing research resource for our region. Remote sensing is a scientific term to describe the process of using instruments to measure things like temperature from a distance. Max's and his son Mark own the M. Phillips's Gallery on the downtown mall. Combining a visit to the Farmer's Market on a blustery Saturday, with a stop at the Gallery - there are cookies, and getting the low down on weather prediction for this article was a win-win-win.

Max and I met in 1998 when he was working to develop more capability at NMSU to enable farmers, ranchers, city and county planners, and resource managers in the state to use satellite data to help increase efficiency in farming, ranching and planning. For example, Max was helping people use satellite data to make more informed decisions on causes and effects of dust storms in our area. Once people saw most of the dust storms that hit Deming and I-25 in the Spring originate in the Sonoran desert in Mexico, it became more strategic to work with Mexican farmers to work the problem together. He came to me because of my work with NASA and because of my job with the New Mexico Space Grant. NASA was involved in developing and operating the Earth Observing System (EOS). We started funding classes, students, and writing grants to bring more research capacity to NMSU in this area.

When I spoke with Max about the current La Niña I asked him for his best advice on following the La Niña. He suggested the best way to stay on top of the development of different weather patterns is to go to the NOAA website on La Niña http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina.html. According to the website, La Niña is characterized by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Ok, back to weather prediction. Frankly, I'd like to know if I need to get my reservation in early with my gardener. Last year after the freeze, getting him to come over was harder than getting a plumber on Sunday. Max explained, scientists don't understand the cause-and-effect relationships among Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere well enough to predict what, if any, impacts these rapid changes will have on future climate conditions. Scientists need to make many measurements all over the world, over a long period of time, in order to assemble the information needed to construct accurate computer models that will enable them to forecast the causes and effects of weather. The only feasible way to collect this information is through the use of space-based Earth observing satellites.

I figured it was a long shot. Since Max and I first met, the government has consolidated a great deal of its weather prediction resources and as the NOAA site will indicate, into The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  The field of weather prediction is evolving. Developing the sensors is a big part of the effort and it has taken many years. Correlating data from across the globe, coming from sensors of different types that measure different weather patterns is a large problem. Rats.  Max suggested if you would like a good conversation about this, David DuBois at New Mexico State will be a good person to talk to. I hope you enjoy the weather, and get prepared.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

While at SNC we toured the plant, viewed the test hardware for the Dream Chaser and flew the Dream Chaser simulator.  The HL 20 design has its origins in the BOR-4 Russian space plane. The BOR-4 was reverse engineered by NASA/Langley in the 1980's and named the HL 20. The HL 20 is now being adapted by SNC into the Dream Chaser using the original Rockwell structural design concept.  The Dream Chaser is a manned orbital space plane and one of two efforts by private industry to launch cargo and crew to the Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Development program (CCDev) program. You can read about Sierra Nevada Corporation's progress on the Dream Chaser at http://www.spacedev.com/space_exploration.php

The Russian space plane called the BOR-4 was designed because the Russians feared the U.S. intended to use the Shuttle for military purposes including delivery of nuclear weapons. As a response to this threat, the Russians began work on a program to possibly intercept the Shuttle.  Note that the BOR-4 should not be confused with the perhaps better known Buran, a near copy of the US Space Shuttle orbiter.  The Buran flew only once and it remained the only full sized space shuttle to ever perform an unmanned flight in fully automatic mode. You can watch a video of a Russian flight test of the BOR-4 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdlaBLomTZ4  The BOR-4 flew 4 times, twice in the Indian Ocean where it was filmed in this video. Decide for yourself where this footage came from.

I was in Colorado for the first technical meeting of the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. You may remember, New Mexico State University won the national competition for this Center in August of 2010. As the Administrative Lead, I have the privilege of knowing many of the brilliant designers of space systems, but also have the opportunity to send NMSU students to learn about these companies and present at meeting such as this.

After I visited the Sierra Nevada plant, and met with one of my students who now works at SNC, I went to the University of Colorado Bioastronautics Laboratory in Boulder. The university has a model of the HL 20 built by students from North Carolina State University. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReniUfN9GFY.

A cooperative agreement between NASA, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T University led to the construction of a full-scale model of the HL-20 PLS for further human factors research, following Rockwell's original structural design. Students at the universities, with requirements furnished by NASA Langley Research Center's, and with guidance from university instructors, designed the research model during their spring 1990 semester with construction following during the summer. The research model was eventually moved to UC Boulder where students continue to work on this project in collaboration with SNC.

The role of students in the space program is a long one. As we build our education programs in the aerospace engineering programs at universities in New Mexico, we will have companies looking to the research capabilities in our universities. Sierra Nevada is using UC Boulder students and faculty to help them gain a competitive advantage.  Through my NASA work with the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, I will soon be entering into a Space Act Agreement with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. This agreement will enable us to partner with NASA on research flights from Spaceport America. We have a partner in this Student Launch Program.  This is another first for New Mexico. We have a lot to be grateful for as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday.

Colorado has just announced they will be building a spaceport. They like New Mexico, realize there is a great deal of opportunity emerging from test and development programs as we evolve the next generation of space transportation vehicles. Colorado has the second largest space economy in the nation. They are now positioning themselves to surpass Florida as they evolve vehicle testing with the Dream Chaser program.

I can only hope New Mexico continues to take advantage of the asset we have in Spaceport America. Efforts to involve students and research universities in the space industry have benefits to local economies that can only be known if we talk about them.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Here is a great accomplishment; Montana State University, Auburn Utah State and Michigan State launched Cube-Sat satellites on Friday October 28^th at 5:30am MDT. You can watch the launch at http://www.cubesat.org/. The satellites are launched in the same launcher, called a P-POD  (Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer). The Cube-Sats are 10x10x10cm in size. If you go to the website and watch the video, you can see the deployment of the satellites. They were launched on a Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California.

In 1998, Bob Twiggs, a professor at Stanford University, began a program to provide students affordable platforms for designing and deploying satellites from rockets as "hitchhiker" payloads. The military uses this platform today as do many countries.

When we met for the workshop in LaJoya thirteen years ago, Bob explained how the Cube-Sat could help students design research experiments and launch them as groups of small satellites. These small satellites could act as a constellation of satellites and eventually fly in tandem to replace some of the larger satellites being retired.

Now, literally hundreds of Cube-Sats are in orbit, investigating earthquake modeling, space weather phenomenon, demonstrating technologies for more complex and larger satellites. Professor Twiggs turned most of the intellectual property over to students to enable them to build a business, which they have done. Jordi Puig-Suari, became the faculty advisor for this part of the enterprise, and he spoke here in 2009 at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight.

The Director of the Montana Space Grant Program wrote today, Saturday October 29^th, to tell us that several HAM radio operators in the UK, France, and the Netherlands have heard the beacon loud and clear on their satellite. Over 125 students in Montana worked on the project.

You can build your own Cube-Sat if you want, go to http://www.cubesatkit.com/. In my work as Director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we are supporting two teams in New Mexico to build Cube-Sats. One team is partnering with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the team at New Mexico State is just getting started, they too are being helped by AFRL. This is the direction of the space industry, smaller is better, faster, cheaper and more accessible.

Getting to orbit for students is a big deal. Six satellites in orbit for one NASA student program is unusual - some countries have not accomplished this yet.

Those of you who follow the work we do with student experiments here in New Mexico know, when we sent 27 experiments to space last May that was a mighty big deal. Yet, getting 6 satellites into orbit, it's a bigger deal indeed. I was so proud of NASA for supporting this work, helping us get the launch vehicle, getting all the help to integrate all the experiments and get them turned on and working. What a wonderful way to begin the start of the Thanksgiving season.

So imagine my surprise when I saw emails this morning about the NASA Education Program not recognizing the accomplishments of the Space Grant program. In less than 24 hours, from orbit to the dumps. Now I realize, again, we work on difficult problems and projects because we want to. If we worked because we wanted recognition we'd probably never get anything done.

I wrote my colleagues, and copied the NASA Associate Administrator for Education, suggested we all figure out how to get a win win here. How do we recognize each other's good works? How much more work is it to acknowledge each other? Or ask the question another way, have you ever tried to ignore someone's superior work? It takes effort.

So, I suggest when you can, recognize accomplishments. Congratulations to all the people who made the NMSU Homecoming great this year. Thank you Las Cruces for supporting the Honor Flights for veterans. Congratulations to KRWG on the Fall Fundraising Campaign, and great work on Cinco de Pink. All the NASA White Sands Test Facility folks and WSMR people who help us succeed in our space program, you are the best. That was not hard at all.

We are planning the next launch campaign and we have new partners with NASA's Flight Opportunities Office. I'll keep you posted.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

Together with my organization, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, we have created the Virgin Galactic Challenges, there are two. Manufacture fuel in space from algae, and create an efficient way to carry cargo and experiments. Currently it costs $10,000 to send one pound of cargo to space. A gallon of fuel weighs 5 pounds. New Mexico State University has world class research programs on biofuel manufacturing. Sapphire Energy, a commercial facility doing research, manufacturing and refining of biofuels, both are supporting this program.

A good deal of the work I do with students regarding designing experiments they fly to space is to help them become familiar with the environment they will be working in. Tough to do since they can't go to space. Right now, no one can go to space from a launch site in the United States. We are going to fix that with some of the applied research being done at the spaceport. That is part of the reason NASA is investing in Virgin and UP Aerospace flights from the spaceport. But I digress.

Since the students and their teachers can't actually go to space, we have to re-create or simulate the environment. How do we do that? Mathematically usually. Let's consider a similar problem, you want to figure out the mileage your car gets. You don't have to take your car out for a spin to determine the capacity of your tank. Divide the number of miles you can travel on a full tank of gas by the capacity of your tank and you know your miles per gallon. Student and teachers will become familiar with the environment of space through examination first of the performance characteristics of the Up Aerospace rocket. How fast does the rocket go, what altitude does it reach, how long does it take to get to space, how high does it go, what are the temperature fluctuations our experiments will have to tolerate? Those are the kind of variables students and teachers will get familiar with before they can design an experiment to meet the challenge of growing algae in space.

Gaining familiarity is part of any education process. Last time I wrote about the snake in my house. I am familiar with snakes. Not familiar enough to tell it was a Bull snake in the dark, and familiar enough to know it was slow reacting because it was on cold tile. In science as in life, there is a great deal of difference between familiarity and mastery. Familiarity is the pathway to mastery. The environment of space requires mastery. Building mastery requires practice.

In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell explains the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. In order to gain mastery he suggests violinists, scientists, computer programmers, surgeons or journalists gain mastery in the crucible of practice.

All start the journey to mastery with familiarity. We will start with helping students and teachers understand basics, not only about the rocket but also about algae. What do we have to do to keep the algae alive on their journey? How will we know if algae we fly reproduce differently from algae we grow on the ground? Sapphire Energy and New Mexico State University are helping us with the preliminary steps to help students and teachers answer those questions for themselves. Each team will design their own experiments. We have mentors from NASA helping us, people from the same office that are contracting with UP Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, the Flight Opportunities office. They are tasked with developing technologies to help NASA's achieve its missions.

My goal today and with the column, is to hope we continue to make our city, county and state leaders as well as our citizens, more familiar with the pathway to the payoff. It starts with familiarity. Try and remember the first time you rode a bike, your first time at the wheel of a car. Mastery takes time but it is worth the work. Know, mastery takes 10,000 hours of practice. We are gaining on it because we have started to practice.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

I remember the first time I read this report and did not see anything on spaceports. There were spaceports across the globe, but the space industry was not quite ready to acknowledge the growing trend toward commercial launch sites.  I called the company doing the research for the 2008 book.  By then I had been doing the space conference here for three years, and I had many of the spaceport directors here as speakers.  I suggested they consider investigating the spaceports more thoroughly. The coverage of the spaceports is now robust. The publishers realized people in the industry are interested in our business, and they also realized they will buy the report.  It isn't cheap.

For two years now, Spaceport America has gotten great coverage, and they even mentioned the Runway Dedication we did here in October of 2010.  Another milestone that occurred in 2010, Kennedy Space Complex, which received $1.9 billion to re-furbish the launch site given the end of the Shuttle Program, will consider renting launch sites to commercial companies. I believe Florida knows New Mexico's launch site is a possible competitor. Good. We need competition in this industry. The space industry is mature enough to handle competition. It will create jobs. People working in the space sector of our economy, make twice what people in other sectors of the economy make.

I also wanted to tell you about a couple of cool things I learned about reading the report. I promised myself I would read it cover to cover so I could understand what is going on outside our wonderful community. It's only one hundred and fifty pages long, so that's just a month's evening reading.

First, the Space Foundation has compiled a Space Index and compares the companies in the index to the Standard and Poors 500, and the NASDAQ Composite.  The companies in the space index grew from 10 to 43%.  The flow of capital into the industry increased, indicating investors are interested in the space industry. The Space Index outpaced the S&P 500 and NASDAQ starting in March 09 through to December 2010. Generally, as the economy slowly recovered starting in the first quarter of 2009, the space industry recovered more quickly and has continued to outpace other sectors of the economy.

I think it's great that I can rent a GPS unit when I rent a car.  Granted the maps need constant updating since our highway systems seems to be going through constant improvements. That's ok, seriously, roads are safer across the country these days. Cruise lines are now able to offer tourists maps of the cities in ports of call, updated daily via satellite. One of my favorites is clothing developed by the Japanese Space Agency. The fabric absorbs moisture and odors. Some of this clothing was sent down to the 31 miners trapped in Chile.  NASA even provided a supplement to the miners on their ascent that has proven useful in preventing nausea.

There is an online video auto racing game being developed by a company called iOpener. The game allow you to follow an actual auto race then the game uses actual tracking data to enable players to test their driving skills against the real race drivers.  I think this one is bound for glory.  Finally, my personal favorite was developed by Farouk Systems. It is a hair styling flat iron.  The flat iron contains a composite nanoceramic material developed by NASA for fighting cancer.  Researchers realized that at low temperatures, this material  emitted ions that help smooth and soften hair.  God bless NASA.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

While preparing for the Sugerman Forum, John Hummer and I discussed Spaceport America could possibly do for Las Cruces, what Werner Von Braun and the space industry did for Huntsville Alabama. John discussed the book the Rise of the Creative Class. It examines the potential for communities to focus on their arts, culture and public education programs as they recruit interesting and dynamic individuals who will contribute to the overall excellence of a community. Community arts and cultural programs are essential for people who are educated, and want to enjoy a full community life, while raising their children. The recent census data indicate over half of Las Crucens have attended higher education. When Von Braun left New Mexico for Huntsville, he said the commitment by the community leaders to increase investment in the arts including the creation of a symphony, and to increase funding for public education contributed to his decision to move to Huntsville.

When we met, Christine first asked about New Mexico State University. Her office overlooks the campus. While I arrived with a load of information about our upcoming launch, the FAA Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation, and a host of other topics, she was most interested in the students. In fact, she told me I should write about the students I was discussing with her. I had just returned from a speaking engagement at the University of Central Florida where I mentioned I met one of my former students, Omar Mireles.

Omar is from El Paso. He now works for NASA in Huntsville Alabama at Marshall Spaceflight Center. When Omar was a student he was on a mission. He had a dream, he wanted to work for NASA and become an astronaut. He and another student of mine, Mike Schoenfeld , were determined to become members of the astronaut corp. I recruited Mike from New Mexico Military Institute. He too was driven by his ambition, his dream to be in the space program. Mike works for NASA now.

Both Omar and Mike became friends through a research program we were just starting in collaboration with NASA. Students design an experiment to fly on the KC 135 plane. The program, now called the Student Microgravity Program, allows students to submit a proposal to design an experiment that will use the unique environment of semi-weightlessness.

Omar and Mike eventually formed a club at New Mexico State University called The Flying Aggies. It still exists today. This club helps bring students into the teams that build and fly experiments on the NASA Zero G plane. This is the plane Ron Howard used to film to weightless scenes in Apollo 13. We have been flying experiments annually since 1999. Space Grant has funded approximately 150 students across New Mexico to fly, we have been preparing a long time for Spaceport America.

Ok, back to the guys wanting to get into the astronaut corp. In 2000, a number of astronauts were going to be in Albuquerque. Mike, Omar and three other students wanted to meet them. I said I'd drive. As usual, the astronauts were great. They told the students, get excellent grades, take on difficult challenging hobbies like flying, sky diving, scuba diving, sports where individual strength and constant danger became part of their lives. Oh brother. Omar has been skydiving ever since.

Another member of the Flying Aggies was Aaron Paz. Aaron was on one flight with Omar. While in Dallas on my way to Florida, I got a tap on the shoulder, it was Aaron. He was on his way to Johnson Space Center, he too now works for NASA. I have a photograph in my office from a campaign where Aaron and Omar flew. Bob Martin, a journalist from Albuquerque, flew on four of the Flying Aggie campaigns. Bob will be webcasting our Student Launch on KRQE TV. He was in the office this week, also met with Chris and we both agreed, she's going to be just the right person to lead this project into the future.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

So back to seventh grade, I loved science. I drew a car that could navigate to its destination. I drew another car that could fly, and that was pre-Jetson's- lots of people did that. But I never considered any of this worthy of discussion. I was a girl in the late fifties, we did not talk about science. It was frustrating. And I am sure it explains my passion to provide access to space for all students. The sciences and engineering skills necessary to build experiments to go to space encompass so many different academic subjects, it's just right for someone with curiosity.

I am now less frustrated, and more purposeful. I want students to get the chance to learn about space science now that we have Spaceport America. Here we have opportunity; we can send middle school experiments to space. And that's just what will happen on April 1, 2011. The date is not lost on me. Every experiment we fly will work. There will be no foolish experiments flying just because it's middle school.

I made that promise to myself and all the people who are working on this project with us. We will only fly experiments that will give students and teachers information, or in the science and engineering world- the all important DATA. We are going to learn.

I will focus on one experiment, although twenty two experiments will fly. Students from Central Elementary School in Artesia want to learn about Earnshaw's Theorum. Without going overboard here, think about playing with magnets. Put four magnets in the shape of a square, a fifth magnet in the middle and start moving the middle magnet. The theorem predicts the magnetic behavior on earth will be different possibly than behavior during launch and re-entry. The students will use a type of magnetic material, pyrolytic graphite, and want to see if microgravity changes the behavior of the magnets and graphite. The students will film the behavior and measure it against their predictions.

My organization, through funding from NASA, is paying for the cost of the launch. We also trained the teachers this summer, and we are buying the materials for all school experiments. You can go to our website, www.launchnm.com to look at the entire list of experiments from schools across New Mexico, El Paso, and Tucson, Arizona.

