Bruce Waggoner Saving Voyager 1 Roger That! 2025-02-18 | Both of the 47-year-old Voyager spacecraft are currently in interstellar space and returning their most important data set: in-situ measurements of the magnetic field, plasma, and dust beyond the Heliopause. In late 2023, Voyager 1 lost all downlink telemetry, and the flight team had essentially no visibility into the state of the spacecraft, which is over 15 billion miles from the Earth. This talk will detail how the flight team diagnosed the problem and formulated a recovery plan to patch the Flight Data System flight software.Bruce Waggoner is the Mission Assurance Manager at NASA Jet Propulsion Lab/Caltech. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a BS in Physics and Astronomy. He has worked at JPL for 39 years, supporting dozens of Earth-orbiting and deep space missions. He also volunteers as a gymnastics coach and assists teaching girls engineering and science at a local high school.
Barbara Brennan UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION DESIGN Roger That! 2025-02-21 | UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION DESIGNEvery exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) applies Universal Design principles in its design, fabrication, and installation. That includes the label text, immersive experiences, hands-on interactives, and multi-media programs; all designed to enhance and interpret the exhibition content. This presentation will start with the 1992 design of "Star Trek and the Sixties," an early example of Universal Design principles; continue with some examples from my 30-plus year design career; and finish with a look at two of NASM’s recently renovated space flight galleries, "One World Connected" and "Exploring the Planets" and their application of Universal Exhibition Design principles, with the goals of teaching and inspiring all audiences.
Joni Greene Sounds of the Cosmos Musical Inspiration Through Astrophysics Using Synesthesia Roger That! 2025-02-20 | Sounds of the Cosmos Musical Inspiration Through Astrophysics Using SynesthesiaHave you ever wondered what floating through space sounds like? Or how music can be heard from the immanent light and color of a supernova? Joni Greene is a composer who has spent much of her life composing the sounds of the cosmos. Please join Joni at Roger That! 2025 as she illustrates her compositional process using synesthesia. Through years of refinement and awareness, Joni’s ability to see color when she hears sound has transformed into a compositional process she calls “organized color.” This approach has inspired Joni to write many works about astrophysics and space. Through her works Event Horizon and Suspended in a Sunbeam, Joni will share how her inspiration drives her to write about current space events with particular emphasis on the James Webb Space Telescope. Travel through spacetime through the eyes (and ears) of a composer and witness the process from inspiration to written music.
Andy Calloway To Bennu and Back Roger That! 2025-02-20 | To Bennu and BackThe Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer spacecraft, or OSIRIS-REx, launched Sept. 8, 2016. OSIRIS-REx traveled to the potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid named Bennu. The spacecraft spent two years studying Bennu and operating in close proximity, culminating in the daring sample collection event known as Touch-and-Go, or TAG, on October 20, 2020. The spacecraft backed away safely and later left Bennu for the return trip to Earth. OSIRIS-REx delivered the sample on Sept. 24, 2023, when the sample return capsule parachuted safely to the ground in Utah.Although the mission was a stunning success, that outcome was far from certain. The OSIRIS-REx team had to overcome challenges and surprises every step of the way. For example, the entire operational timeline and TAG method had to change when it became evident that Bennu’s entire surface was covered in boulders and rocks, a far cry from the predicted sandy beach. The team also discovered Bennu is an active asteroid, streaming dust and particles into space. Following TAG, the team discovered that precious sample particles were leaking into space, and time was of the essence to stow the cargo. As the Mission Operations Manager, Andy Calloway found himself in the middle of it all, and in To Bennu and Back, he describes how the team rose to every challenge to return the largest sample from a planetary body home since the Apollo era.
Ashley Yeager What is the Value of Space Journalism? Roger That! 2025-02-20 | What is the Value of Space Journalism?Sharing space exploration with the public is both a science and an art. This talk will discuss some of the biggest stories of human and robotic space exploration in recent history and how my colleagues and I have chosen the language and narratives to communicate concepts and information about space exploration to a general audience. We will also talk about the challenges and ethical considerations of reporting on cutting-edge missions and use real-world examples to assess how journalism shapes the public perception of space exploration and its legacy.
