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• NASA wants your input!
• How can celebrities help raise awareness of STEM careers?
• Sometimes Workforce Development Is Rocket Science
• Journey to Palomar
• A Hands-On Approach to Workforce Development
• Who Owns the Moon?
• Kennedy vs. Obama on Space
• Partnering with NASA
• Calling all Aerospace Industry Professionals

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How can celebrities help raise awareness of STEM careers?

October 28th, 2008   By Matt   Filed Under Big Idea Space  

What would you ask a celebrity to do in order to help encourage students of all ages to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)?

The space community has broadly expressed the shortage of students graduating with STEM skills in order to become the scientists, engineers and technicians of the future.  It has even been called a crisis.

Carrying this important message to young students is not without challenges.  In an industry that traditionally does not produce many products directly for consumers, there is little focus on advertising.  This results in the voice of the space community being overshadowed by the myriad commercial entities that are collectively vying for the attention of these young minds.

The entertainment industry, through the likes of the Star Wars franchise and movies like Iron Man, do provide some level of visibility to STEM careers.  The space community has recognized Hollywood for raising awareness.  In addition, the space enterprise community have also expressed, through the California Space Enterprise Strategic Plan 2007-2010, that a more direct endorsement of the value that STEM careers bring to society and our economy is needed.

The importance of addressing the STEM workforce issue is expounded by the current global economic crisis.  Some celebrities have spoken out to share their solution to global economic woes but the Planetary Society’s Board of Directors has made a strong statement that “Space is not a luxury,” and carries with it long term economic benefit.  They also make a convincing argument for the benefits derived from the inherently international community around space activity.  But the benefits to be brought from space enterprise activity depend on a healthy aerospace workforce.

So, with this global issue in need of increased awareness, what is to stop celebrities from using their star power to bring some attention to it?  How would you like to see star power applied to the STEM issue?  A press conference?  A book?  A blog post? A benefit concert? A YouTube video? Interpretive dance?

Please use the comments to tell us what you think would be an effective way for celebrities to bring awareness of STEM careers to young students.

NASA to the Rescue!

July 9th, 2008   By _randall   Filed Under Babble Space, Big Idea Space, Factoid Space  

NASA is providing the Ikhana Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in support of the California fires. Ikhana is a Predator B modified to perform multiple civil research roles and capable of collecting data for up to 30 hours. The Ikhana aircraft position as well as all the geo- and terrain-registered data from the AMS-Wildfire instrument can be observed using the CDE linkages. On July 8, 2008 the Ikhana flew on a 10-hour mission over the most active California wildfires to collect data in both northern and southern California.

Generation Y, what will we be known for in 50 years?

February 29th, 2008   By Matt   Filed Under Big Idea Space  

Having just returned from the 3rd Exploration Conference in Denver, and having had time to think more about the potential role of Generation Y in NASA, the aerospace community, and humanity (I know, I know, you are thinking “get the supersoaker“, but that’s what happens when I get a window seat.), I think we have the chance to offer an answer to the question in the title of this post.

Past generations often claim fame for amazing accomplishments like the invention of computers, Internet, global communications, landing on the moon and about a thousand other things that have completely changed the world. Subsequent generations have had the benefit of building on these accomplishments.

So….what are we going to do as a generation that changes the world forever?

There are a few things moving already that will definitely have a bearing on this. Things like social networking, peer media, virtual worlds; all the things that Gen Y is already doing as a group. But youtube videos of people accidentally injuring themselves and captioned pictures are not likely going to have the same kind of lasting impact as, say, the first application of semiconductor technology has had. While Gen X and Gen Y have obviously been very busy creating and populating a huge infrastructure of what are converging towards pervasive communication tools, they have often been disregarded as senseless toys by those who don’t use them.

But that’s about to change.

With projects like NASA’s CoLab and its associated activities like the Participatory Exploration Summit, Open NASA and especially the Next Generation Exploration Conference, these very Generation Y tools and interactions are starting to get used for something more than just entertaining each other. They are starting to become a part of how Generation Y does serious business. Yes, that’s right. Your knowledge of Web 2.0 participatory applications might actually be useful in the “real world” in the near future.

What am I really getting at? At the 3rd Space Exploration Conference, moderated by George Whitesides, of the National Space Society, the NASA CoLab team and other panellists presented some of these ideas to the NASA community. The audience at the conference had very few members of Generation Y in it. The presentations were very different from any others during the conference. What kind of reaction could this type of exchange receive? In most instances, this would be a recipe for complete disaster; a true generational communication gap opportunity. But instead of being rebuked, the panel was met with questions that indicated serious consideration of their message had occurred. Not all of the feedback was 100% positive, but that’s part of a healthy conversation.

Am I saying this was an arrival at a finish line? No. This was the creation of a foothold for the dialogue to continue around incorporating more of the Generation Y perspective into NASA projects. This was the starting gun.

Having participating in many of the conferences, summits and other activities that lead up to this panel, a commonly expressed concern has been something like “How do we know that NASA will listen?” and “How do we know this will be more than just a report in a binder on a shelf at NASA HQ?”

This panel is how.

So, “What will Generation Y be known for in 50 years?” I think some of the things presented during the panel and the CoLab philosophy are good candidate answers. What if with the next generation of space exploration aboard Orion was not recorded in the history books as “humans going back to the moon”, but as “the first time that the entire world touches the moon”? I think we just got one step closer to realizing this, but the dialogue must continue in order to get to that finish line.

Big Idea Space

February 11th, 2008   By _randall   Filed Under Big Idea Space  

Put Donny Deutsch in a room with a bunch of astronauts and this is what you get…. entrepreneurs and innovators working together to solve humankind’s life problems using space products and services.  Have a product, service or idea you want the world to know about? It’s time you quit being a fly on the wall and do something about it…. this is your shot at being heard, and we’re smiling because of it. Beware, investors may be lurking.