Let's talk a minute about the cameras. They must film at a very fast rate, in low and uneven light conditions during the twenty five Gs of launch, and microgravity of descent. Descent can take up to fifteen minutes, during which time the experiments will experience microgravity, that floating you see astronauts do in space. It is during this period, students also want to see how the graphite behaves.

We encountered a problem with the camera batteries. It was determined, the battery life may not be long enough should we encounter any launch delays. Rats. We have six cameras filming experiments on the rocket. Our commitment, we will only fly experiments we know will give students and teachers information. So, we replaced all six cameras.

People from Spaceport America, NMSU, and volunteers including Jim Hayhoe, Bruce and Kathy Lewis, Bill Gutman, Wayne Savage, Gene Gant, folks at NASA White Sands Test Facility and White Sands Missile Range, Judy McShannon in particular on my staff, will make this a launch to remember. I will write more about this launch in my next article.

You are invited to join us on April 1. Busses leave at 3am, from the K-Mart parking lot on Highway 70 in Las Cruces. Thos cost is $45 for the bus ride. For more information call my office, 575-646-6414.

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

On a recent trip to the University of Texas in Galveston, I visited a laboratory focused on studying the effects of spaceflight on humans. This laboratory, which looks like a typical hospital floor with beds and nurses stations is at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).  Most of us who have followed the space program, and even those who don't follow it closely, know NASA does medical research on the astronauts. What I did not know, is how extensive the research programs are on volunteers who want to help the space program. In fact, the program I describe below is recruiting volunteers. After reading this article, if you want to volunteer, I suggest you go to the website and read about the study and what you would have to do to apply.

This NASA research project made me aware of how much I don't  know about this area of space science. Yet, it made sense, that the scientists and doctors who will never be astronauts, can still design studies to help future astronauts stay healthy.

Picture it: you are in a bed for 3 months laying flat on your back, with your head at a slight tilt down - 6 degrees  down to be exact. I am still trying to figure out which would be worse; having my head tilted down for 3 month in bed, or regardless of the tilt, having to spend 3 months in bed.

The reason the volunteers are tilted is to mimic on Earth one of the effects of zero gravity on the body. When astronauts go to space, very quickly, the lack of gravity sends blood and fluid to the upper part of the body. A typical stay for an astronaut on the space station is 3 months. At the end of three months, astronauts lose about 2 quarts of blood volume, and up to 15% of bone mass. They also lose muscle mass and strength.  Many of us know these statistics. But the other effects on astronauts that are still being researched, hence the need for study volunteers, include inter cranial pressure (pressure inside the head) and increased pressure in the eye.

Astronauts are reporting even 2 years after flight, pressure inside the head persists. Others report the increased eye pressure years after flight and even more severe vascular problems in the eye.  We had an astronaut with us on the tour Sam Durrance. He has flown twice. He never experienced the head or eye symptoms, but did experience 15% strength loss in his arms, but not his legs.

When Sam mentioned his loss of strength experience, the physician leading the tour took us over to a piece of equipment that NASA has just finished developing. It is a leg press machine - but it's configured so the volunteer uses the machine while laying in a horizontal position. The tour guide explained that NASA is trying to determine whether the leg press will keep the volunteer from losing muscle mass during the 3 months of bed rest.

It was about this point in the tour all of us started to get it. The volunteer never leaves the bed or the 6 degree down position. Not to go to the bathroom, not to eat, not to exercise, not even to watch tv.  Just to make sure we asked our tour guide about showering. That's when he told us, they roll the volunteers into a special shower where the volunteers can roll over on their stomachs during the shower, but the rest of the three months they are lying on their backs. Complete bed rest is the best way we can mimic conditions in space on Earth.

Researcher topics explore the body's ability to adapt to the head-down tilt in the same manner that the astronauts' bodies change in space. As the studies continue, the researchers hope to learn novel and effective ways to rehabilitate patients who have had to endure long term bed rest.

We were taken to the rehabilitation units where the doctors use a suspended harness to rehabilitate the volunteers once they are allowed up from the 3 months of bed rest. Most are not able to stand without being supported by the harness as they begin to rehabilitate their bodies. The obvious connection with research on aging was mentioned as an ongoing project at UTMB.

The Spaceflight Simulation Study project website can be found at: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00891449

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

It was 6:30am, I was leaving the house to run, and there it was.  In the dusk, I thought it was a big rubber band. It looked brown, so I went over to pick it up, bent down, and it moved. Not fast, it was on a cold tile floor. Good. I had the jump on it. I turned the light on, looked down, and it was a snake. Little.  I remembered little rattle snakes are more dangerous than their elders.  This was a job for Tupperware. I got a large Tupperware bowl, put it over the snake,and went for my run.  When I got home, I called animal control. They came over within an hour. In short order we had the bull snake in the bucket. Yep, it was a bull snake. Whew. I know how lucky I am to live in Las Cruces. Between the time I called and the snake was off to his next adventure, was an hour.

When I got to the office, I wasn't late. My telecom was with spaceport directors who are speaking at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS).  ISPCS will be held on October 19-20, at the Farm and Ranch. The six directors will discuss their current challenges, each has interesting stories indeed.

A spaceport is like an airport in that it is a service provider. Airports face challenges, just like spaceports. Times change, businesses must adapt. Some airports have too much traffic, some too little. Some need to expand like the San Diego Airport but they are locked in by the city. Mojave Air and Space Port has that problem. Spaceport Sweden is in a similar position to Spaceport America fifteen years ago, will it get off the ground?  ISPCS brings industry leaders together to help them get a snapshot of the state of the industry across many domains, spaceports is just one domain.

Jim Ball, the development manager of NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will be on the panel. KSC is facing re-organzation now that the Shuttle program has ended.  Mark Bontrager, who just retired from Cape Canaveral, the Air Force station that has played a great role in the early missile test and development programs, will be joining us. He is now the Vice President of Spaceport Operations with Space Florida. The State of Florida created Space Florida as an Independent Special District. Its purpose is to foster the economic growth and development of a sustainable and world-leading space industry in Florida.

Tom Berard, who was the Executive Director of White Sands Missile Range, is now the Executive Director of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. His experience at Edwards is similar to our situation in New Mexico. Edwards and Mojave Air and Space Port are contiguous just as White Sands Missile Range and Spaceport America share air space and are neighbors.  Since Tom was involved in writing the agreements while Spaceport America was being formed, he is familiar not only with Edwards but also with WSMR and Spaceport America. Stewart Witt, the Executive Director of Mojave Air and Space Port will chair the panel. He has nothing but praise for his relationship with Edwards. Christine Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America, has gotten up to speed quickly. Chris has not met any of the panelists. Her years in the Air Force prepared her for establishing working relationships quickly. Stu and Chris have not met Tom yet. But he has met Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden.

Karin Nilsdotter will round out the panel. Spaceport Sweden has Esrange Space Center as a partner, as well as the Ice Hotel.  Sweden and Florida have similarities in their economic development strategies. Esrange has many similarities to WSMR. NMSU has worked with Esrange for years as research partners. 

A subject we will also include in the discussion is the Range Commanders Council (RCC) The RCC was established almost 60 years ago. It shares technical information among its members and has "Standing Groups" to help standardize systems, techniques, methods and procedures among participants. Airports have a similar group. As this industry grows, I continue to advocate we learn from those who have gone before us. And yes, I told them the snake story - they are still coming.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

These students, neither one had any scientific or technical background, were convinced it was time to act. They were concerned about the future not only of the landing site, but also of the artifacts left on the Moon. The students posed a question during a seminar on cultural resource management, their first class with Dr. Beth O'Leary in the Department of Archaeology at NMSU. "Does U.S. federal preservation law apply on the Moon?" Dr. O'Leary said she didn't know but they would find out together.

When I first read the proposal I thought it might be tough to justify the funding of this project to NASA. I remember reading the proposal and knew I wanted to read the results of the study. When I read studies by our students, I never forget how talented they are. The archaeology study was unusual. I met the students and Beth, and was convinced they would take their responsibilities seriously. They did! 

These students could not have been luckier than to have Beth O'Leary as their faculty advisor. She said she would help them. Twelve years later, multiple publications later, including the book "Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage", the project is continuing to grow, and Beth is still involved.

Recently Beth and I spoke because she is hosting Rob Kelso from NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), to speak on this project. He will address the audience during the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight on October 20^th during lunch. Later in the day, Rob will speak to students and faculty on the NMSU campus. Rob is the manager of Beyond- Low Earth Orbit Commercial Initiatives at JSC.

Beth has been participating in a NASA panel with Rob to help NASA prepare recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts. Rob recently briefed the Google Lunar X-Prize teams on this project, and participated in a panel discussion at the Lunar Science Forum held at Ames Research Center in California.

Back in 2000, the two graduate students spent the summer at Johnson Space Center going over their records in the Lunar Laboratory to catalog and map all known Tranquility Base artifacts. Their list of 106 items is the most extensive list NASA has of the site, it is on the Lunar Legacy website. The Space Grant Program Manager at the time, E. Julius Dasch, felt the project was so important; he brought the students to NASA Headquarters to meet with NASA attorneys. The conclusion was NASA really has no jurisdiction over the artifacts.

Beth said, "The goal is to preserve the archaeological information and the historic record of Apollo 11. We also hope one day to preserve Tranquility Base for our planet as a World Heritage Site. We need to prepare for the future because in 50 years many travelers may go to the Moon. If the site is not protected, what will be left?"  The remoteness of the moon will preserve the artifacts for now. The site is under no imminent natural threat. Yet, there is no framework or commitment in place to preserve the site, and the multiple lunar landing sites are left vulnerable to future space travel by humans. The current state of knowledge determined a series of agreements and protocols will be necessary to develop for heritage conservation. None exists for lunar preservation.

Recently on September 11, 2011, we remembered those lost at Ground Zero, in Shanksville and at the Pentagon. This may also be a good time to remember one of mankind's greatest achievements, landing two men on the moon and returning them safely to earth. We are capable of great things. Let's remember.

In 2006, New Mexico designated artifacts left behind at Tranquility Base a Cultural Property and listed them in the Archaeological Records Management Section (ARMS), the state archaeological and historical database.

John Versluis, graduated in 2000 with a degree in Public History (M.A.) at NMSU; and Ralph Gibson received an M.A. in Anthropology in 2001.

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

George Nield speaking at ISPCS 2011

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

The El Paso Airport is next to Fort Bliss, the home of the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery (ADA) School and four combat brigades. A brigade usually numbers 2,000 people, so we could be hosting up to 8,000 military personnel coming here to use the airspace. The El Paso Airport and Fort Bliss share the air space corridor between Mexico and White Sands Missile Range. This narrow corridor is open to Commercial Aviation and the General Aviation community that also flies from the El Paso Airport. The airspace must also accommodate the needs of the Army aircraft including helicopter and UAV traffic.

As part of my work as the Administrative Lead for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation (COE-CST) at NMSU, I recently took a guided tour of the El Paso Airport. It was during this tour, I learned how much more air traffic this airport will handle in next ten years. I believe the Airport Manager told me they handled about 10,000 aircraft last year. He expects a significant jump in air traffic in the near future.

To anticipate the national and global air traffic demands, the FAA is transforming the national air transportation system. The transformation agenda may involve Spaceport America because I plan to have New Mexico students help with the research during our next launch.

The FAA Fact Sheet on NextGen describes the program, "as a wide ranging transformation of the entire national air space to meet future demands and avoid gridlock in the sky and in the airports. It moves away from legacy ground based technologies to a new and more dynamic satellite based technology." The air traffic control towers may one day be replaced with tracking control centers that use satellites to keep track of aircraft. One of the tracking technologies for aircraft in the Next Gen System is the Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B).

(ADS-B) is the future of air traffic control. The ADS-B signals will provide air traffic controllers and pilots with much more accurate information that will help keep aircraft safely separated in the sky and on runways it uses GPS satellite. Aircraft transponders receive GPS signals and use them to determine the aircraft's precise position in the sky, which is combined with other data and broadcast out to other aircraft and air traffic control facilities. When properly equipped with ADS-B, both pilots and controllers will, for the first time, see the same real-time displays of air traffic, substantially improving safety. There is no doubt, as more planes crowd the available air space, we will need rapid, real-time tracking capability to assure safety of the flying public.

The ADS-B is a small instrument, about the size of the old satellite phone. We hope to fly one for the FAA as part of our work on the Center of Excellence. It will be on the rocket for our next student launch from Spaceport America in March of 2012. We use White Sands Missile Range to track our rocket. We will still use WSMR but will also have the ADS-B data to compare to our radar track. This is a great opportunity for students and New Mexico to lead again in this commercial space transportation industry. We are likely going to be using ADS-B in the future and challenging most of the assumptions of regular classes of air space. When Virgin Galactic flies from Spaceport America, they will be flying through the airspace to space and coming back from space into the air space. This new type of travel may require possibly a new classification of airspace, maybe Class S. This classification would provide no hand off as the vehicle travels from ground to space and back again. It will be tracked entirely by satellite. This idea is one of the many concepts discussed last week during the COE-CST meeting in Washington, D.C. you can learn more about the NextGen system on the http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/, and the Center of Excellence at http://www.coe-cst.org/ or dowload the FAA NextGen Implementation plan here.

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

This is great news for us.

NASA has selected seven companies to integrate and fly technology payloads on commercial suborbital reusable platforms that carry payloads near the boundary of space. 

As part of NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, each successful vendor will receive an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract. These two-year contracts, worth a combined total of $10 million, will allow NASA to draw from a pool of commercial space companies to deliver payload integration and flight services. The flights will carry a variety of payloads to help meet the agency's research and technology needs.

"Through this catalog approach, NASA is moving toward the goal of making frequent, low-cost access to near-space available to a wide range of engineers, scientists and technologists," said NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The government's ability to open the suborbital research frontier to a broad community of innovators will enable maturation of the new technologies and capabilities needed for NASA's future missions in space."

The selected companies are:
-- Armadillo Aerospace, Heath, Texas
-- Near Space Corp., Tillamook, Ore.
-- Masten Space Systems, Mojave, Calif.
-- Up Aerospace Inc., Highlands Ranch, Colo.
-- Virgin Galactic, Mojave, Calif.
-- Whittinghill Aerospace LLC, Camarillo, Calif.
-- XCOR, Mojave, Calif.

NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist is charged with maturing crosscutting technologies to flight readiness status for future space missions. Through these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, NASA intends to provide frequent flight opportunities for payloads on suborbital platforms.

The Flight Opportunities Program is managed at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif. For more information on the program, visit:

http://flightopportunities.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/oct

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

I was thinking about Sirius because there is another connection to space I wanted to discuss. The connection to Sirius XM radio and DishTV. While on the phone with a colleague in commercial space last week, I realized he was having a dip in enthusiasm for our industry. The Dog Days, and on top of that it was Friday.

In the past, especially when I was speaking to someone in the industry, I had a tendency to get impatient with these types of conversations. It could be as frustrating as telling a Starbucks Barista the importance of getting an espresso shot right.  I have not ever had to do this at Starbucks. Yet, we had a pretty good week in the space business last week.  Time to connect the dots.

I took another approach. I asked what kind of car he drove to work. Ford Explorer. Oh really! Was he using the satellite radio capability in the Explorer? Oh yeah, he lives in the middle of nowhere, has a long drive to work. Yep, he has Sirius XM satellite radio.

Satellite radio is a consumer space product. Their revenue in 2010 was $2.8 billion. Satellite TV, another consumer space product, had $79 billion in revenue in 2010. I am using a new term, consumer space product. We are at the threshold of a consumer space industry. We have been consuming space products for many years. The consumer space industry has the potential to have a growth spurt again.

Sirius XM radio and DishTV are consumer space product, in fact, Sirius XM radio is carried on some of the Dish TV satellites. Simple definition, you can't get these two products unless you go to space. The ability to buy space based products monthly is an aspect of what I am calling the consumer space industry.  Thousands of Las Crucens have satellite radio, and subscribe to Dish TV.

It took many years, millions of dollars, and visionaries' years to perfect the applications, and raise the money to make these technologies available in our cars and on our smart phones.  We have the potential to bring visionaries to our community, to use Spaceport America as a hub for those innovators to begin to make space more accessible in way I cannot imagine.

I decided I would help you connect the dots, and that way, you may realize, its' going to take some time to get all the pieces to come together to create new commercial space products.  Ask yourself, could you have predicted your car would have the capability to use an Air Force satellite navigation system? Well, that's what the GPS satellite constellation is, 1970's Air Force technology, now in the hands of the consumer. It took some time, but we've got it. And it is affordable. It is a consumer product. Back to Friday.

Friday was a big day for NASA and space science. The Juno spacecraft was launched on an Atlas V from Kennedy Space Center. Juno is on a five year journey to Jupiter to discover the origin of our solar system's largest and possibly first planet. We also heard about the discovery of flowing water on Mars on Friday. NASA Administrator, Charlie Bolden said, "The Juno mission and the Mars Exploration Program keeps bringing us closer to determining whether the Red Planet could harbor life in some form...And it reaffirms Mars as an important future destination for human exploration,". Well, that's quite a week really.  The pictures of the Martian surface and the Juno launch can be viewed on the NASA.gov website.  NASA was not having a summer slump last week!

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

A few months ago my daughter gave me the book, The Four Agreements. Until I read this book, I never thought about the agreements I made with myself when I was young. I realized I made an agreement with myself I had to be right to survive. I never re-examined this agreement until recently. Being a writer for this public column has created vulnerability. If I get something wrong in an article, it is essential to correct it to keep credibility with you. And as you can imagine, it is not just my writing but many aspects of my life where the meaning of the agreement about being right is present.  

In preparing the agenda for the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, I commit to creating sessions rich in content on topics essential to the industry. I feel deeply obligated to getting it right, for them and for our community. If we are going to bring the global leadership of an emerging industry to Las Cruces for a conference, we better give them food for the brain as well as enchiladas.  We work to create a snapshot of the industry at the time of the conference in October. Knowing this rapidly changing industry is essential to the planning.

One of the more difficult topics we will likely examine is the requirements for human commercial spaceflight participants. NASA evolved the standards for astronauts over years. Queen Elizabeth probably doesn't have the staff the astronauts have to get them ready for spaceflight.

The shuttle program has ended. Thousands of people are moving out of the NASA workforce. Thousands of people with unique skills, like preparing astronauts for flight, will be looking for something to do. NASA and the FAA are beginning the public dialog on human spaceflight requirements. When NASA astronauts fly on private space craft, NASA will set the requirements for its astronauts. There are over four thousand requirements for human spaceflight that have evolved over the years.   