Shayla Redmond Astronom. Observations: Bridging Knowledge Thru Storytelling Education & Innovation Roger That! 2025-02-20 | Astronomical Observations- Bridging Knowledge Through Storytelling, Education, and InnovationCommunication and space are deeply interconnected, particularly when exploring fields like robotics, microgravity research, and community-driven innovation. My journey into engineering and teaching has always been fueled by a passion for facilitating understanding and making complex ideas accessible to the general community and enabling the continued growth of knowledge across generations.As an educator, I thrive on using creative mediums such as social media, engaging videos, storytelling, and app development to share information in ways that resonate. My passion for coding has inspired projects, including apps designed to enhance education and productivity, merging my love for technology with my commitment to outreach.Storytelling plays a central role in my work, connecting communities through creative processes and shared curiosity about space. This approach has guided my microgravity research, where collaboration with others has enriched my findings, and my role as a NASA Solar System Ambassador, where I bring the wonders of space to diverse audiences.
Roger That! Friday talks - February 16, 2024 - Mihir Gondhalekar Roger That! 2024-02-17 | Note: Some images in this video are obscured at the request of the speaker until IP permissions are obtained. IN-SITU RESOURCE UTILIZATIONThe first step in establishing a sustained human presence in the galaxy is utilizing the resources that are locally available. Both the moon and Mars contain vast deposits of ice, frozen underground. This ice can be excavated, filtered, and split into hydrogen and oxygen. By producing water, oxygen, and pressurized liquid oxygen (a typical rocket propellant) we can support life on other planetary bodies as well as significantly drive down the cost per kilogram to transport objects to deep space.Mihir Gondhalekar is the Co-Founder of Starpath Robotics, a company focused on mining and refining water on the Moon and Mars to produce rocket propellant. He holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan. At Starpath, he is involved in the development of lunar mining machines and technologies for processing resources in the extreme conditions of the lunar South Pole.
Roger That! Friday talks - February 16, 2024 - Deb Chattopadhyay Roger That! 2024-02-17 | EUROPA CLIPPER - THE QUEST FOR HABITABILITY ON AN ICY MOONThe Europa Clipper mission, launching later this year in Oct 2024, will explore Jupiter's icy moon Europa. The instruments onboard Europa Clipper will help scientists investigate the moon's potential subsurface ocean and look for evidence that the ocean could support life. In this talk, I will discuss the goals of the mission, and describe how the mission operations team here on Earth plans to remotely explore and search for signs of habitability on Europa.Debarati (Deb) Chattopadhyay is the Assistant Mission Systems Manager for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. She has nearly 20 years of experience in space mission operations and engineering management on a variety of robotic space missions including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, Cassini, and the Mars Curiosity and Perseverance rovers.
Roger That! Friday talks - February 16, 2024 - George Pantalos Roger That! 2024-02-17 | FLIGHT RESEARCH – STEPPINGSTONE TO SPACEWe marvel at images of astronauts working in or outside the ISS and on the surface of the Moon. A lot of preparation and training as well as adapting to unexpected situations encountered makes those efforts possible. A critical part of the preparation and training is research during simulated flight conditions to test the function of equipment, instruments, procedures, and human response to the flight environment. This flight research can be conducted in drop towers, parabolic flight aircraft, suborbital flight spacecraft, and spacecraft in low Earth orbit where different levels of “reduced gravity”can be created for a few seconds to many months. Some of this research is fully automated while other research is human-tended and some research is a mix of both or hybrid projects. Examples from each type of research will be described.George Pantalos has been a cardiovascular explorer for over 50 years. That effort has included the development of surgical devices and procedures to make the research projects possible. He is a Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Louisville.George has also collaborated with NASA helping to understand cardiovascular adaptation to the weightlessness of space flight. Other reduced gravity research has included delivery of chest compressions for CPR in 0-G, organ perfusion in 0-G, and the development of medical technologies for exploration space missions. George has flown 60 NASA-sponsored research missions on parabolic flight aircraft.