Getting back to the agreement about being right.  I can understand how people wrestle with topics like life and death. Especially if it's part of your job to assure your bosses, you have done what you believe or know to be necessary to assure safety of the people in your care.  This is getting it right in the extreme. Doctors face these choices daily. People who work in child care, elder care, even the people who work for the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) at the airports have to confront hundreds of people and likely thousands of decisions a week about the safety of the flying public. As we begin to evolve commercial spaceflight, the dialog on safety may become like the negotiations over the debt-ceiling. Get it right to survive.

Most of us, as we grew up, realized if we do things right, we get rewarded. If we goof up, there are consequences. Reasonable people grow up working to figure out how to get rewarded. The process of getting rewarded, usually means, we no longer need anyone to punish us, we punish ourselves when we goof up. Evolution into society is smoother once we learn and follow the rules. Get it right, survive.

It looks like the President and the Congress feel they need to be right to survive.  The struggle is mighty. We tax ourselves keeping all these agreement. I know I do. I tax myself, my relationships at work and at home, to get it right. If I fail I feel powerless. Hence, I need to go to bed early and get my rest to fight on tomorrow.

What our country is going through is sort of mirrored in our daily struggles as Americans. How do I get out of the exhausting loop of being right to survive? Maybe if I change the agreement I made with myself, I will not be bound up so much in my struggles. I decided it was worth a try. Especially, since I am writing these articles, I am bound to goof up. So, here is one of my ways out of being right.

Thom Davis, Program Manager for ORS-1, read my last article. He let me know the Operationally Responsive Space Office works directly for the Department of Defense Executive Agent for Space and is not part of SMC's Space Development and Test Directorate. I got it wrong, and I survived to write my next article. He did not tell me I was wrong, he just helped me get it right. Even better.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

The ORS office in Albuquerque is part of the Space Missile Center's Space Development and Test Directorate SMC/SD. Their job is to support the warfighter using space based platforms. Platforms can mean many things in the space business, but in this case, it means satellites. 

We just celebrated our Independence Day.  New Mexican has an important role to play in supporting our national defense. One of New Mexico's unique capabilities is the ORS office. Our country relies on the Air Force to develop space based defensive capabilities. Unlike traditional development cycles in the military, ORS is tasked with designing, building, and launching satellites in short time frames.  Using military satellites to support the men and women in the field requires rapid response capability not only from the people on the ground, but also from the assets in space. Moving satellites in space to respond to changes on the ground is not easy, cheap nor can it be done quickly in most cases. Yet, it is necessary.

ORS has been tasked with making satellites with capabilities unique to the soldiers needs, without conflicting with already successful strategies in place. Its tougher than we think to successfully bring new capabilities into quickly shifting battle conditions.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite designed to demonstrate the capability to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs quickly. The Commander of the US Strategic Command, General Robert Kehler, recently spoke at a conference I attended in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wanted the audience to know, while focused on our national defense, he considered it important to emphasize, an economically strong nation is a secure nation. Therefore, his approach is to challenge and align the needs of our military to keep our country's economic security a priority.  That's code for I won't advocate for expensive equipment just because I can. ORS-1 is a good example of trying to find a new path in an economically challenging environment.

ORS-1 is the Operationally Responsive Space Office's first operational prototype satellite and represents the potential of low-cost satellites designed to provide critical battlespace awareness capabilities to the joint warfighter.  "Words cannot express how proud I am of the entire ORS-1 team," said Colonel Carol Welsch, SMC/SD Acting Director and ORS-1 Mission Director. "The men and women of the Space Development and Test Directorate, the Operationally Responsive Space Office, and our industry partners of Goodrich, ATK, and Orbital have all worked tirelessly to move forward on the concept of a responsive space capability designed to support the warfighter. Their teamwork and dedication is simply inspiring." Rapidly developing and fielding ORS-1 is an important step to demonstrating the possibilities to meet emerging and persistent warfighter needs. "Our team was able to develop, integrate, test and launch this system in just over 30 months which is a remarkable achievement," said Colonel Welsch.

The contractors and the Air Force did what they said they'd do when I visited them. They said they would work with off-the-shelf equipment, use known hardware and sensors, collaborate with existing ground control capability, innovate constantly, and when possible, train the workforce to increase capability. This mission did all these things, including using the Air Force Academy in Colorado Spring. They designed a Virtual Mission Operations Center, to help plan the mission and related tasks so when the satellite was delivered to its proper orbit 12 minutes after launch, the ground was ready to start work.

I have visited the ORS folks many times, they are a lean team, smart and passionate. The ORS office is under constant pressure to perform under difficult deadlines and this first mission's success was a must win. The team in New Mexico is led by Doctor Peter Wegner, who inspires great loyalty because he makes the challenge personal, each individual is important.  Their budget is under constant threat, and when they succeed, no one really gets credit. So, this is a small thank you to all those men and women who worked on this team. Final note, ORS-1 was launched from Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial launch facility on Wallops Island in Virginia. This is another cost cutting measure now possible in the space industry; MARS is owned by the State of Virginia.

In his weekly address to the nation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to invest in the manufacturing industry, calling it a necessary step for spurring job creation and economic growth. The President announced a $500m Advanced Manufacturing partnership with industry, government and academia. The partnership has a broader mission than to create jobs. "It's to renew the promise of American manufacturing," he said. "To help make sure America remains in this century what we were in the last - a country that makes things. A country that out-builds and out-innovates the rest of the world." Just checking, did you all know we have an Advanced Manufacturing Center at NMSU? It is a fully operational manufacturing facility within the College of Engineering that pairs full-time staff, often with experience in engineering fields, with students in various disciplines at NMSU, and members of the community.

The President called us a country of Makers and innovators. So why am I capitalizing the word Makers? Because, Makers are people being characterized as entrepreneurs who want to restore America's ability to make stuff. And they are making things in their garages, kitchens and bedrooms, depending on the good graces of mom's and dads, friends, and bosses who are willing to share their spaces with people who want to make things.

The President has discovered what many of us know, we are itching to get out from behind the computer. We want to do, to create. Enough of PowerPoint slide presentations of some obscure vision by the folks spending someone else's money. We have to build it ourselves, make it tangible, constructive.  And, let's make things that help others make things. Like anything else, start small, grow and build. So that's what we am doing with the students now, starting small, with lots of simple projects, that are doing what? Putting student's minds, hands, and projects into space.

I know you have heard how tough the space business is, how expensive it is to get to space, how only the very smart or the very rich can make it. And there is no reason to go to space. The same argument was made when we began the railroad industry, the automobile and aviation industries. Who needs to go to Omaha on the railroad from California? What the heck do we need cars for, horses don't break down in the mud, and only the rich can afford to fly from Europe to America in under fifteen hours?

Here's where the garages, kitchens, come in. So many inventors say their parents turned space over to them in the garage, or yes, the kitchen. The woman who invented SPANX has a great story to tell about how she used her living room to get started. Think about the CupCake craze, it started in the kitchen. Kitchens and garages are America's incubator laboratories.

I mentioned in my last article that I spoke to the TorC School Board a week after our launch of twenty seven experiments to space. Before my presentation, I asked Stacey Coulter the Physics teacher with the Student Launch Program to let me see her lab at Hot Springs High School. I saw the lab the first year after the school was built, before we started going to space. Now, I wanted to see how the lab has changed after three years of building space hardware. I will share with you what I saw. A lab table dedicated to making electronics, with an anti-static matt, soldering iron, magnification lamp, lots of testing equipment, safety equipment, and new storage area for books on space, rocketry and other research materials. Ms Coulter is teaching a new class that starts at 7:30 am, before school because students want to lab to themselves for an hour.

Make is a place to learn more about Makers, their tool sheds, garages, backyards, and basements all across the planet, that uncovers the Ben Franklins and Thomas Edisons of tomorrow.  We are growing those Makers here in New Mexico.

In his weekly address to the nation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to invest in the manufacturing industry, calling it a necessary step for spurring job creation and economic growth. The President announced a $500m Advanced Manufacturing partnership with industry, government and academia. The partnership has a broader mission than to create jobs. "It's to renew the promise of American manufacturing," he said. "To help make sure America remains in this century what we were in the last - a country that makes things. A country that out-builds and out-innovates the rest of the world." Just checking, did you all know we have an Advanced Manufacturing Center at NMSU? It is a fully operational manufacturing facility within the College of Engineering that pairs full-time staff, often with experience in engineering fields, with students in various disciplines at NMSU, and members of the community.

The President called us a country of Makers and innovators. So why am I capitalizing the word Makers? Because, Makers are people being characterized as entrepreneurs who want to restore America's ability to make stuff. And they are making things in their garages, kitchens and bedrooms, depending on the good graces of mom's and dads, friends, and bosses who are willing to share their spaces with people who want to make things.

The President has discovered what many of us know, we are itching to get out from behind the computer. We want to do, to create. Enough of PowerPoint slide presentations of some obscure vision by the folks spending someone else's money. We have to build it ourselves, make it tangible, constructive.  And, let's make things that help others make things. Like anything else, start small, grow and build. So that's what we am doing with the students now, starting small, with lots of simple projects, that are doing what? Putting student's minds, hands, and projects into space.

I know you have heard how tough the space business is, how expensive it is to get to space, how only the very smart or the very rich can make it. And there is no reason to go to space. The same argument was made when we began the railroad industry, the automobile and aviation industries. Who needs to go to Omaha on the railroad from California? What the heck do we need cars for, horses don't break down in the mud, and only the rich can afford to fly from Europe to America in under fifteen hours?

Here's where the garages, kitchens, come in. So many inventors say their parents turned space over to them in the garage, or yes, the kitchen. The woman who invented SPANX has a great story to tell about how she used her living room to get started. Think about the CupCake craze, it started in the kitchen. Kitchens and garages are America's incubator laboratories.

I mentioned in my last article that I spoke to the TorC School Board a week after our launch of twenty seven experiments to space. Before my presentation, I asked Stacey Coulter the Physics teacher with the Student Launch Program to let me see her lab at Hot Springs High School. I saw the lab the first year after the school was built, before we started going to space. Now, I wanted to see how the lab has changed after three years of building space hardware. I will share with you what I saw. A lab table dedicated to making electronics, with an anti-static matt, soldering iron, magnification lamp, lots of testing equipment, safety equipment, and new storage area for books on space, rocketry and other research materials. Ms Coulter is teaching a new class that starts at 7:30 am, before school because students want to lab to themselves for an hour.

Make is a place to learn more about Makers, their tool sheds, garages, backyards, and basements all across the planet, that uncovers the Ben Franklins and Thomas Edisons of tomorrow.  We are growing those Makers here in New Mexico.

In his weekly address to the nation, President Barack Obama called on Americans to invest in the manufacturing industry, calling it a necessary step for spurring job creation and economic growth. The President announced a $500m Advanced Manufacturing partnership with industry, government and academia. The partnership has a broader mission than to create jobs. "It's to renew the promise of American manufacturing," he said. "To help make sure America remains in this century what we were in the last - a country that makes things. A country that out-builds and out-innovates the rest of the world." Just checking, did you all know we have an Advanced Manufacturing Center at NMSU? It is a fully operational manufacturing facility within the College of Engineering that pairs full-time staff, often with experience in engineering fields, with students in various disciplines at NMSU, and members of the community.

The President called us a country of Makers and innovators. So why am I capitalizing the word Makers? Because, Makers are people being characterized as entrepreneurs who want to restore America's ability to make stuff. And they are making things in their garages, kitchens and bedrooms, depending on the good graces of mom's and dads, friends, and bosses who are willing to share their spaces with people who want to make things.

The President has discovered what many of us know, we are itching to get out from behind the computer. We want to do, to create. Enough of PowerPoint slide presentations of some obscure vision by the folks spending someone else's money. We have to build it ourselves, make it tangible, constructive.  And, let's make things that help others make things. Like anything else, start small, grow and build. So that's what we am doing with the students now, starting small, with lots of simple projects, that are doing what? Putting student's minds, hands, and projects into space.

I know you have heard how tough the space business is, how expensive it is to get to space, how only the very smart or the very rich can make it. And there is no reason to go to space. The same argument was made when we began the railroad industry, the automobile and aviation industries. Who needs to go to Omaha on the railroad from California? What the heck do we need cars for, horses don't break down in the mud, and only the rich can afford to fly from Europe to America in under fifteen hours?

Here's where the garages, kitchens, come in. So many inventors say their parents turned space over to them in the garage, or yes, the kitchen. The woman who invented SPANX has a great story to tell about how she used her living room to get started. Think about the CupCake craze, it started in the kitchen. Kitchens and garages are America's incubator laboratories.

I mentioned in my last article that I spoke to the TorC School Board a week after our launch of twenty seven experiments to space. Before my presentation, I asked Stacey Coulter the Physics teacher with the Student Launch Program to let me see her lab at Hot Springs High School. I saw the lab the first year after the school was built, before we started going to space. Now, I wanted to see how the lab has changed after three years of building space hardware. I will share with you what I saw. A lab table dedicated to making electronics, with an anti-static matt, soldering iron, magnification lamp, lots of testing equipment, safety equipment, and new storage area for books on space, rocketry and other research materials. Ms Coulter is teaching a new class that starts at 7:30 am, before school because students want to lab to themselves for an hour.

Make is a place to learn more about Makers, their tool sheds, garages, backyards, and basements all across the planet, that uncovers the Ben Franklins and Thomas Edisons of tomorrow.  We are growing those Makers here in New Mexico.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

If you have not witnessed a Shuttle Launch and it is on your 'Bucket List' you better get going.  You don't need an invitation; there are many ways to watch this last launch. It is likely there will never be another system built that will have the capability the Shuttle has. It is time for it to be retired, true. Yet, I am grateful to the people who spent their career's enabling our country to explore the universe, keep humans in space in some semblance of comfort and safety never before achieved by mankind. We as a nation can say with certainty, we enabled many nations to become space faring nations. We created one of the greatest powers ever developed by mankind, the power to go to space and return to earth routinely.  

Looking into the future, the 2010 NASA Authorization act states the ISS will enable our country to have a permanent presence for long-duration in low-Earth orbit. The components of the ISS that belong to the US will be used as a National Laboratory, to help us develop commercial capability and presence in space. So to answer the question posed in Sound Off a couple of week ago, why are we sending marshmallows to space? There are many reasons humans explore. Why go anywhere, why try a new recipe? I cannot answer those questions with certainty. The students who flew the experiment wanted to know what would happen when the marshmallows were compressed during the 6 G re-entry. They wondered how big they would get as the air pressure lessened during ascent and then how fast the vacuum of space change their shape again. 

Curiosity is part of learning. Do we as a community, with the opportunity to go to space routinely coming to New Mexico first, of all the communities across the globe, do we want to welcome this new space age in our community with our faces turned to the wall in ignorance? Fortunately the educational leaders in our community, including superintendents Rounds in Las Cruces, and Burris in Truth or Consequences, are enabling us to prepare our students to participate in the same great adventure as the generation of explorers did who built the Shuttle. 

Granted, not everyone wants to go to space. Well, not everyone wants to go to Disneyland. Is that any reason to tell those who do go to Disneyland they are wasting money and time on a fantasy, and it has no value. Ah, probably not. Sometimes, it is useful to give voice to the quiet, humble part of the human spirit that whispers - I wish I could. For me, I want to help that whisper become a shout. A loud voice for those people who want our community to embrace the tremendous challenge of creating a space business here in New Mexico. That's a challenge alright and it takes courage to keep going in difficult circumstances. 

Recently, Chris Anderson, Executive Director of Spaceport America was interviewed by a SpaceNews correspondent who attended the May 20^th launch at the Spaceport. She understands building the spaceport is one part of her job, the long term vision to make the spaceport viable is another part of her job. She, along with her board, is working to create a plan to make the facility self-sustaining. Ms. Anderson is a no-nonsense administrator. She will get her arms around this project, and she will continue a long history of public servants who have contributed to making our community a vibrant place to live. Chris understands the value of using Spaceport America as an educational laboratory, just as the President has now enabled students to use the ISS as a lab. The 2010 Authorization states, "United States segment of the ISS will be used as a National Laboratory." To those people who worked on the Shuttle Program that built the ISS, thank you for your service to our country. It's not over. We will keep going to space.

"There is no single step by step process that necessarily applies to the creation of all technologies. The challenge is to select the most elegant solution," Bigelow said. "Ideas are easy to come by. The efficacy of the idea is what is important."

Bigelow will be one of a number of successful businessmen sharing updates about a range of commercial space projects at ISPCS 2011.

"Bigelow is one of the 'makers' getting the work done," said Hynes. 'On the long road to success, there is value in coming together to update each other on progress and successes. Having peers challenge one other while keeping in mind the big opportunities embedded in growing a new transportation industry is an important part of ISPCS."

The theme of ISPCS 2011 is Business at the Speed of Innovation.
ISPCS 2011 will be held Oct. 19-20 during Space Week in New Mexico.

ISPCS is organized by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, a member of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, administered by NASA.

"There is no single step by step process that necessarily applies to the creation of all technologies. The challenge is to select the most elegant solution," Bigelow said. "Ideas are easy to come by. The efficacy of the idea is what is important."

Bigelow will be one of a number of successful businessmen sharing updates about a range of commercial space projects at ISPCS 2011.

"Bigelow is one of the 'makers' getting the work done," said Hynes. 'On the long road to success, there is value in coming together to update each other on progress and successes. Having peers challenge one other while keeping in mind the big opportunities embedded in growing a new transportation industry is an important part of ISPCS."

The theme of ISPCS 2011 is Business at the Speed of Innovation.
ISPCS 2011 will be held Oct. 19-20 during Space Week in New Mexico.

ISPCS is organized by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, a member of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, administered by NASA.

"There is no single step by step process that necessarily applies to the creation of all technologies. The challenge is to select the most elegant solution," Bigelow said. "Ideas are easy to come by. The efficacy of the idea is what is important."

Bigelow will be one of a number of successful businessmen sharing updates about a range of commercial space projects at ISPCS 2011.

"Bigelow is one of the 'makers' getting the work done," said Hynes. 'On the long road to success, there is value in coming together to update each other on progress and successes. Having peers challenge one other while keeping in mind the big opportunities embedded in growing a new transportation industry is an important part of ISPCS."

The theme of ISPCS 2011 is Business at the Speed of Innovation.
ISPCS 2011 will be held Oct. 19-20 during Space Week in New Mexico.

ISPCS is organized by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, a member of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, administered by NASA.

"There is no single step by step process that necessarily applies to the creation of all technologies. The challenge is to select the most elegant solution," Bigelow said. "Ideas are easy to come by. The efficacy of the idea is what is important."

Bigelow will be one of a number of successful businessmen sharing updates about a range of commercial space projects at ISPCS 2011.

"Bigelow is one of the 'makers' getting the work done," said Hynes. 'On the long road to success, there is value in coming together to update each other on progress and successes. Having peers challenge one other while keeping in mind the big opportunities embedded in growing a new transportation industry is an important part of ISPCS."

The theme of ISPCS 2011 is Business at the Speed of Innovation.
ISPCS 2011 will be held Oct. 19-20 during Space Week in New Mexico.

ISPCS is organized by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, a member of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, administered by NASA.

"There is no single step by step process that necessarily applies to the creation of all technologies. The challenge is to select the most elegant solution," Bigelow said. "Ideas are easy to come by. The efficacy of the idea is what is important."

Bigelow will be one of a number of successful businessmen sharing updates about a range of commercial space projects at ISPCS 2011.

"Bigelow is one of the 'makers' getting the work done," said Hynes. 'On the long road to success, there is value in coming together to update each other on progress and successes. Having peers challenge one other while keeping in mind the big opportunities embedded in growing a new transportation industry is an important part of ISPCS."

The theme of ISPCS 2011 is Business at the Speed of Innovation.
ISPCS 2011 will be held Oct. 19-20 during Space Week in New Mexico.

ISPCS is organized by the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, a member of the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program, administered by NASA.

Tomorrow, the Endeavour orbiter will launch for the last time. I remember why we built the Endeavour.  We built it because we lost the Challenger, and we were grounded for over two years.  Even in 1991, there was discussion about retiring the shuttle program. We knew then, the technology was aging, the program was far more expensive than originally forecast. But, the nation was reliant on the Russians to get us to space and we didn't like that at all. So, we pressed on.  Now, twenty years later, this is the last mission for Endeavour.  We will be reliant on the Russians again to get us to space, but something is different now.  COTS. We are aiming for another type of supremacy in space. Affordable access to space.

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, NASA, began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Our nation determined to fund the development of commercial space vehicles in partnership with private companies.  COTS began what we hoped would be a beautiful relationship, the public/private partnership that would take the government out of the business of owning and running launch vehicles.

NASA would pay for performance, providing milestone-based payments. COTS does not involve binding contracts.  If the company fails to deliver, they can be removed from the program. And their funds re-competed.  Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

Tomorrow, Endeavour is scheduled to launch at 8:56 EST at a cost of $1.6 billion. The mission, which is expected to last 16 days, will be the 134th and next to last in the 30-year shuttle program, with only a flight by the Atlantis, scheduled for this summer, remaining.  I plan to watch this launch. On Friday, May 20^th, my program has is launching 27 student experiments to space at Spaceport America.  This rocket cost $250,000. Watch this launch at www.launchnm.com

New Mexico is working through the difficulties facing our launch facility. Kennedy Space Center is facing difficulty regarding the future of their launch complex. Florida has a huge aging launch complex, what do you do with that place?  We have a brand new, lean, clearly commercially focused, facility that faces constant questioning about its future. Well, at least we are consistent at both ends of the spectrum. Do we stay in or do we get out? Florida is staying in. Their state, like ours has a robust history in the space industry. They have tremendous talent, and reaped untold benefits from the space program, and now they face a new space industry.    One of the COTS winners, SpaceX, remodeled Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. It is from this launch complex, they intent to re-supply the International Space Station.  It's one small victory for the Cape. At our spaceport, the UP Aerospace company continues to be the only company consistently commercially launching experiments to space from the spaceport. That's why I use this company. It is a small victory to have this company at the spaceport.  There is work to do. I realize there is no clear path yet, no clear justification, why go to space?  Right now, it's like a tough job.  Feet on the floor, butt out the door. 

Tomorrow, the Endeavour orbiter will launch for the last time. I remember why we built the Endeavour.  We built it because we lost the Challenger, and we were grounded for over two years.  Even in 1991, there was discussion about retiring the shuttle program. We knew then, the technology was aging, the program was far more expensive than originally forecast. But, the nation was reliant on the Russians to get us to space and we didn't like that at all. So, we pressed on.  Now, twenty years later, this is the last mission for Endeavour.  We will be reliant on the Russians again to get us to space, but something is different now.  COTS. We are aiming for another type of supremacy in space. Affordable access to space.

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, NASA, began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Our nation determined to fund the development of commercial space vehicles in partnership with private companies.  COTS began what we hoped would be a beautiful relationship, the public/private partnership that would take the government out of the business of owning and running launch vehicles.

NASA would pay for performance, providing milestone-based payments. COTS does not involve binding contracts.  If the company fails to deliver, they can be removed from the program. And their funds re-competed.  Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

Tomorrow, Endeavour is scheduled to launch at 8:56 EST at a cost of $1.6 billion. The mission, which is expected to last 16 days, will be the 134th and next to last in the 30-year shuttle program, with only a flight by the Atlantis, scheduled for this summer, remaining.  I plan to watch this launch. On Friday, May 20^th, my program has is launching 27 student experiments to space at Spaceport America.  This rocket cost $250,000. Watch this launch at www.launchnm.com

New Mexico is working through the difficulties facing our launch facility. Kennedy Space Center is facing difficulty regarding the future of their launch complex. Florida has a huge aging launch complex, what do you do with that place?  We have a brand new, lean, clearly commercially focused, facility that faces constant questioning about its future. Well, at least we are consistent at both ends of the spectrum. Do we stay in or do we get out? Florida is staying in. Their state, like ours has a robust history in the space industry. They have tremendous talent, and reaped untold benefits from the space program, and now they face a new space industry.    One of the COTS winners, SpaceX, remodeled Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. It is from this launch complex, they intent to re-supply the International Space Station.  It's one small victory for the Cape. At our spaceport, the UP Aerospace company continues to be the only company consistently commercially launching experiments to space from the spaceport. That's why I use this company. It is a small victory to have this company at the spaceport.  There is work to do. I realize there is no clear path yet, no clear justification, why go to space?  Right now, it's like a tough job.  Feet on the floor, butt out the door. 

Tomorrow, the Endeavour orbiter will launch for the last time. I remember why we built the Endeavour.  We built it because we lost the Challenger, and we were grounded for over two years.  Even in 1991, there was discussion about retiring the shuttle program. We knew then, the technology was aging, the program was far more expensive than originally forecast. But, the nation was reliant on the Russians to get us to space and we didn't like that at all. So, we pressed on.  Now, twenty years later, this is the last mission for Endeavour.  We will be reliant on the Russians again to get us to space, but something is different now.  COTS. We are aiming for another type of supremacy in space. Affordable access to space.

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, NASA, began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Our nation determined to fund the development of commercial space vehicles in partnership with private companies.  COTS began what we hoped would be a beautiful relationship, the public/private partnership that would take the government out of the business of owning and running launch vehicles.

NASA would pay for performance, providing milestone-based payments. COTS does not involve binding contracts.  If the company fails to deliver, they can be removed from the program. And their funds re-competed.  Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

Tomorrow, Endeavour is scheduled to launch at 8:56 EST at a cost of $1.6 billion. The mission, which is expected to last 16 days, will be the 134th and next to last in the 30-year shuttle program, with only a flight by the Atlantis, scheduled for this summer, remaining.  I plan to watch this launch. On Friday, May 20^th, my program has is launching 27 student experiments to space at Spaceport America.  This rocket cost $250,000. Watch this launch at www.launchnm.com

New Mexico is working through the difficulties facing our launch facility. Kennedy Space Center is facing difficulty regarding the future of their launch complex. Florida has a huge aging launch complex, what do you do with that place?  We have a brand new, lean, clearly commercially focused, facility that faces constant questioning about its future. Well, at least we are consistent at both ends of the spectrum. Do we stay in or do we get out? Florida is staying in. Their state, like ours has a robust history in the space industry. They have tremendous talent, and reaped untold benefits from the space program, and now they face a new space industry.    One of the COTS winners, SpaceX, remodeled Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. It is from this launch complex, they intent to re-supply the International Space Station.  It's one small victory for the Cape. At our spaceport, the UP Aerospace company continues to be the only company consistently commercially launching experiments to space from the spaceport. That's why I use this company. It is a small victory to have this company at the spaceport.  There is work to do. I realize there is no clear path yet, no clear justification, why go to space?  Right now, it's like a tough job.  Feet on the floor, butt out the door. 

Tomorrow, the Endeavour orbiter will launch for the last time. I remember why we built the Endeavour.  We built it because we lost the Challenger, and we were grounded for over two years.  Even in 1991, there was discussion about retiring the shuttle program. We knew then, the technology was aging, the program was far more expensive than originally forecast. But, the nation was reliant on the Russians to get us to space and we didn't like that at all. So, we pressed on.  Now, twenty years later, this is the last mission for Endeavour.  We will be reliant on the Russians again to get us to space, but something is different now.  COTS. We are aiming for another type of supremacy in space. Affordable access to space.

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, NASA, began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Our nation determined to fund the development of commercial space vehicles in partnership with private companies.  COTS began what we hoped would be a beautiful relationship, the public/private partnership that would take the government out of the business of owning and running launch vehicles.

NASA would pay for performance, providing milestone-based payments. COTS does not involve binding contracts.  If the company fails to deliver, they can be removed from the program. And their funds re-competed.  Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

Tomorrow, Endeavour is scheduled to launch at 8:56 EST at a cost of $1.6 billion. The mission, which is expected to last 16 days, will be the 134th and next to last in the 30-year shuttle program, with only a flight by the Atlantis, scheduled for this summer, remaining.  I plan to watch this launch. On Friday, May 20^th, my program has is launching 27 student experiments to space at Spaceport America.  This rocket cost $250,000. Watch this launch at www.launchnm.com

New Mexico is working through the difficulties facing our launch facility. Kennedy Space Center is facing difficulty regarding the future of their launch complex. Florida has a huge aging launch complex, what do you do with that place?  We have a brand new, lean, clearly commercially focused, facility that faces constant questioning about its future. Well, at least we are consistent at both ends of the spectrum. Do we stay in or do we get out? Florida is staying in. Their state, like ours has a robust history in the space industry. They have tremendous talent, and reaped untold benefits from the space program, and now they face a new space industry.    One of the COTS winners, SpaceX, remodeled Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. It is from this launch complex, they intent to re-supply the International Space Station.  It's one small victory for the Cape. At our spaceport, the UP Aerospace company continues to be the only company consistently commercially launching experiments to space from the spaceport. That's why I use this company. It is a small victory to have this company at the spaceport.  There is work to do. I realize there is no clear path yet, no clear justification, why go to space?  Right now, it's like a tough job.  Feet on the floor, butt out the door. 

Tomorrow, the Endeavour orbiter will launch for the last time. I remember why we built the Endeavour.  We built it because we lost the Challenger, and we were grounded for over two years.  Even in 1991, there was discussion about retiring the shuttle program. We knew then, the technology was aging, the program was far more expensive than originally forecast. But, the nation was reliant on the Russians to get us to space and we didn't like that at all. So, we pressed on.  Now, twenty years later, this is the last mission for Endeavour.  We will be reliant on the Russians again to get us to space, but something is different now.  COTS. We are aiming for another type of supremacy in space. Affordable access to space.

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, NASA, began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Our nation determined to fund the development of commercial space vehicles in partnership with private companies.  COTS began what we hoped would be a beautiful relationship, the public/private partnership that would take the government out of the business of owning and running launch vehicles.

NASA would pay for performance, providing milestone-based payments. COTS does not involve binding contracts.  If the company fails to deliver, they can be removed from the program. And their funds re-competed.  Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

Tomorrow, Endeavour is scheduled to launch at 8:56 EST at a cost of $1.6 billion. The mission, which is expected to last 16 days, will be the 134th and next to last in the 30-year shuttle program, with only a flight by the Atlantis, scheduled for this summer, remaining.  I plan to watch this launch. On Friday, May 20^th, my program has is launching 27 student experiments to space at Spaceport America.  This rocket cost $250,000. Watch this launch at www.launchnm.com

New Mexico is working through the difficulties facing our launch facility. Kennedy Space Center is facing difficulty regarding the future of their launch complex. Florida has a huge aging launch complex, what do you do with that place?  We have a brand new, lean, clearly commercially focused, facility that faces constant questioning about its future. Well, at least we are consistent at both ends of the spectrum. Do we stay in or do we get out? Florida is staying in. Their state, like ours has a robust history in the space industry. They have tremendous talent, and reaped untold benefits from the space program, and now they face a new space industry.    One of the COTS winners, SpaceX, remodeled Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. It is from this launch complex, they intent to re-supply the International Space Station.  It's one small victory for the Cape. At our spaceport, the UP Aerospace company continues to be the only company consistently commercially launching experiments to space from the spaceport. That's why I use this company. It is a small victory to have this company at the spaceport.  There is work to do. I realize there is no clear path yet, no clear justification, why go to space?  Right now, it's like a tough job.  Feet on the floor, butt out the door. 

Tomorrow, the Endeavour orbiter will launch for the last time. I remember why we built the Endeavour.  We built it because we lost the Challenger, and we were grounded for over two years.  Even in 1991, there was discussion about retiring the shuttle program. We knew then, the technology was aging, the program was far more expensive than originally forecast. But, the nation was reliant on the Russians to get us to space and we didn't like that at all. So, we pressed on.  Now, twenty years later, this is the last mission for Endeavour.  We will be reliant on the Russians again to get us to space, but something is different now.  COTS. We are aiming for another type of supremacy in space. Affordable access to space.

In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, NASA, began the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.  Our nation determined to fund the development of commercial space vehicles in partnership with private companies.  COTS began what we hoped would be a beautiful relationship, the public/private partnership that would take the government out of the business of owning and running launch vehicles.

NASA would pay for performance, providing milestone-based payments. COTS does not involve binding contracts.  If the company fails to deliver, they can be removed from the program. And their funds re-competed.  Unlike any previous NASA project, the proposed spacecraft are intended to be owned and financed primarily by the companies themselves and will be designed to serve both U.S. government agencies and commercial customers. NASA will contract for missions as its needs become clear.

Tomorrow, Endeavour is scheduled to launch at 8:56 EST at a cost of $1.6 billion. The mission, which is expected to last 16 days, will be the 134th and next to last in the 30-year shuttle program, with only a flight by the Atlantis, scheduled for this summer, remaining.  I plan to watch this launch. On Friday, May 20^th, my program has is launching 27 student experiments to space at Spaceport America.  This rocket cost $250,000. Watch this launch at www.launchnm.com

New Mexico is working through the difficulties facing our launch facility. Kennedy Space Center is facing difficulty regarding the future of their launch complex. Florida has a huge aging launch complex, what do you do with that place?  We have a brand new, lean, clearly commercially focused, facility that faces constant questioning about its future. Well, at least we are consistent at both ends of the spectrum. Do we stay in or do we get out? Florida is staying in. Their state, like ours has a robust history in the space industry. They have tremendous talent, and reaped untold benefits from the space program, and now they face a new space industry.    One of the COTS winners, SpaceX, remodeled Space Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. It is from this launch complex, they intent to re-supply the International Space Station.  It's one small victory for the Cape. At our spaceport, the UP Aerospace company continues to be the only company consistently commercially launching experiments to space from the spaceport. That's why I use this company. It is a small victory to have this company at the spaceport.  There is work to do. I realize there is no clear path yet, no clear justification, why go to space?  Right now, it's like a tough job.  Feet on the floor, butt out the door. 

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

 There is a large body of regulation involved in the airline industry, some of it will move directly over into the commercial space industry to assure initially some of what we have learned about airport safety, passenger safety, and public safety will be retained.

An airport and a spaceport have runways, fuel, and cargo. The spaceport and airport runways will be identified by their directional coordinates, marked the same, and standards for lighting will be the same. But, spaceports will handle different fuels, and vehicles will be licensed differently. Vehicles will fly through the National Air Space (the NAS) to get to space. The air traffic system hands off an aircraft for space travel will likely be similar to how we handled the shuttle transitions through the air space.

There is a body of knowledge or Best Practices that have evolved over the past 20 years at places like the Mojave Air and Spaceport, Kennedy Space Center, and other spaceports including Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and even Star City in Russia where cosmonauts and astronauts train. Soon, all US astronauts will fly to the International Space Station from Russia once we stop flying the shuttle.

There is growing anticipation as the commercial space industry grows that we begin to educate ourselves across many disciplines, including space law. For example, New Mexico has passed Informed Consent legislation to help indemnify the state in the event of a spaceflight accident. Essentially, Virgin Galactic passengers must acknowledge they know they are participating in a high risk activity, and agree to hold the state harmless in the event of an accident. Other states have similar legislation.

In previous articles I have mentioned the economic benefits of space tourism on our economy. We can see it right now. Our new Executive Director of Spaceport America, Chris Anderson, will be speaking to a sold out audience at the Chamber luncheon on Thursday at the Farm and Ranch. Who benefits when a Chamber of Commerce luncheon is sold out? All of us gain a bit. I know of a number of people will be coming from out of town to meet Chris and listen to her speak. Students will attend from NMSU, as well as faculty. The benefits to our technical workforce will continue to grow as we evolve this project. And so now, those involved in the Government Department at NMSU, students in the policy and international regulatory environment will also have the potential to take a leadership role in a new industry as we go forward. So, here I go. I have prepared for this conference, on and off for a year. Beside me is Volume 35 of the Space Law Journal.  Today I read one more list of considerations for spaceports who will deal with international travelers, and last week I attended a conference on keeping communications secure in cyber space. All of these areas touch on our little community as we take on this industry. There is no doubt, we are fortunate to have 3 research universities in our state. We will need them all to create the environment for success.

I hear it time after time; New Mexico has really stepped up in these times and has been the major global beneficiary. Well, I am not sure why they want me at this Law Conference, but I know why I am here. I will learn, tell them about New Mexico, and hope they get engaged to help this industry proposer.

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

I feel like I am talking to my friends when I write. I store things in the two weeks between articles then share them with you.  This week started off with the re-scheduling of our Student Launch for May 20^th.  The drop test of a new system to pull out the parachute was necessary, and while the test was successful, some flight hardware was damaged, and we had to reschedule. Bummer.

I know some of my readers are retired.  I think you all and about retirement when I don't get much sleep, and when something like the rescheduling a thousand people happens. But if you want to come to my launch, now's the time to register here.  I think about what is might be like to sit in my kitchen, cup of coffee in hand, reading about what's going on at the spaceport.  I write with the hope you feel you are a part of this project. I write to share the pioneering spirit of those involved in this effort.  If possible, I paint pictures so you can put yourself out there with us. Like you are reading notes from a field expedition.  Because believe me, on Saturday, April 2nd, that's what it was, an expedition, with people in rental vehicles, taking the back road to the spaceport, in the dark, to watch the first launch of a new rocket. The Tube Rocket "Stig" built by Armadillo Aerospace.

The "Stig" launch was the second of two launches scheduled at Spaceport America last week.  Mine was scheduled for Friday, April 1^st, the Stig launch was scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd. I was invited to observe by Armadillo, as I hope to purchase a vehicle from them for our students in the future.