Roger That! Friday talks - February 16, 2024 - Niamh Shaw Roger That! 2024-02-17 | TITLE: LIVING IN THE EXTREMES- STORIES FROM ANALOG MISSIONS ACROSS THE GLOBEIrish explorer, writer and ESA Champion for Space Education Dr. Niamh Shaw has just returned from the Antarctic as part of a global leadership program about climate change. Prior to this she participated in a 15 day simulated Mars mission in the high Utah desert. Last July she joined a science field trip to the Kalahari desert on a different kind of analog mission. She wants to share what she has learned so far about our planet and about ourselves in visiting these extreme places for humans.With a Ph.D. in science and two engineering degrees, Niamh Shaw is an Irish STEAM communicator, writer, and explorer. As an ESA Champion for Education, a fellow of The Explorers Club and a space reporter, she has shared her passion for science and space for over 12 years through various means such as podcasts, videos, conferences, workshops, and social media. Niamh has written space features for The Irish Times and BBC’s Sky at Night magazine and contributes science segments on national radio. An advocate for equal access to education, Niamh also provides space and Earth-themed content for younger viewers on RTÉ television's "Home School Hub" shows. In her work sharing engaging stories about space and our planet she has participated in a Mars analogue mission in the Utah desert, survived a zero gravity flight in Moscow’s Star City and reported on launches of astronauts to space from NASA Kennedy Space Centre and Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. In November 2023, she embarked on a Women in STEM expedition to the Antarctic with Homeward Bound global leadership programme to highlight climate change. She travelled to the Kalahari Desert in Botswana earlier that year on a Mars science analogue mission to highlight how space sustainability can help us to appreciate Earth's limited resources. Her ultimate aspiration is to report live from the International Space Station and the Moon.
Roger That! Friday talks - February 16, 2024 - Mark Staves Roger That! 2024-02-17 | Gravity – a constant force on Earth but almost lacking in orbiting space craft and much reduced on the moon and Mars – has a profound effect on plant development. How do plants perceive this important gravity signal? We will examine, in light of experimental and anatomical data, the traditional model for plant gravity sensing with our model our model which suggests that the entire cell senses gravity. Plants were not a part of the early space program but we will discuss how they will be critical for long-term lunar habitation and future missions to Mars as a source of oxygen, food and astronaut well-being. Mark Staves is professor and chair of the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at GVSU. He received a BS in aquatic biology, a MS in marine botany and a PhD in molecular evolution at the University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to GVSU, he completed post-doctoral fellowships funded by NASA’s exobiology and space biology programs at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and Cornell University, respectively. His current research focuses on understanding how plants perceive and respond to environmental stimuli – especially gravity. He and his students have presented and published this work widely and he serves on several NASA panels focused on space biology.
Emily Carney Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Emily CarneyCREATOR/MODERATOR OF "SPACE HIPSTERS" AND AMBASSADOR FOR CELESTIS, INC.2:00pm EST., Friday February 10thFROM SPACE FANDOM TO SPACE FUNERALSIt can be argued fans of spaceflight have existed since the first humans looked toward the skies. Over the centuries, these “fans” invented technologies ranging from ever-improving telescopes that allowed them to gaze at the heavens to the increasingly more sophisticated rockets carrying spacecraft and people. And throughout the years, the delivery of spaceflight news, history, and yes, sometimes memes too adapted to new technologies, from newsstands, to magazines, and ultimately to Facebook and Twitter. This talk by Emily Carney examines the origins of spaceflight “fandom,” the twists and turns it took, its evolution to the present day, and how it sometimes itself influenced spaceflight history. Carney will also discuss her unlikely transition into "space burials." And who knows, a few Buran memes might show up. In 2010, Emily Carney started a spaceflight blog called This Space Available (accessible via space.nss.org/category/this- space-available/). Fun fact: the late Gene Cernan (Gemini 9A, Apollo 10, and Apollo 17 astronaut, also known as “The Last Man on the Moon”) once asked her, “What the hell is a space blog?” In 2011, Carney wanted to start a Facebook group for space enthusiasts, but was struggling to find a good name. Her husband, Steve, suggested “Space Hipsters” as sort of a sarcastic placeholder, but the name stuck. The group grew more quickly than she could imagine, and as of December 2022 it totals over 35,000 members. Space Hipsters boasts members from all around the world, and includes space enthusiasts, writers, artists, scientists, engineers, aspiring astronauts, and even a few actual astronauts.