At 4:30am on Saturday, I met Dr. Bill Gutman, a physicist and spaceport employee, and Gabe Baca from NASA in the parking lot behind Starbucks on University. We drove out to the spaceport early, as Bill wanted to be there early to make sure all was ready for the 8am launch. Bill mentioned he'd been out at the launch site mowing the weeds the day before to keep the fire hazard down. 

We arrived at the spaceport around 5:15 am. It was still dark, but the circular launch pad was lit, the generator whirling away and the Armadillo crew in blue was working. Fifteen hundred feet away in the viewing area, the rest of us, including the firemen and women, and security were watching the launch pad.  In the emerging dawn, people were moving around the rocket. We could barely observe the rocket's fueling procedures, the large crane supporting the rocket and the fuel truck. The rocket uses liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen among other propellants. Things were starting to happen, and brother it was cold.  

People started arriving in the viewing area by 6:30 am. Two people from the FAA arrived. They drove themselves because they wanted to learn the road. They followed Lou Gomez, another Spaceport employee. Lou had a flat. Did I mention it was dark?

Then six Purdue University students and their professor arrived, they had an experiment on the rocket.  Dawn was turning to day break, as the launch command crew set up the $40 tables from Wal-Mart and microwave antennae to communicate flight procedures to the rocket crew.  I have been to lots of launch facilities, and have seen my share of control rooms. This was the first time I ever stepped over cow pies while listening to launch controllers. That's the pioneering part I mentioned. Robert Goddard and Werner Von Braun probably stepped in their share of manure now that I think about it.  We did not witness a launch on Saturday. That's two for two last week. But I did see steeled focus, a skilled, perfectly coordinated team working, problem solving, and a team focused on the next horizon. The launch.

Armadillo plans to operate from Spaceport America eventually. That would bring the number of companies flying out of Spaceport America to three, Virgin Galactic, UP Aerospace, and hopefully, Armadillo Aerospace.  You can learn more about this company and the Tube Rocket by going to their website. 

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

The development of commercial space as a viable industry for southern New Mexico is rapidly materializing. Years of behind-the-scenes efforts have resulted in large research and project funding grants and a growing potential for creating new jobs.

Most of us are aware of the investment and progress at Spaceport America and we know that New Mexico State University is involved with related research, but the fact that the area is now being recognized and accepted internationally in a highly competitive research and development arena is nothing short of phenomenal. New Mexico, and especially southern New Mexico, and in particular the parents of New Mexico youth who want them to have access to challenging careers in this region, are the beneficiaries of this extensive effort.

The idea of an inland spaceport and its related industries and research is nothing new to southern New Mexico. Robert H. Goddard performed much of his rocket and gyroscope testing in the Roswell area between 1930 and 1945 and German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun was initially brought to Fort Bliss at the end of World War II. Development and testing of the V-2 rockets captured from Nazi Germany took place at White Sands Missile Range, some carrying research payloads to the upper atmosphere. White Sands has remained a center for missile technology for the Army, Navy, and Air Force and also for NASA, which has its own test facility and shuttle landing site on the massive base. America's space travel efforts began in southern New Mexico, they have continued here and it simply makes a whole lot of sense from every perspective to develop the nation's personal and commercial space flight industry right here.

The potential is enormous for southern New Mexico, but to attract academia and industry leaders from around the globe to Las Cruces and to convince federal agencies that New Mexico State University should be the lead research institution for highly competitive funding, demands a lot of hard work, development of global contacts and a huge payload of savvy as to what grabs bureaucratic attention.

"It's about getting things done, making things happen," states Dr. Pat Hynes at the Sugarman Space Grant Building on the campus of NMSU. "There are lots of people willing to discuss opportunities, but the ability to seize a brilliant idea and move it toward a practical application requires focus, long-term commitment and a knowledge of which buttons to push." That's exactly where Pat excels. She emphasizes that New Mexico has always been the choice for space-related activities; she knows how to organize words, people and events; she carefully chooses whose noses to thump for attention and support; she understands that securing America's lead in space technology depends on the involvement of the entire education spectrum; she absolutely understands that the required momentum can only be achieved through a partnership among government, the aerospace industry and research universities; she has discovered the secrets for submitting successful proposals and she has convinced industry leaders that they don't have to spend seven days in a dusty stagecoach to reach Las Cruces - no small feat.

America's National Space Program recognizes the ability of commercial enterprises to begin shuttling people, equipment and projects to suborbital and orbital elevations, with government priorities shifting to long-range space projects. Pat's efforts are directed toward snagging a major portion of that commercial space industry for New Mexico. "The intent is to create new industry in this state," says Pat. "Research conducted at our universities through these programs has to help with economic development and create jobs. We emphasize to the students involved that by taking advantage of this taxpayer money, their research is expected to give something back to the nation - it's not research for the sake of research."

Pat began her current journey in 1991 as director of the Center for Aerospace Science, Technology and Education (CASTE). It was established by the state as a focal point related to inland spaceport development. The issuance of the FAA license for vertical takeoff at Spaceport America was the culmination of that 18-year effort.

Since 1998, Pat has served as director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium funded by Congress for science-related research, education and public service projects. In addition to NMSU, the New Mexico consortium includes New Mexico Tech and the University of New Mexico. New Mexico State University President Barbara Couture states, "The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, under the leadership of Pat Hynes, provides extraordinary research and learning opportunities that drive economic development, strengthen degree programs and draw talented faculty and staff to NMSU. We are privileged to be providing cutting-edge educational opportunities at this time, for it is truly the dawning of a new era of excellence in space engineering and research."

Also headquartered at NMSU, Pat was appointed director of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research in New Mexico (EPSCoR). Established in 2007, the program supports aerospace research throughout New Mexico in a variety of fields from space communications to low-earth orbit vehicle testing.

As New Mexico's plan for a spaceport began to unfold, Pat recognized the need to bring together some of the brightest minds in the global industry to discuss its achievements and challenges. In 2005, she co-founded and continues to serve as chairman of the International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight, held annually in Las Cruces. The symposium itself is a boost to the local economy, but more importantly, it showcases the local assets related to the space industry - the impressive pace toward completion of Spaceport America; the largest block of controlled airspace in America (a huge asset for commercial vertical launches); the research capabilities at NMSU and partnering opportunities at its Arrowhead Business and Research Park; and the area's educational efforts at all levels to encourage students to engage in space-related fields.

As a result of Pat's track record for securing and administering research funds, coordinating government, industry and academia programs and establishing outreach education programs, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose NMSU with Pat as its Executive Director to lead its new Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. A consortium of universities and industry partners will address current and future challenges for commercial space transportation. Participating universities include Stanford University, Florida Institute of Technology, New Mexico Institute of Technology, Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion at Florida State University, University of Colorado at Boulder and University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. The efforts will include space launch operations and traffic management; launch vehicle systems, payloads, technologies and operations; commercial human space flight; and space commerce (law, insurance, policy and regulation) with the goal of achieving a safe and efficient air transportation system.

As previously mentioned, the outreach programs are extremely important to the future of this industry in New Mexico, but to actually participate in space experiments and space-related business is the epitome of enticements for students. In 2011, the third year of the program, over 50 student experiments will be launched from Spaceport America, including work from middle school, high school and college levels. The importance of student involvement is so obvious to Pat that she founded and serves as Executive Director of the Space Development Foundation to support summer internships for students across the globe in businesses related to personal and commercial spaceflight.

What an exciting era for anyone in southern New Mexico remotely interested in personal and commercial spaceflight. Catch up on related history at the White Sands Missile Range Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo. Take a day trip to the visitor center at the Very Large Array west of Socorro or the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center near Cloudcroft - they are awe-inspiring sites. Schedule a hard-hat tour of Spaceport America, pick up memorabilia at our own Space Murals Museum on Highway 70 and get involved with next year's International Symposium for Personal & Commercial Spaceflight. "Space" is happening all around us. It's time for all of us to get involved.

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 My colleague at headquarters loves New Mexico. He was the one who invited me. Recently, he and his wife had been here on a cattle roundup.  Seriously, they know New Mexico is leading investment in commercial space development. I invited them back, thanked him for the invitation and set my alarm clock for 6am. Having just been up to Santa Fe during Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, I figured listening to folks in Washington DC would be a relaxing way to start the week.

There is good news for the emerging commercial space industry in the 2012 NASA budget. And all of us might benefit from taking a minute to examine the implications.

The President decided in 2010 continued support for the International Space Station (ISS) is in our nation's best interest. And ISS support will catalyze the commercial space transportation industry.  Now take a deep breath, and let's reflect on another great transportation enterprise our country built, the railroad industry. 

In the 1850s when our country started to fund the transcontinental railroad, we were in a deep recession. There was no railroad industry, not in our country, not in the world. Locomotives were not safe, in fact they killed people. There were no manufacturing plants capable building engines, rail, nor was the country in the position to enable this new industry to grow. This was a time for vision and leadership and it was coming.

President Lincoln, who made his reputation as a railroad lawyer, knew linking the country together would create an immense market for jobs, and quicken the flow of fresh goods from east to west.

During the Civil War, keeping the rail lines open kept food, supplies and troops flowing to Union armies. Destroying the supply lines of the South slowly ground the war to a halt.  The story is told in Stephen Ambrose's book, Nothing Like It In The World: The Men Who Built The First Transcontinental Rail Road,

Thousands of soldiers, former engineers and constructions workers found building the railroads healed them and our country after the war. The railroad financiers who became "Captains of Industry" included men such as Leland Stanford and Brigham Young. They were among the visionaries who spent and made millions as we grew a new economy and nation. Our nation was not yet a hundred years old.

The global aerospace industry was created in America in the 1950s. By the time the military developed the ICBM program, and the civilian agency that is now NASA, the government had taken over the space industry.  The aerospace industry could not have grown without the government.

Since the 1970's, the Shuttle was the only way humans got to space from the US. Soon we will  rely on the Russians to get our astronauts to the ISS. The government has left our country without a fundamental tool, a vehicle rated to carry humans to space. It is like having a railroad without locomotives to carry people.

We are rebuilding America's human spaceflight capability. NASA is funding companies like our government funded the Union and Central Pacific, to compete to build a new launch industry. We the tax payers are no longer footing the entire bill. These companies must assume a majority of the risk, the government is only a partner. Eventually, a customer.

A recent Space News article, http://www.spacenews.com/civil/nasa-budget-draws-early-fire.html, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said, "President Obama's decision last year to continue U.S. participation in the international space station...means the agency must invest heavily in private space companies to ensure U.S. access to the orbiting outpost following retirement of NASA's space shuttle fleet later this year."  Commercial spaceflight is a clear winner in Obama's 2012 NASA budget, which calls for spending $350 million more than the $500 million Congress authorized next year.

The launch industry has an incentive to move quickly to demonstrate their ability to close the transportations gap. Now there is some money and advocacy from NASA and the White House to grow this new industry. The sharing of risk in a slow economy is a risk I am willing to take as a tax payer. It beats further loss of our global competitiveness in the space industry. 

 No use ranting at El Paso Electric and Rio Grande Natural Gas. Those people were in the cold and dark just like us. The economics of energy investment is, after all up to us. The money BP spent on clean up and will spend on law suits, and recent rolling black outs, indicates investing in our future to enable consistent access to power is an investment worth considering. Energy demand is so great and growing; each of us has the obligation to become more proactive on behalf of our own survival.

 The first time I saw a presentation on the concept of space-based solar power was at the Goldstone Observatory, an hour's drive to the east of Pasadena, California.  It is a wonderful place in the middle of the desert, peaceful, beautiful, with lots of scientists and lots of dishes for solar and deep space research. The scientists are pretty isolated so they were glad to talk visitors. My Dad was with me so I had a good indicator on the geek factor - his question after a talk that rates high on the geekometer - "Who was that sleeping in my seat?" He made it through the entire presentation with his eyes still open at the end. That and the  forty nine cent hamburgers made the trip memorable.

 The premise behind harvesting land or space based solar power is simple, our sun is the largest consistent potential energy source available to mankind. Research is clear, we have multiple ways of harvesting solar power on earth and in space. The earth based solar power industry, a $40 billion industry, has reached a consumer milestone; solar power kits are available at Home Depot in Las Cruces. Space based harvesting of solar power has a long history of powering satellites and powers the International Space Station.

 Harvesting space-based solar power as a power source on earth is a very different business than harvesting solar power on earth. In both cases, the question of economics, not technology, has driven adoption. Collection of solar power for municipal use is a viable option for adoption by power companies such as El Paso Electric. El Paso Electric has added solar power to their portfolio, which also include nuclear power generators. We have a large solar panel farm being installed near Santa Teresa.

Space-based solar power would be an investment - a big one. Yet it would enable the launch of a new industry. The following website http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/ contains multiple links to discussions and research on space-based solar power. The best video is a TED talk at http://www.spaceenergy.com/i/flash/ted_presentation.

 Space-based solar power can be collected by solar panels placed in geosynchronous orbit - 26,000 + miles away. The solar energy would be beamed back to earth on radio waves, safely collected with pinpoint accuracy by dishes, and converted to direct power. The physics of wireless power transmission is proven. Collection would be as safe as space-based satellite transmission of CNN or Dish TV, and the technology could not be weaponized. The Pentagon released a study in 2007 indicating space-based solar power development is a national and indeed a global security necessity to prevent potential all out global energy wars.

Space-based solar power has the advantage of being transferrable on demand. We encountered switching from frozen generators to natural gas generators but it still did not meet demand because demand on natural gas was so great, and transportation was compromised. Rural electrification, considered another strategy in alleviation of persistent poverty, is also enabled by space based and land based solar energy adoption. I suggest we not ask either or questions like land or space-based solar power. Consider learning about and adoption of both.  PG & E is and so is Japan. Both have great demands for energy, Las Cruces is getting there too.

 No use ranting at El Paso Electric and Rio Grande Natural Gas. Those people were in the cold and dark just like us. The economics of energy investment is, after all up to us. The money BP spent on clean up and will spend on law suits, and recent rolling black outs, indicates investing in our future to enable consistent access to power is an investment worth considering. Energy demand is so great and growing; each of us has the obligation to become more proactive on behalf of our own survival.

 The first time I saw a presentation on the concept of space-based solar power was at the Goldstone Observatory, an hour's drive to the east of Pasadena, California.  It is a wonderful place in the middle of the desert, peaceful, beautiful, with lots of scientists and lots of dishes for solar and deep space research. The scientists are pretty isolated so they were glad to talk visitors. My Dad was with me so I had a good indicator on the geek factor - his question after a talk that rates high on the geekometer - "Who was that sleeping in my seat?" He made it through the entire presentation with his eyes still open at the end. That and the  forty nine cent hamburgers made the trip memorable.

 The premise behind harvesting land or space based solar power is simple, our sun is the largest consistent potential energy source available to mankind. Research is clear, we have multiple ways of harvesting solar power on earth and in space. The earth based solar power industry, a $40 billion industry, has reached a consumer milestone; solar power kits are available at Home Depot in Las Cruces. Space based harvesting of solar power has a long history of powering satellites and powers the International Space Station.

 Harvesting space-based solar power as a power source on earth is a very different business than harvesting solar power on earth. In both cases, the question of economics, not technology, has driven adoption. Collection of solar power for municipal use is a viable option for adoption by power companies such as El Paso Electric. El Paso Electric has added solar power to their portfolio, which also include nuclear power generators. We have a large solar panel farm being installed near Santa Teresa.

Space-based solar power would be an investment - a big one. Yet it would enable the launch of a new industry. The following website http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/ contains multiple links to discussions and research on space-based solar power. The best video is a TED talk at http://www.spaceenergy.com/i/flash/ted_presentation.

 Space-based solar power can be collected by solar panels placed in geosynchronous orbit - 26,000 + miles away. The solar energy would be beamed back to earth on radio waves, safely collected with pinpoint accuracy by dishes, and converted to direct power. The physics of wireless power transmission is proven. Collection would be as safe as space-based satellite transmission of CNN or Dish TV, and the technology could not be weaponized. The Pentagon released a study in 2007 indicating space-based solar power development is a national and indeed a global security necessity to prevent potential all out global energy wars.

Space-based solar power has the advantage of being transferrable on demand. We encountered switching from frozen generators to natural gas generators but it still did not meet demand because demand on natural gas was so great, and transportation was compromised. Rural electrification, considered another strategy in alleviation of persistent poverty, is also enabled by space based and land based solar energy adoption. I suggest we not ask either or questions like land or space-based solar power. Consider learning about and adoption of both.  PG & E is and so is Japan. Both have great demands for energy, Las Cruces is getting there too.

Mr. Bigelow met us in his office and luckily he wanted to talk. As I prepared for this meeting, I read, created questions, anticipated his answers and when I did not know the answers, I continued to research until I did know the answers. In situations like this, I never ask the questions, but the process is a way to prepare for the unexpected. This process also helps the meeting become a conversation. I wanted to know what he'd been thinking about because he thinks years into the future.

Mr. Bigelow is examining the implications of China planning now to occupy and then essentially own the moon. Ownership of the moon has been dealt with in treaties; the most relevant for our discussion was the treaty of 1967. Which Mr. Bigelow printed out for me. As I began writing this article for you, I realized I had to connect the dots because a lot went on. Any errors, are of course, mine.  Here goes.

Mr. Bigelow has two uninhabited orbiting space modules called Genesis 1 and 2 whose day-to-day activities you can view on www.bigelowaerospace.com.  He launched those space modules in 2006 and 2007 on a Dnepr rocket from Russia.

He is now planning to build much larger habitable space craft in his new facility, north of Las Vegas.  We walked through his 24,000 square meter assembly facility for his planned Sundancer and BA-330 habitable space stations. I walked into the capsule, "Orion Lite", a seven person crew capsule he plans to use for his customers to get to his space station. I touched the outer shell of his module and looked at the high speed impact tests on outer shell materials. Mr. Bigelow plans to launch these habitable space craft in 2014, with operations to start in 2015.

Bob Bigelow is about execution. He thinks, reads, researches, talks to the best experts in the world, and then moves. He has been planning to make it possible for nations to live and work off earth for years, now he's building. I wanted to know what's next. He is thinking about the moon, and beyond.

He came to my Symposium (ISPCS) in October and brought his staff out to Spaceport America during that trip. It was there we discussed touring his facility. I know he has spent about $180 million of his own money on his program. In fact, he has spent more money than we have spent to date on our spaceport. It takes years to create a change as large as we are in New Mexico and Mr. Bigelow is creating in commercial space. We are creating a promising future, well beyond the scope of our lifetime.

We cannot blink here in New Mexico. We have dominated the world in commercial Spaceflight facilities development. We are working to create a new space economy. Connect the dots.

Spaceport America is a pull to the future for New Mexico, a way for us to retain our best and brightest to work in a new industry. Bigelow Aerospace employs about 120 full time people, engineers, scientists and yes, astronauts. They are talented young people that obviously love it as they work on a project that is innovative and ground breaking, creating a new future for our country. On his recent visit to New Mexico he saw our young people working on a new space economy as well, just like his people are doing in Nevada.

And just in case anyone is concerned, let's show confidence in the new leadership for our state. Governor Martinez has made it clear Spaceport America is on her agenda. That's what happens when you lead. People, including the Governor take notice. That's what we want. This project has so much potential in its future. Our new Administration is compelled to assure this project is ready for global scrutiny. We will succeed; let's not forget our heritage in the space industry goes back to Robert Goddard. Connect the dots. I know we can, it's a promising future we are creating.

Mr. Bigelow met us in his office and luckily he wanted to talk. As I prepared for this meeting, I read, created questions, anticipated his answers and when I did not know the answers, I continued to research until I did know the answers. In situations like this, I never ask the questions, but the process is a way to prepare for the unexpected. This process also helps the meeting become a conversation. I wanted to know what he'd been thinking about because he thinks years into the future.

Mr. Bigelow is examining the implications of China planning now to occupy and then essentially own the moon. Ownership of the moon has been dealt with in treaties; the most relevant for our discussion was the treaty of 1967. Which Mr. Bigelow printed out for me. As I began writing this article for you, I realized I had to connect the dots because a lot went on. Any errors, are of course, mine.  Here goes.

Mr. Bigelow has two uninhabited orbiting space modules called Genesis 1 and 2 whose day-to-day activities you can view on www.bigelowaerospace.com.  He launched those space modules in 2006 and 2007 on a Dnepr rocket from Russia.

He is now planning to build much larger habitable space craft in his new facility, north of Las Vegas.  We walked through his 24,000 square meter assembly facility for his planned Sundancer and BA-330 habitable space stations. I walked into the capsule, "Orion Lite", a seven person crew capsule he plans to use for his customers to get to his space station. I touched the outer shell of his module and looked at the high speed impact tests on outer shell materials. Mr. Bigelow plans to launch these habitable space craft in 2014, with operations to start in 2015.

Bob Bigelow is about execution. He thinks, reads, researches, talks to the best experts in the world, and then moves. He has been planning to make it possible for nations to live and work off earth for years, now he's building. I wanted to know what's next. He is thinking about the moon, and beyond.

He came to my Symposium (ISPCS) in October and brought his staff out to Spaceport America during that trip. It was there we discussed touring his facility. I know he has spent about $180 million of his own money on his program. In fact, he has spent more money than we have spent to date on our spaceport. It takes years to create a change as large as we are in New Mexico and Mr. Bigelow is creating in commercial space. We are creating a promising future, well beyond the scope of our lifetime.

We cannot blink here in New Mexico. We have dominated the world in commercial Spaceflight facilities development. We are working to create a new space economy. Connect the dots.

Spaceport America is a pull to the future for New Mexico, a way for us to retain our best and brightest to work in a new industry. Bigelow Aerospace employs about 120 full time people, engineers, scientists and yes, astronauts. They are talented young people that obviously love it as they work on a project that is innovative and ground breaking, creating a new future for our country. On his recent visit to New Mexico he saw our young people working on a new space economy as well, just like his people are doing in Nevada.

And just in case anyone is concerned, let's show confidence in the new leadership for our state. Governor Martinez has made it clear Spaceport America is on her agenda. That's what happens when you lead. People, including the Governor take notice. That's what we want. This project has so much potential in its future. Our new Administration is compelled to assure this project is ready for global scrutiny. We will succeed; let's not forget our heritage in the space industry goes back to Robert Goddard. Connect the dots. I know we can, it's a promising future we are creating.

Mr. Bigelow met us in his office and luckily he wanted to talk. As I prepared for this meeting, I read, created questions, anticipated his answers and when I did not know the answers, I continued to research until I did know the answers. In situations like this, I never ask the questions, but the process is a way to prepare for the unexpected. This process also helps the meeting become a conversation. I wanted to know what he'd been thinking about because he thinks years into the future.

Mr. Bigelow is examining the implications of China planning now to occupy and then essentially own the moon. Ownership of the moon has been dealt with in treaties; the most relevant for our discussion was the treaty of 1967. Which Mr. Bigelow printed out for me. As I began writing this article for you, I realized I had to connect the dots because a lot went on. Any errors, are of course, mine.  Here goes.

Mr. Bigelow has two uninhabited orbiting space modules called Genesis 1 and 2 whose day-to-day activities you can view on www.bigelowaerospace.com.  He launched those space modules in 2006 and 2007 on a Dnepr rocket from Russia.

He is now planning to build much larger habitable space craft in his new facility, north of Las Vegas.  We walked through his 24,000 square meter assembly facility for his planned Sundancer and BA-330 habitable space stations. I walked into the capsule, "Orion Lite", a seven person crew capsule he plans to use for his customers to get to his space station. I touched the outer shell of his module and looked at the high speed impact tests on outer shell materials. Mr. Bigelow plans to launch these habitable space craft in 2014, with operations to start in 2015.

Bob Bigelow is about execution. He thinks, reads, researches, talks to the best experts in the world, and then moves. He has been planning to make it possible for nations to live and work off earth for years, now he's building. I wanted to know what's next. He is thinking about the moon, and beyond.

He came to my Symposium (ISPCS) in October and brought his staff out to Spaceport America during that trip. It was there we discussed touring his facility. I know he has spent about $180 million of his own money on his program. In fact, he has spent more money than we have spent to date on our spaceport. It takes years to create a change as large as we are in New Mexico and Mr. Bigelow is creating in commercial space. We are creating a promising future, well beyond the scope of our lifetime.

We cannot blink here in New Mexico. We have dominated the world in commercial Spaceflight facilities development. We are working to create a new space economy. Connect the dots.

Spaceport America is a pull to the future for New Mexico, a way for us to retain our best and brightest to work in a new industry. Bigelow Aerospace employs about 120 full time people, engineers, scientists and yes, astronauts. They are talented young people that obviously love it as they work on a project that is innovative and ground breaking, creating a new future for our country. On his recent visit to New Mexico he saw our young people working on a new space economy as well, just like his people are doing in Nevada.

And just in case anyone is concerned, let's show confidence in the new leadership for our state. Governor Martinez has made it clear Spaceport America is on her agenda. That's what happens when you lead. People, including the Governor take notice. That's what we want. This project has so much potential in its future. Our new Administration is compelled to assure this project is ready for global scrutiny. We will succeed; let's not forget our heritage in the space industry goes back to Robert Goddard. Connect the dots. I know we can, it's a promising future we are creating.

Mr. Bigelow met us in his office and luckily he wanted to talk. As I prepared for this meeting, I read, created questions, anticipated his answers and when I did not know the answers, I continued to research until I did know the answers. In situations like this, I never ask the questions, but the process is a way to prepare for the unexpected. This process also helps the meeting become a conversation. I wanted to know what he'd been thinking about because he thinks years into the future.

Mr. Bigelow is examining the implications of China planning now to occupy and then essentially own the moon. Ownership of the moon has been dealt with in treaties; the most relevant for our discussion was the treaty of 1967. Which Mr. Bigelow printed out for me. As I began writing this article for you, I realized I had to connect the dots because a lot went on. Any errors, are of course, mine.  Here goes.

Mr. Bigelow has two uninhabited orbiting space modules called Genesis 1 and 2 whose day-to-day activities you can view on www.bigelowaerospace.com.  He launched those space modules in 2006 and 2007 on a Dnepr rocket from Russia.

He is now planning to build much larger habitable space craft in his new facility, north of Las Vegas.  We walked through his 24,000 square meter assembly facility for his planned Sundancer and BA-330 habitable space stations. I walked into the capsule, "Orion Lite", a seven person crew capsule he plans to use for his customers to get to his space station. I touched the outer shell of his module and looked at the high speed impact tests on outer shell materials. Mr. Bigelow plans to launch these habitable space craft in 2014, with operations to start in 2015.

Bob Bigelow is about execution. He thinks, reads, researches, talks to the best experts in the world, and then moves. He has been planning to make it possible for nations to live and work off earth for years, now he's building. I wanted to know what's next. He is thinking about the moon, and beyond.

He came to my Symposium (ISPCS) in October and brought his staff out to Spaceport America during that trip. It was there we discussed touring his facility. I know he has spent about $180 million of his own money on his program. In fact, he has spent more money than we have spent to date on our spaceport. It takes years to create a change as large as we are in New Mexico and Mr. Bigelow is creating in commercial space. We are creating a promising future, well beyond the scope of our lifetime.

We cannot blink here in New Mexico. We have dominated the world in commercial Spaceflight facilities development. We are working to create a new space economy. Connect the dots.

Spaceport America is a pull to the future for New Mexico, a way for us to retain our best and brightest to work in a new industry. Bigelow Aerospace employs about 120 full time people, engineers, scientists and yes, astronauts. They are talented young people that obviously love it as they work on a project that is innovative and ground breaking, creating a new future for our country. On his recent visit to New Mexico he saw our young people working on a new space economy as well, just like his people are doing in Nevada.

And just in case anyone is concerned, let's show confidence in the new leadership for our state. Governor Martinez has made it clear Spaceport America is on her agenda. That's what happens when you lead. People, including the Governor take notice. That's what we want. This project has so much potential in its future. Our new Administration is compelled to assure this project is ready for global scrutiny. We will succeed; let's not forget our heritage in the space industry goes back to Robert Goddard. Connect the dots. I know we can, it's a promising future we are creating.

Mr. Bigelow met us in his office and luckily he wanted to talk. As I prepared for this meeting, I read, created questions, anticipated his answers and when I did not know the answers, I continued to research until I did know the answers. In situations like this, I never ask the questions, but the process is a way to prepare for the unexpected. This process also helps the meeting become a conversation. I wanted to know what he'd been thinking about because he thinks years into the future.

Mr. Bigelow is examining the implications of China planning now to occupy and then essentially own the moon. Ownership of the moon has been dealt with in treaties; the most relevant for our discussion was the treaty of 1967. Which Mr. Bigelow printed out for me. As I began writing this article for you, I realized I had to connect the dots because a lot went on. Any errors, are of course, mine.  Here goes.

Mr. Bigelow has two uninhabited orbiting space modules called Genesis 1 and 2 whose day-to-day activities you can view on www.bigelowaerospace.com.  He launched those space modules in 2006 and 2007 on a Dnepr rocket from Russia.

He is now planning to build much larger habitable space craft in his new facility, north of Las Vegas.  We walked through his 24,000 square meter assembly facility for his planned Sundancer and BA-330 habitable space stations. I walked into the capsule, "Orion Lite", a seven person crew capsule he plans to use for his customers to get to his space station. I touched the outer shell of his module and looked at the high speed impact tests on outer shell materials. Mr. Bigelow plans to launch these habitable space craft in 2014, with operations to start in 2015.

Bob Bigelow is about execution. He thinks, reads, researches, talks to the best experts in the world, and then moves. He has been planning to make it possible for nations to live and work off earth for years, now he's building. I wanted to know what's next. He is thinking about the moon, and beyond.

He came to my Symposium (ISPCS) in October and brought his staff out to Spaceport America during that trip. It was there we discussed touring his facility. I know he has spent about $180 million of his own money on his program. In fact, he has spent more money than we have spent to date on our spaceport. It takes years to create a change as large as we are in New Mexico and Mr. Bigelow is creating in commercial space. We are creating a promising future, well beyond the scope of our lifetime.

We cannot blink here in New Mexico. We have dominated the world in commercial Spaceflight facilities development. We are working to create a new space economy. Connect the dots.

Spaceport America is a pull to the future for New Mexico, a way for us to retain our best and brightest to work in a new industry. Bigelow Aerospace employs about 120 full time people, engineers, scientists and yes, astronauts. They are talented young people that obviously love it as they work on a project that is innovative and ground breaking, creating a new future for our country. On his recent visit to New Mexico he saw our young people working on a new space economy as well, just like his people are doing in Nevada.

And just in case anyone is concerned, let's show confidence in the new leadership for our state. Governor Martinez has made it clear Spaceport America is on her agenda. That's what happens when you lead. People, including the Governor take notice. That's what we want. This project has so much potential in its future. Our new Administration is compelled to assure this project is ready for global scrutiny. We will succeed; let's not forget our heritage in the space industry goes back to Robert Goddard. Connect the dots. I know we can, it's a promising future we are creating.

 In my first column, I suggested people in our community know more about the space industry than we give ourselves credit for. End-of-year update: I gave away all twenty five books on the future of air and space travel offered in my column a month ago. That's one way our community stays current and informed. We read. We not only have people interested in the space industry and willing to grow their knowledge, but we also have an extraordinary community of scholars in our midst. I will tell you about one scholar.

 At a Christmas party, a neighbor told me about his current life's work. He built an astronomical observatory and attached it to his house. He is interested in learning about asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. He works at his own pace, on his own dime. His purpose is to learn about these celestial bodies, some of which are considered minor planets. While adding to his own knowledge, he also seeks to add to mankind's knowledge about this group of heavenly bodies.  His findings have been published in numerous scholarly journals, but that is not why he observes and shares his knowledge. He does it because he loves it and adding to the human body of knowledge gives his life joy and meaning.

Our clear skies in New Mexico provided Alan Hale, the co - discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, his life changing opportunity. He was observing on his own time on his own dime too.   He is still very involved in giving back to his state. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University Astronomy Program. I am proud to say New Mexico Space Grant provided Alan a graduate fellowship during his Ph.D program. Alan comes to all our student launches at the spaceport and he always makes himself available to speak to the students.

 We are now preparing for our next launch. We will have 33 experiments flying from Spaceport America on April 1, 2011. Most will be built by middle school students and teachers with help from volunteers. Members of the community are welcome to join us. And as I get the logistics finalized, I will tell you how to sign up to come out to the launch.

So many of us have worked to make Las Cruces and New Mexico a better place to live. Keep it up. I will too. You know all the little thing we do add up. The economic impact of recycling may not show up on any year end reports, the Pink Campaign will likely be ignored by Wall Street, and the Mariachi Conference won't make it onto Entertainment Tonight. Let's keep recycling anyway, let's support our community's health, and let's keep the music coming, after all, it's never been between anyone else but you and me. I'm with you, let's keep going and challenge 2011 to be an improvement on 2010.

 In my first column, I suggested people in our community know more about the space industry than we give ourselves credit for. End-of-year update: I gave away all twenty five books on the future of air and space travel offered in my column a month ago. That's one way our community stays current and informed. We read. We not only have people interested in the space industry and willing to grow their knowledge, but we also have an extraordinary community of scholars in our midst. I will tell you about one scholar.

 At a Christmas party, a neighbor told me about his current life's work. He built an astronomical observatory and attached it to his house. He is interested in learning about asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. He works at his own pace, on his own dime. His purpose is to learn about these celestial bodies, some of which are considered minor planets. While adding to his own knowledge, he also seeks to add to mankind's knowledge about this group of heavenly bodies.  His findings have been published in numerous scholarly journals, but that is not why he observes and shares his knowledge. He does it because he loves it and adding to the human body of knowledge gives his life joy and meaning.

Our clear skies in New Mexico provided Alan Hale, the co - discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, his life changing opportunity. He was observing on his own time on his own dime too.   He is still very involved in giving back to his state. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University Astronomy Program. I am proud to say New Mexico Space Grant provided Alan a graduate fellowship during his Ph.D program. Alan comes to all our student launches at the spaceport and he always makes himself available to speak to the students.

 We are now preparing for our next launch. We will have 33 experiments flying from Spaceport America on April 1, 2011. Most will be built by middle school students and teachers with help from volunteers. Members of the community are welcome to join us. And as I get the logistics finalized, I will tell you how to sign up to come out to the launch.

So many of us have worked to make Las Cruces and New Mexico a better place to live. Keep it up. I will too. You know all the little thing we do add up. The economic impact of recycling may not show up on any year end reports, the Pink Campaign will likely be ignored by Wall Street, and the Mariachi Conference won't make it onto Entertainment Tonight. Let's keep recycling anyway, let's support our community's health, and let's keep the music coming, after all, it's never been between anyone else but you and me. I'm with you, let's keep going and challenge 2011 to be an improvement on 2010.

 In my first column, I suggested people in our community know more about the space industry than we give ourselves credit for. End-of-year update: I gave away all twenty five books on the future of air and space travel offered in my column a month ago. That's one way our community stays current and informed. We read. We not only have people interested in the space industry and willing to grow their knowledge, but we also have an extraordinary community of scholars in our midst. I will tell you about one scholar.

 At a Christmas party, a neighbor told me about his current life's work. He built an astronomical observatory and attached it to his house. He is interested in learning about asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. He works at his own pace, on his own dime. His purpose is to learn about these celestial bodies, some of which are considered minor planets. While adding to his own knowledge, he also seeks to add to mankind's knowledge about this group of heavenly bodies.  His findings have been published in numerous scholarly journals, but that is not why he observes and shares his knowledge. He does it because he loves it and adding to the human body of knowledge gives his life joy and meaning.

Our clear skies in New Mexico provided Alan Hale, the co - discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, his life changing opportunity. He was observing on his own time on his own dime too.   He is still very involved in giving back to his state. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University Astronomy Program. I am proud to say New Mexico Space Grant provided Alan a graduate fellowship during his Ph.D program. Alan comes to all our student launches at the spaceport and he always makes himself available to speak to the students.

 We are now preparing for our next launch. We will have 33 experiments flying from Spaceport America on April 1, 2011. Most will be built by middle school students and teachers with help from volunteers. Members of the community are welcome to join us. And as I get the logistics finalized, I will tell you how to sign up to come out to the launch.

So many of us have worked to make Las Cruces and New Mexico a better place to live. Keep it up. I will too. You know all the little thing we do add up. The economic impact of recycling may not show up on any year end reports, the Pink Campaign will likely be ignored by Wall Street, and the Mariachi Conference won't make it onto Entertainment Tonight. Let's keep recycling anyway, let's support our community's health, and let's keep the music coming, after all, it's never been between anyone else but you and me. I'm with you, let's keep going and challenge 2011 to be an improvement on 2010.

 In my first column, I suggested people in our community know more about the space industry than we give ourselves credit for. End-of-year update: I gave away all twenty five books on the future of air and space travel offered in my column a month ago. That's one way our community stays current and informed. We read. We not only have people interested in the space industry and willing to grow their knowledge, but we also have an extraordinary community of scholars in our midst. I will tell you about one scholar.