Dwayne Day Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Dwayne A. DaySENIOR PROGRAM OFFICER FOR THE AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ENGINEERING BOARD OF THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL/NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES3:00pm EST., Friday February 10thTOP SECRET IN ORBIT: THE OTHER OTHER SPACE PROGRAMNASA was formed in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in October 1957. But while NASA assumed a prominent and public role as America's civil space agency, and while it was no secret that the United States also began military space programs at the dawn of the Space Age, what is often overlooked is that in addition to the civil and military space efforts, there was also a third American space program, a program focused on gathering intelligence information on America's adversaries using satellites. This talk will discuss some of the early projects to put intelligence-gathering spacecraft into orbit, and how they evolved over the decades to provide a wealth of information from so-called "denied areas," where often even spies could not operate.Dwayne A. Day works for the National Academies where he has overseen studies on the protection of Earth from hazardous asteroids, the exploration of the solar system, the development of large space telescopes, and the size of the NASA astronaut corps. He has a Ph.D. in political science from The George Washington University and has worked in several space policy related jobs over the past two decades, with brief stints working as an Air Force contractor as well as historian for the Congressional Budget Office. He served as a consultant to the Institute for Defense Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute on issues such as the Russian space program and NASA's humans-to-Mars plans. He was an investigator for the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. He writes frequently on the history and politics of the American space program, particularly military space projects and the collection of intelligence information using satellites and other systems.
Chris Gainor Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Chris GainorEDITOR, QUEST: THE HISTORY OF SPACEFLIGHT AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF CANADA1:00PM EST., Friday February 10thTHE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE: MORE THAN 30 YEARS IN SPACESince its launch into orbit in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has upended our understanding of the universe and changed how astronomy is done. This talk will also explain how NASA engineers and engineers overcame Hubble's defective main mirror. Today Hubble is working alongside the James Webb Space Telescope and other telescopes in space and on the ground to make new discoveries about our universe.Chris Gainor is a historian who was written six books, including the official NASA history of Hubble Space Telescope Operations. He is the editor of Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly and has written for various publications about space exploration.
Asif Siddiqi Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Asif SiddiqiPROFESSOR OF HISTORY, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY11:30am EST., Friday February 10thCOMPETING WITH APOLLO: THE SOVIET REACH FOR THE MOONThe talk will highlight the Soviet lunar program, a response to NASA’s Apollo project, which involved the creation of a giant superbooster known as the N1. Although the project was kept secret for decades, information from the archives has revealed the details of a huge effort to match Apollo, involving considerable resources. After several major failures, the N1 project was shelved and the Soviets denied they were ever in the race to the Moon. The talk will explore the political, technological, and programmatic aspects of the Soviet Moon program.Asif Siddiqi is a Professor at Fordham University in New York where he teaches on the history of science and technology. He is the author of many books on the history of space exploration including Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974 and The Red Rockets’ Glare: Spaceflight and the Russian Imagination, 1857-1957.
Jamie Draper Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Jamie DraperMUSEUM DIRECTOR OF THE AIR FORCE SPACE & MISSILE MUSEUM10:30am EST., Friday February 10thPOWER OF PLACE: TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH AT COMPLEX 34The remains of historic launch facilities dot the landscape at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. They offer a unique tangible connection to the Cold War Space Race and the history of America's space exploration programs. Cape Canaveral has seen more than 8,000 launches since 1950 and the number grows every week. The trials and triumphs of this incredible volume of space launch activity emanate from the remaining historic launch complexes. Nowhere is this power of place more pronounced than Launch Complex 34. This live feed from Cape Canaveral will bring you to mile marker zero on America's race to spaceJamie Draper serves as the Museum Director for the Air Force Space & Missile Museum at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. He develops and implements an overall dynamic, sustainable vision for the Museum. His 25 years in the museum field reveal a lifelong devotion to history through the preservation and interpretation of material culture.