 At a Christmas party, a neighbor told me about his current life's work. He built an astronomical observatory and attached it to his house. He is interested in learning about asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. He works at his own pace, on his own dime. His purpose is to learn about these celestial bodies, some of which are considered minor planets. While adding to his own knowledge, he also seeks to add to mankind's knowledge about this group of heavenly bodies.  His findings have been published in numerous scholarly journals, but that is not why he observes and shares his knowledge. He does it because he loves it and adding to the human body of knowledge gives his life joy and meaning.

Our clear skies in New Mexico provided Alan Hale, the co - discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, his life changing opportunity. He was observing on his own time on his own dime too.   He is still very involved in giving back to his state. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University Astronomy Program. I am proud to say New Mexico Space Grant provided Alan a graduate fellowship during his Ph.D program. Alan comes to all our student launches at the spaceport and he always makes himself available to speak to the students.

 We are now preparing for our next launch. We will have 33 experiments flying from Spaceport America on April 1, 2011. Most will be built by middle school students and teachers with help from volunteers. Members of the community are welcome to join us. And as I get the logistics finalized, I will tell you how to sign up to come out to the launch.

So many of us have worked to make Las Cruces and New Mexico a better place to live. Keep it up. I will too. You know all the little thing we do add up. The economic impact of recycling may not show up on any year end reports, the Pink Campaign will likely be ignored by Wall Street, and the Mariachi Conference won't make it onto Entertainment Tonight. Let's keep recycling anyway, let's support our community's health, and let's keep the music coming, after all, it's never been between anyone else but you and me. I'm with you, let's keep going and challenge 2011 to be an improvement on 2010.

 In my first column, I suggested people in our community know more about the space industry than we give ourselves credit for. End-of-year update: I gave away all twenty five books on the future of air and space travel offered in my column a month ago. That's one way our community stays current and informed. We read. We not only have people interested in the space industry and willing to grow their knowledge, but we also have an extraordinary community of scholars in our midst. I will tell you about one scholar.

 At a Christmas party, a neighbor told me about his current life's work. He built an astronomical observatory and attached it to his house. He is interested in learning about asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. He works at his own pace, on his own dime. His purpose is to learn about these celestial bodies, some of which are considered minor planets. While adding to his own knowledge, he also seeks to add to mankind's knowledge about this group of heavenly bodies.  His findings have been published in numerous scholarly journals, but that is not why he observes and shares his knowledge. He does it because he loves it and adding to the human body of knowledge gives his life joy and meaning.

Our clear skies in New Mexico provided Alan Hale, the co - discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, his life changing opportunity. He was observing on his own time on his own dime too.   He is still very involved in giving back to his state. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University Astronomy Program. I am proud to say New Mexico Space Grant provided Alan a graduate fellowship during his Ph.D program. Alan comes to all our student launches at the spaceport and he always makes himself available to speak to the students.

 We are now preparing for our next launch. We will have 33 experiments flying from Spaceport America on April 1, 2011. Most will be built by middle school students and teachers with help from volunteers. Members of the community are welcome to join us. And as I get the logistics finalized, I will tell you how to sign up to come out to the launch.

So many of us have worked to make Las Cruces and New Mexico a better place to live. Keep it up. I will too. You know all the little thing we do add up. The economic impact of recycling may not show up on any year end reports, the Pink Campaign will likely be ignored by Wall Street, and the Mariachi Conference won't make it onto Entertainment Tonight. Let's keep recycling anyway, let's support our community's health, and let's keep the music coming, after all, it's never been between anyone else but you and me. I'm with you, let's keep going and challenge 2011 to be an improvement on 2010.

 In my first column, I suggested people in our community know more about the space industry than we give ourselves credit for. End-of-year update: I gave away all twenty five books on the future of air and space travel offered in my column a month ago. That's one way our community stays current and informed. We read. We not only have people interested in the space industry and willing to grow their knowledge, but we also have an extraordinary community of scholars in our midst. I will tell you about one scholar.

 At a Christmas party, a neighbor told me about his current life's work. He built an astronomical observatory and attached it to his house. He is interested in learning about asteroids in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter. He works at his own pace, on his own dime. His purpose is to learn about these celestial bodies, some of which are considered minor planets. While adding to his own knowledge, he also seeks to add to mankind's knowledge about this group of heavenly bodies.  His findings have been published in numerous scholarly journals, but that is not why he observes and shares his knowledge. He does it because he loves it and adding to the human body of knowledge gives his life joy and meaning.

Our clear skies in New Mexico provided Alan Hale, the co - discoverer of the Hale-Bopp comet, his life changing opportunity. He was observing on his own time on his own dime too.   He is still very involved in giving back to his state. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University Astronomy Program. I am proud to say New Mexico Space Grant provided Alan a graduate fellowship during his Ph.D program. Alan comes to all our student launches at the spaceport and he always makes himself available to speak to the students.

 We are now preparing for our next launch. We will have 33 experiments flying from Spaceport America on April 1, 2011. Most will be built by middle school students and teachers with help from volunteers. Members of the community are welcome to join us. And as I get the logistics finalized, I will tell you how to sign up to come out to the launch.

So many of us have worked to make Las Cruces and New Mexico a better place to live. Keep it up. I will too. You know all the little thing we do add up. The economic impact of recycling may not show up on any year end reports, the Pink Campaign will likely be ignored by Wall Street, and the Mariachi Conference won't make it onto Entertainment Tonight. Let's keep recycling anyway, let's support our community's health, and let's keep the music coming, after all, it's never been between anyone else but you and me. I'm with you, let's keep going and challenge 2011 to be an improvement on 2010.

 I listen to Car Talk on Saturdays on KRWG. At least once a month, someone calls about a long trip they are planning and ask the guys how to get their car or truck ready. They are doing what engineers and scientists do when planning deep space missions, just on a different scale.

 The Japanese Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) Mission, was a 7 year, 6 billion mile round trip to the little asteroid Itokawa , named after Dr. Hideo Itokawa. The main objective of the mission was to retrieve dust particles from Itokawas' surface and return them to earth.  Google the mission and get the stunning details on this entire project. I won't list them here. This story is about the amazing times we live in and how we are beginning to get answers to simple questions like, where do we come from, what are we made of, and in this case, why go to an asteroid? Let's start there.

 An asteroid is a rock, a time capsule, believed to contain clues that help us piece together the origin and evolution of the elements that make up the solar system. Bringing back samples from a time capsule indicating the origins of the solar system would advance scientific knowledge. Little kids want to know where they come from; it's part of being human. If you take an aspirin, you know, humans are similar, aspirin relieves pain for most of us, so how did it happen we are mostly made the same? Asteroid dust could be our next set of clues.

 Most kids are satisfied with - you came from...take your pick. Parents usually try the short answers first and hope the questions stop before detail is required. Well, after reading this article, you may be off the hook for the birds and bees talk until 8^th grade or so. Yikes - 8^th grade. That's someone else's article.

 The Japanese were determined to add to our expanding knowledge not only about the origins of life, but also to understand the engineering requirements of long duration spaceflight. They recovered from multiple system failures on this modest spacecraft. One of the technologies used on this six billion mile trip was the ion engine, there were 4. We all get hysterical over a Toyota engine if it tops 200,000 miles. Well, think about it, seven years, six billion miles. The moon is only 283,000 miles away. Mars at its closest point to earth was about 340 million miles, in 1993, so a round trip might be as little as approximately 700 million miles.  Short by comparison to the Hayabusa mission. Granted the ion engine caused most of the mission problems too, but they worked. They are one of the breakthrough technologies to be examined as the Japanese, and the U.S who were partners on the mission, breakdown how to use all we learned from this mission.

 Haybusa is the first mission ever to return samples from an asteroid's surface. We had another first this week, the launch and reentry of the SpaceX Dragon lab cargo capsule from low earth orbit. As reported earlier in the week in the Sun News, this was the first commercial company to assume the majority of the development risk for a spacecraft to return to earth from orbit. Our NASA White Sands Test Facility personnel helped Space X trained company crew on handling and use of appropriate protocols while handling liquid oxygen and other high pressure fuels used on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 engines are also new technologies developed by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launched the Dragon lab. The launch vehicle and the capsule were designed to bridge the gap to service the International Space Station when the Shuttle stops flying in a year.  I am grateful to be alive during very interesting times. 

 I listen to Car Talk on Saturdays on KRWG. At least once a month, someone calls about a long trip they are planning and ask the guys how to get their car or truck ready. They are doing what engineers and scientists do when planning deep space missions, just on a different scale.

 The Japanese Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) Mission, was a 7 year, 6 billion mile round trip to the little asteroid Itokawa , named after Dr. Hideo Itokawa. The main objective of the mission was to retrieve dust particles from Itokawas' surface and return them to earth.  Google the mission and get the stunning details on this entire project. I won't list them here. This story is about the amazing times we live in and how we are beginning to get answers to simple questions like, where do we come from, what are we made of, and in this case, why go to an asteroid? Let's start there.

 An asteroid is a rock, a time capsule, believed to contain clues that help us piece together the origin and evolution of the elements that make up the solar system. Bringing back samples from a time capsule indicating the origins of the solar system would advance scientific knowledge. Little kids want to know where they come from; it's part of being human. If you take an aspirin, you know, humans are similar, aspirin relieves pain for most of us, so how did it happen we are mostly made the same? Asteroid dust could be our next set of clues.

 Most kids are satisfied with - you came from...take your pick. Parents usually try the short answers first and hope the questions stop before detail is required. Well, after reading this article, you may be off the hook for the birds and bees talk until 8^th grade or so. Yikes - 8^th grade. That's someone else's article.

 The Japanese were determined to add to our expanding knowledge not only about the origins of life, but also to understand the engineering requirements of long duration spaceflight. They recovered from multiple system failures on this modest spacecraft. One of the technologies used on this six billion mile trip was the ion engine, there were 4. We all get hysterical over a Toyota engine if it tops 200,000 miles. Well, think about it, seven years, six billion miles. The moon is only 283,000 miles away. Mars at its closest point to earth was about 340 million miles, in 1993, so a round trip might be as little as approximately 700 million miles.  Short by comparison to the Hayabusa mission. Granted the ion engine caused most of the mission problems too, but they worked. They are one of the breakthrough technologies to be examined as the Japanese, and the U.S who were partners on the mission, breakdown how to use all we learned from this mission.

 Haybusa is the first mission ever to return samples from an asteroid's surface. We had another first this week, the launch and reentry of the SpaceX Dragon lab cargo capsule from low earth orbit. As reported earlier in the week in the Sun News, this was the first commercial company to assume the majority of the development risk for a spacecraft to return to earth from orbit. Our NASA White Sands Test Facility personnel helped Space X trained company crew on handling and use of appropriate protocols while handling liquid oxygen and other high pressure fuels used on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 engines are also new technologies developed by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launched the Dragon lab. The launch vehicle and the capsule were designed to bridge the gap to service the International Space Station when the Shuttle stops flying in a year.  I am grateful to be alive during very interesting times. 

 I listen to Car Talk on Saturdays on KRWG. At least once a month, someone calls about a long trip they are planning and ask the guys how to get their car or truck ready. They are doing what engineers and scientists do when planning deep space missions, just on a different scale.

 The Japanese Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) Mission, was a 7 year, 6 billion mile round trip to the little asteroid Itokawa , named after Dr. Hideo Itokawa. The main objective of the mission was to retrieve dust particles from Itokawas' surface and return them to earth.  Google the mission and get the stunning details on this entire project. I won't list them here. This story is about the amazing times we live in and how we are beginning to get answers to simple questions like, where do we come from, what are we made of, and in this case, why go to an asteroid? Let's start there.

 An asteroid is a rock, a time capsule, believed to contain clues that help us piece together the origin and evolution of the elements that make up the solar system. Bringing back samples from a time capsule indicating the origins of the solar system would advance scientific knowledge. Little kids want to know where they come from; it's part of being human. If you take an aspirin, you know, humans are similar, aspirin relieves pain for most of us, so how did it happen we are mostly made the same? Asteroid dust could be our next set of clues.

 Most kids are satisfied with - you came from...take your pick. Parents usually try the short answers first and hope the questions stop before detail is required. Well, after reading this article, you may be off the hook for the birds and bees talk until 8^th grade or so. Yikes - 8^th grade. That's someone else's article.

 The Japanese were determined to add to our expanding knowledge not only about the origins of life, but also to understand the engineering requirements of long duration spaceflight. They recovered from multiple system failures on this modest spacecraft. One of the technologies used on this six billion mile trip was the ion engine, there were 4. We all get hysterical over a Toyota engine if it tops 200,000 miles. Well, think about it, seven years, six billion miles. The moon is only 283,000 miles away. Mars at its closest point to earth was about 340 million miles, in 1993, so a round trip might be as little as approximately 700 million miles.  Short by comparison to the Hayabusa mission. Granted the ion engine caused most of the mission problems too, but they worked. They are one of the breakthrough technologies to be examined as the Japanese, and the U.S who were partners on the mission, breakdown how to use all we learned from this mission.

 Haybusa is the first mission ever to return samples from an asteroid's surface. We had another first this week, the launch and reentry of the SpaceX Dragon lab cargo capsule from low earth orbit. As reported earlier in the week in the Sun News, this was the first commercial company to assume the majority of the development risk for a spacecraft to return to earth from orbit. Our NASA White Sands Test Facility personnel helped Space X trained company crew on handling and use of appropriate protocols while handling liquid oxygen and other high pressure fuels used on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 engines are also new technologies developed by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launched the Dragon lab. The launch vehicle and the capsule were designed to bridge the gap to service the International Space Station when the Shuttle stops flying in a year.  I am grateful to be alive during very interesting times. 

 I listen to Car Talk on Saturdays on KRWG. At least once a month, someone calls about a long trip they are planning and ask the guys how to get their car or truck ready. They are doing what engineers and scientists do when planning deep space missions, just on a different scale.

 The Japanese Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) Mission, was a 7 year, 6 billion mile round trip to the little asteroid Itokawa , named after Dr. Hideo Itokawa. The main objective of the mission was to retrieve dust particles from Itokawas' surface and return them to earth.  Google the mission and get the stunning details on this entire project. I won't list them here. This story is about the amazing times we live in and how we are beginning to get answers to simple questions like, where do we come from, what are we made of, and in this case, why go to an asteroid? Let's start there.

 An asteroid is a rock, a time capsule, believed to contain clues that help us piece together the origin and evolution of the elements that make up the solar system. Bringing back samples from a time capsule indicating the origins of the solar system would advance scientific knowledge. Little kids want to know where they come from; it's part of being human. If you take an aspirin, you know, humans are similar, aspirin relieves pain for most of us, so how did it happen we are mostly made the same? Asteroid dust could be our next set of clues.

 Most kids are satisfied with - you came from...take your pick. Parents usually try the short answers first and hope the questions stop before detail is required. Well, after reading this article, you may be off the hook for the birds and bees talk until 8^th grade or so. Yikes - 8^th grade. That's someone else's article.

 The Japanese were determined to add to our expanding knowledge not only about the origins of life, but also to understand the engineering requirements of long duration spaceflight. They recovered from multiple system failures on this modest spacecraft. One of the technologies used on this six billion mile trip was the ion engine, there were 4. We all get hysterical over a Toyota engine if it tops 200,000 miles. Well, think about it, seven years, six billion miles. The moon is only 283,000 miles away. Mars at its closest point to earth was about 340 million miles, in 1993, so a round trip might be as little as approximately 700 million miles.  Short by comparison to the Hayabusa mission. Granted the ion engine caused most of the mission problems too, but they worked. They are one of the breakthrough technologies to be examined as the Japanese, and the U.S who were partners on the mission, breakdown how to use all we learned from this mission.

 Haybusa is the first mission ever to return samples from an asteroid's surface. We had another first this week, the launch and reentry of the SpaceX Dragon lab cargo capsule from low earth orbit. As reported earlier in the week in the Sun News, this was the first commercial company to assume the majority of the development risk for a spacecraft to return to earth from orbit. Our NASA White Sands Test Facility personnel helped Space X trained company crew on handling and use of appropriate protocols while handling liquid oxygen and other high pressure fuels used on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 engines are also new technologies developed by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launched the Dragon lab. The launch vehicle and the capsule were designed to bridge the gap to service the International Space Station when the Shuttle stops flying in a year.  I am grateful to be alive during very interesting times. 

 I listen to Car Talk on Saturdays on KRWG. At least once a month, someone calls about a long trip they are planning and ask the guys how to get their car or truck ready. They are doing what engineers and scientists do when planning deep space missions, just on a different scale.

 The Japanese Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) Mission, was a 7 year, 6 billion mile round trip to the little asteroid Itokawa , named after Dr. Hideo Itokawa. The main objective of the mission was to retrieve dust particles from Itokawas' surface and return them to earth.  Google the mission and get the stunning details on this entire project. I won't list them here. This story is about the amazing times we live in and how we are beginning to get answers to simple questions like, where do we come from, what are we made of, and in this case, why go to an asteroid? Let's start there.

 An asteroid is a rock, a time capsule, believed to contain clues that help us piece together the origin and evolution of the elements that make up the solar system. Bringing back samples from a time capsule indicating the origins of the solar system would advance scientific knowledge. Little kids want to know where they come from; it's part of being human. If you take an aspirin, you know, humans are similar, aspirin relieves pain for most of us, so how did it happen we are mostly made the same? Asteroid dust could be our next set of clues.

 Most kids are satisfied with - you came from...take your pick. Parents usually try the short answers first and hope the questions stop before detail is required. Well, after reading this article, you may be off the hook for the birds and bees talk until 8^th grade or so. Yikes - 8^th grade. That's someone else's article.

 The Japanese were determined to add to our expanding knowledge not only about the origins of life, but also to understand the engineering requirements of long duration spaceflight. They recovered from multiple system failures on this modest spacecraft. One of the technologies used on this six billion mile trip was the ion engine, there were 4. We all get hysterical over a Toyota engine if it tops 200,000 miles. Well, think about it, seven years, six billion miles. The moon is only 283,000 miles away. Mars at its closest point to earth was about 340 million miles, in 1993, so a round trip might be as little as approximately 700 million miles.  Short by comparison to the Hayabusa mission. Granted the ion engine caused most of the mission problems too, but they worked. They are one of the breakthrough technologies to be examined as the Japanese, and the U.S who were partners on the mission, breakdown how to use all we learned from this mission.

 Haybusa is the first mission ever to return samples from an asteroid's surface. We had another first this week, the launch and reentry of the SpaceX Dragon lab cargo capsule from low earth orbit. As reported earlier in the week in the Sun News, this was the first commercial company to assume the majority of the development risk for a spacecraft to return to earth from orbit. Our NASA White Sands Test Facility personnel helped Space X trained company crew on handling and use of appropriate protocols while handling liquid oxygen and other high pressure fuels used on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The Falcon 9 engines are also new technologies developed by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launched the Dragon lab. The launch vehicle and the capsule were designed to bridge the gap to service the International Space Station when the Shuttle stops flying in a year.  I am grateful to be alive during very interesting times. 

 Through my work I have read many stories on the history of aviation. I discovered this book is not only contains history of aviation industry, it also is a visionary's perspective on the future of flying. Forecasting eighty five years into the future is certainly difficult, the books is easy to read and very enjoyable. What will the world be like in 2093?

 I have heard plenty of forecasting about the future of air and space travel. Most of the discussion is contained within the five to ten year time frame. It is good for us to have these conversations in Southern New Mexico, as we are leading the world in the development of commercial space transportation investment. I don't make that statement lightly either. The fact that the State of New Mexico is investing in Spaceport America is a significant risk for New Mexicans. For those of us looking to the future of our community, it will serve us well to continue our own dialog as well as listen to others as they struggle with the future of their air and space travel.  We are not alone in wondering what the future of this next mode of transportation will be.

  "We shape our future with the decisions and choices we make today" stated Sirkka Heinonen, a professor of in the School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland's Futures Research Centre. She also indicates her research on societies tells her humans have and will remain fundamentally the same. They like to move, they like to travel.  People will have more leisure time to travel for pleasure and the experience will become more important. True, travel for work, to see family and friends will continue, but the focus on the travel experience will continue to drive the growth of the airline industry.

 As multiple modes of transportation improve across the globe as, rail, bus, and even bike riding increase our mobility, she predicts people will improve their economic circumstances because of increased access to the work place.  Green technology will improve fuels, materials and they enable more people to travel at lower costs. Airspace will be monitored by smart vehicles, able to sense and avoid each other both on the ground and in the air. Sanna Syri, Technology Manager of Energy Systems at VTT Technical Research Center of Finland believes the air transportation industry might include zero-emissions technology and solar powered small aircraft. It is clear in the next twenty years, surviving commercial airlines will have to invest in energy-efficient technologies as a key survival strategy. Air transportation accounts for approximately two percent of carbon dioxide emissions but that will increase.  Air traffic doubles every fifteen years, as stated by Andrew Hale with Delft University of Technology.  Approximately eight percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product relies on flying. 

 It takes approximately ten years to design and manufacture a new aircraft. The Airbus A380 will have a production period of 30 to 40 years.  The last aircraft in this production period will probably fly for 30 to 40 years. Commercial aircraft cycles are 70 to 80 years. So, it is not too farfetched to consider, decisions we make today will impact air transportation for possibly the next 80 years. This was a surprise to me. But that's what I was looking for. Food for thought.

 Should anyone like a copy of this book, I have 25 copies I will give away on a first come first serve basis. It is beautifully illustrated and an pleasure to read. My office is at the Sugerman Space Grant building at 3050 Knox Street, on the campus of New Mexico State University. Please come by.

 Through my work I have read many stories on the history of aviation. I discovered this book is not only contains history of aviation industry, it also is a visionary's perspective on the future of flying. Forecasting eighty five years into the future is certainly difficult, the books is easy to read and very enjoyable. What will the world be like in 2093?

 I have heard plenty of forecasting about the future of air and space travel. Most of the discussion is contained within the five to ten year time frame. It is good for us to have these conversations in Southern New Mexico, as we are leading the world in the development of commercial space transportation investment. I don't make that statement lightly either. The fact that the State of New Mexico is investing in Spaceport America is a significant risk for New Mexicans. For those of us looking to the future of our community, it will serve us well to continue our own dialog as well as listen to others as they struggle with the future of their air and space travel.  We are not alone in wondering what the future of this next mode of transportation will be.

  "We shape our future with the decisions and choices we make today" stated Sirkka Heinonen, a professor of in the School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland's Futures Research Centre. She also indicates her research on societies tells her humans have and will remain fundamentally the same. They like to move, they like to travel.  People will have more leisure time to travel for pleasure and the experience will become more important. True, travel for work, to see family and friends will continue, but the focus on the travel experience will continue to drive the growth of the airline industry.

 As multiple modes of transportation improve across the globe as, rail, bus, and even bike riding increase our mobility, she predicts people will improve their economic circumstances because of increased access to the work place.  Green technology will improve fuels, materials and they enable more people to travel at lower costs. Airspace will be monitored by smart vehicles, able to sense and avoid each other both on the ground and in the air. Sanna Syri, Technology Manager of Energy Systems at VTT Technical Research Center of Finland believes the air transportation industry might include zero-emissions technology and solar powered small aircraft. It is clear in the next twenty years, surviving commercial airlines will have to invest in energy-efficient technologies as a key survival strategy. Air transportation accounts for approximately two percent of carbon dioxide emissions but that will increase.  Air traffic doubles every fifteen years, as stated by Andrew Hale with Delft University of Technology.  Approximately eight percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product relies on flying. 

 It takes approximately ten years to design and manufacture a new aircraft. The Airbus A380 will have a production period of 30 to 40 years.  The last aircraft in this production period will probably fly for 30 to 40 years. Commercial aircraft cycles are 70 to 80 years. So, it is not too farfetched to consider, decisions we make today will impact air transportation for possibly the next 80 years. This was a surprise to me. But that's what I was looking for. Food for thought.

 Should anyone like a copy of this book, I have 25 copies I will give away on a first come first serve basis. It is beautifully illustrated and an pleasure to read. My office is at the Sugerman Space Grant building at 3050 Knox Street, on the campus of New Mexico State University. Please come by.

I don't know the answer to all these questions, but we can keep asking until the answers create new questions for our community. To recap the week, we started with the Precollege Forum at Pan American Center at NMSU. The two reasons to have the Tuesday, October 19^th events at Pan American were to involve the NMSU campus, and make it easy for the community to get to the event.

On Tuesday, we started with over 3,700 students, teachers and members of the public in the audience. We heard from Astronauts, NASA employees, Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America. The messages for students; we know you like hearing about space, now we are telling you how to learn about space for yourself, on your own, at home or with your teachers in school. Another message for the general audience; Las Cruces is leading a new era in space education. We will be exploring ways to get middle school students designing and building experiments that will go to space in April, 2011. We will have older students, people from NASA and our community, help the younger students and teachers put the experiments together.

Lots of volunteers helped us put this event on. Volunteers learn as well and help, and they tell our story. They helped park the busses, hand out NASA materials to the students, and get everyone in and out of Pan Am safely.  The event had a purpose, provide more information to increase understanding about what the "Next Space Era" is bringing to our community.

Later in the day when Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley spoke to the mayors of Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences and Hatch, the audience learned  no matter when people start flying from the spaceport, our communities are preparing.  More people are involved in creating the environment to make the emerging commercial space industry grow.

When the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) started on Wednesday, October 20^th, I'd already gotten two surprises. My first surprise, our keynote speaker for Wednesday cancelled. Neil Sheehan called on Monday night and said he was ill. Well, the show must go on.

We had over 40 speakers scheduled during the symposium.  This year they came from Sweden, Japan, Singapore, and England. They came from NASA, the Air Force, the FAA, from small companies like Sierra Nevada Corporation to large companies like Boeing. They have small launch vehicles like the Tube from Armadillo Aerospace, to large vehicles like Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5. All are important in our work.

Why have so many speakers?  Keep each talk 10 minutes in length. If one speaker is boring, hopefully the next one won't be.  Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico are leading the commercial space industry and this is the place to be, to meet the leadership in the industry and to get informed.  

My second surprise, I twisted my ankle during the Tuesday Public Forum. Working at NMSU is very swell indeed. I had a reception on Tuesday night at the Fulton Center, and John Hummer, an invited quest suggested we go to the second floor and have the trainers wrap my ankle. While not gorgeous, it did the trick.

Then there was the Runway Dedication at Spaceport America. We started planning that event on Thursday, after ISPCS 2009. We have a de-brief immediately following the close of ISPCS. During the de-brief in 2009, we determined we should plan an event to keep people in Las Cruces one more day to learn more about what facilities we have to support space commercialization. The talks began and culminated in the event at the Spaceport on October 22nd. Southern New Mexico is leading the way to increased access to space for Mankind.  We did a lot in 4 days,  it was worth all the effort. We are working for our community. We will help create the future of a new space economy in our country, and we will do it together, as a community.   

I don't know the answer to all these questions, but we can keep asking until the answers create new questions for our community. To recap the week, we started with the Precollege Forum at Pan American Center at NMSU. The two reasons to have the Tuesday, October 19^th events at Pan American were to involve the NMSU campus, and make it easy for the community to get to the event.

On Tuesday, we started with over 3,700 students, teachers and members of the public in the audience. We heard from Astronauts, NASA employees, Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America. The messages for students; we know you like hearing about space, now we are telling you how to learn about space for yourself, on your own, at home or with your teachers in school. Another message for the general audience; Las Cruces is leading a new era in space education. We will be exploring ways to get middle school students designing and building experiments that will go to space in April, 2011. We will have older students, people from NASA and our community, help the younger students and teachers put the experiments together.

Lots of volunteers helped us put this event on. Volunteers learn as well and help, and they tell our story. They helped park the busses, hand out NASA materials to the students, and get everyone in and out of Pan Am safely.  The event had a purpose, provide more information to increase understanding about what the "Next Space Era" is bringing to our community.

Later in the day when Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley spoke to the mayors of Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences and Hatch, the audience learned  no matter when people start flying from the spaceport, our communities are preparing.  More people are involved in creating the environment to make the emerging commercial space industry grow.

When the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) started on Wednesday, October 20^th, I'd already gotten two surprises. My first surprise, our keynote speaker for Wednesday cancelled. Neil Sheehan called on Monday night and said he was ill. Well, the show must go on.

We had over 40 speakers scheduled during the symposium.  This year they came from Sweden, Japan, Singapore, and England. They came from NASA, the Air Force, the FAA, from small companies like Sierra Nevada Corporation to large companies like Boeing. They have small launch vehicles like the Tube from Armadillo Aerospace, to large vehicles like Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5. All are important in our work.

Why have so many speakers?  Keep each talk 10 minutes in length. If one speaker is boring, hopefully the next one won't be.  Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico are leading the commercial space industry and this is the place to be, to meet the leadership in the industry and to get informed.  

My second surprise, I twisted my ankle during the Tuesday Public Forum. Working at NMSU is very swell indeed. I had a reception on Tuesday night at the Fulton Center, and John Hummer, an invited quest suggested we go to the second floor and have the trainers wrap my ankle. While not gorgeous, it did the trick.

Then there was the Runway Dedication at Spaceport America. We started planning that event on Thursday, after ISPCS 2009. We have a de-brief immediately following the close of ISPCS. During the de-brief in 2009, we determined we should plan an event to keep people in Las Cruces one more day to learn more about what facilities we have to support space commercialization. The talks began and culminated in the event at the Spaceport on October 22nd. Southern New Mexico is leading the way to increased access to space for Mankind.  We did a lot in 4 days,  it was worth all the effort. We are working for our community. We will help create the future of a new space economy in our country, and we will do it together, as a community.   

I don't know the answer to all these questions, but we can keep asking until the answers create new questions for our community. To recap the week, we started with the Precollege Forum at Pan American Center at NMSU. The two reasons to have the Tuesday, October 19^th events at Pan American were to involve the NMSU campus, and make it easy for the community to get to the event.

On Tuesday, we started with over 3,700 students, teachers and members of the public in the audience. We heard from Astronauts, NASA employees, Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America. The messages for students; we know you like hearing about space, now we are telling you how to learn about space for yourself, on your own, at home or with your teachers in school. Another message for the general audience; Las Cruces is leading a new era in space education. We will be exploring ways to get middle school students designing and building experiments that will go to space in April, 2011. We will have older students, people from NASA and our community, help the younger students and teachers put the experiments together.

Lots of volunteers helped us put this event on. Volunteers learn as well and help, and they tell our story. They helped park the busses, hand out NASA materials to the students, and get everyone in and out of Pan Am safely.  The event had a purpose, provide more information to increase understanding about what the "Next Space Era" is bringing to our community.

Later in the day when Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley spoke to the mayors of Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences and Hatch, the audience learned  no matter when people start flying from the spaceport, our communities are preparing.  More people are involved in creating the environment to make the emerging commercial space industry grow.

When the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) started on Wednesday, October 20^th, I'd already gotten two surprises. My first surprise, our keynote speaker for Wednesday cancelled. Neil Sheehan called on Monday night and said he was ill. Well, the show must go on.

We had over 40 speakers scheduled during the symposium.  This year they came from Sweden, Japan, Singapore, and England. They came from NASA, the Air Force, the FAA, from small companies like Sierra Nevada Corporation to large companies like Boeing. They have small launch vehicles like the Tube from Armadillo Aerospace, to large vehicles like Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5. All are important in our work.

Why have so many speakers?  Keep each talk 10 minutes in length. If one speaker is boring, hopefully the next one won't be.  Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico are leading the commercial space industry and this is the place to be, to meet the leadership in the industry and to get informed.  

My second surprise, I twisted my ankle during the Tuesday Public Forum. Working at NMSU is very swell indeed. I had a reception on Tuesday night at the Fulton Center, and John Hummer, an invited quest suggested we go to the second floor and have the trainers wrap my ankle. While not gorgeous, it did the trick.

Then there was the Runway Dedication at Spaceport America. We started planning that event on Thursday, after ISPCS 2009. We have a de-brief immediately following the close of ISPCS. During the de-brief in 2009, we determined we should plan an event to keep people in Las Cruces one more day to learn more about what facilities we have to support space commercialization. The talks began and culminated in the event at the Spaceport on October 22nd. Southern New Mexico is leading the way to increased access to space for Mankind.  We did a lot in 4 days,  it was worth all the effort. We are working for our community. We will help create the future of a new space economy in our country, and we will do it together, as a community.   

I don't know the answer to all these questions, but we can keep asking until the answers create new questions for our community. To recap the week, we started with the Precollege Forum at Pan American Center at NMSU. The two reasons to have the Tuesday, October 19^th events at Pan American were to involve the NMSU campus, and make it easy for the community to get to the event.

On Tuesday, we started with over 3,700 students, teachers and members of the public in the audience. We heard from Astronauts, NASA employees, Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America. The messages for students; we know you like hearing about space, now we are telling you how to learn about space for yourself, on your own, at home or with your teachers in school. Another message for the general audience; Las Cruces is leading a new era in space education. We will be exploring ways to get middle school students designing and building experiments that will go to space in April, 2011. We will have older students, people from NASA and our community, help the younger students and teachers put the experiments together.

Lots of volunteers helped us put this event on. Volunteers learn as well and help, and they tell our story. They helped park the busses, hand out NASA materials to the students, and get everyone in and out of Pan Am safely.  The event had a purpose, provide more information to increase understanding about what the "Next Space Era" is bringing to our community.

Later in the day when Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley spoke to the mayors of Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences and Hatch, the audience learned  no matter when people start flying from the spaceport, our communities are preparing.  More people are involved in creating the environment to make the emerging commercial space industry grow.

When the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) started on Wednesday, October 20^th, I'd already gotten two surprises. My first surprise, our keynote speaker for Wednesday cancelled. Neil Sheehan called on Monday night and said he was ill. Well, the show must go on.

We had over 40 speakers scheduled during the symposium.  This year they came from Sweden, Japan, Singapore, and England. They came from NASA, the Air Force, the FAA, from small companies like Sierra Nevada Corporation to large companies like Boeing. They have small launch vehicles like the Tube from Armadillo Aerospace, to large vehicles like Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5. All are important in our work.

Why have so many speakers?  Keep each talk 10 minutes in length. If one speaker is boring, hopefully the next one won't be.  Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico are leading the commercial space industry and this is the place to be, to meet the leadership in the industry and to get informed.  

My second surprise, I twisted my ankle during the Tuesday Public Forum. Working at NMSU is very swell indeed. I had a reception on Tuesday night at the Fulton Center, and John Hummer, an invited quest suggested we go to the second floor and have the trainers wrap my ankle. While not gorgeous, it did the trick.

Then there was the Runway Dedication at Spaceport America. We started planning that event on Thursday, after ISPCS 2009. We have a de-brief immediately following the close of ISPCS. During the de-brief in 2009, we determined we should plan an event to keep people in Las Cruces one more day to learn more about what facilities we have to support space commercialization. The talks began and culminated in the event at the Spaceport on October 22nd. Southern New Mexico is leading the way to increased access to space for Mankind.  We did a lot in 4 days,  it was worth all the effort. We are working for our community. We will help create the future of a new space economy in our country, and we will do it together, as a community.   

I don't know the answer to all these questions, but we can keep asking until the answers create new questions for our community. To recap the week, we started with the Precollege Forum at Pan American Center at NMSU. The two reasons to have the Tuesday, October 19^th events at Pan American were to involve the NMSU campus, and make it easy for the community to get to the event.

On Tuesday, we started with over 3,700 students, teachers and members of the public in the audience. We heard from Astronauts, NASA employees, Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America. The messages for students; we know you like hearing about space, now we are telling you how to learn about space for yourself, on your own, at home or with your teachers in school. Another message for the general audience; Las Cruces is leading a new era in space education. We will be exploring ways to get middle school students designing and building experiments that will go to space in April, 2011. We will have older students, people from NASA and our community, help the younger students and teachers put the experiments together.

Lots of volunteers helped us put this event on. Volunteers learn as well and help, and they tell our story. They helped park the busses, hand out NASA materials to the students, and get everyone in and out of Pan Am safely.  The event had a purpose, provide more information to increase understanding about what the "Next Space Era" is bringing to our community.

Later in the day when Titusville Mayor Jim Tulley spoke to the mayors of Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences and Hatch, the audience learned  no matter when people start flying from the spaceport, our communities are preparing.  More people are involved in creating the environment to make the emerging commercial space industry grow.

When the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISPCS) started on Wednesday, October 20^th, I'd already gotten two surprises. My first surprise, our keynote speaker for Wednesday cancelled. Neil Sheehan called on Monday night and said he was ill. Well, the show must go on.

We had over 40 speakers scheduled during the symposium.  This year they came from Sweden, Japan, Singapore, and England. They came from NASA, the Air Force, the FAA, from small companies like Sierra Nevada Corporation to large companies like Boeing. They have small launch vehicles like the Tube from Armadillo Aerospace, to large vehicles like Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5. All are important in our work.

Why have so many speakers?  Keep each talk 10 minutes in length. If one speaker is boring, hopefully the next one won't be.  Las Cruces and Southern New Mexico are leading the commercial space industry and this is the place to be, to meet the leadership in the industry and to get informed.