Justin Walsh Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Justin WalshPROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY, CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY9:30am EST., Friday February 10thBOLDLY GOING WHERE NO ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE GONE BEFORE: THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTSince 2015, Justin Walsh and Alice Gorman have been leading the first archaeological study of a human habitation site in space, the International Space Station. In that time, they have studied crew-created visual displays, processes for handling cargo returned to Earth, population distributions in the various ISS modules, the use of simple technologies as "gravity surrogates," and more. Recently, they performed the first archaeological work in space, with the Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment (SQuARE), which had the crew document six locations through daily photography. Justin Walsh is Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Chapman University. He has almost 25 years of archaeological experience in Spain, Jordan, Italy, the US, and now low Earth orbit. In Mediterranean archaeology, he specializes in intercultural exchange, especially of Greek pottery; he directs excavations at the site of Cástulo, Spain, and authored the book Consumerism in the Ancient World: Imports and Identity Construction (Routledge 2014). He is also a global leader in the field of space archaeology and heritage, having directed the International Space Station Archaeological Project since 2015. He has received numerous grants and awards, including a Fulbright, a Rome Prize, and a National Geographic Explorer grant.
Burçin Mutlu Pakdil Roger That! 2023 Roger That! 2023-02-12 | Burçin Mutlu-PakdilASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE8:30am EST., Friday February 10t"BIG SCIENCE WITH SMALL GALAXIES"The smallest and faintest galaxies around the Milky Way are the most ancient, most metal-poor, and most dark-matter-dominated systems known. These extreme objects offer unique access to small scales where the stellar and dark matter content can be studied simultaneously. They hold the promise of major breakthroughs in understanding the nature of dark matter and a more complete picture of galaxy formation. Thus, their discovery and characterization are among the most important goals in the field. In this talk, I will share our ongoing observational efforts to detect these faint systems around the Milky Way and beyond, and upcoming advances in the era of deep and wide imaging instrumentation, with a focus on their implications.
Dr. Delores Knipp - A Look Back at Weather in Space Gone Bad Roger That! 2022-08-06 | “A Look Back at Weather in Space Gone Bad: The Great 4 August 1972 Solar and Geomagnetic Storm” to mark the 50th anniversary of the mysterious solar storms of August 1972. This series of storms, which took place between August 2nd and August 11th, 1972 disrupted North American electric and communication grids, interfered with satellites, and even set off American naval mines in North Vietnam. What are the implications of this event fifty years later? Dr. Knipp has written extensively on solar flares and other types of "space weather" and will share her expertise with us during the anniversary of this major astronomical event.
Roger That! Virtual Speakers - Megan Prelinger Roger That! 2022-02-19 | RESEARCHING THE EARLY NASA ERA, PERSPECTIVES FROM AN INDEPENDENT RESEARCH LIBRARYIn NASA’s earliest years, agency objectives were unsettled by a lack of wide professional consensus around the prospect of human spaceflight. Among scientists, engineers, and allied professionals there existed wide-ranging debates about the appropriate aims of emerging space technologies. In this environment two trade periodicals, Missiles and Rockets and Aviation Week, reached large professional audiences with their coverage of industry news. In addition to articles and opinions, both magazines supported extensive industry advertising featuring imagery contributed by commercial artists working from a wide range of graphic traditions. Many advertisements were dense bundles of text and image that combined to envision, comment on, and advocate for various technology futures. In the 21st century, however, this history is not easy to discover. Libraries across the country have been impacted by multiple forces that have bumped trade periodicals from their shelves, created ad- free digital copies, and engaged in overreach around policies of enclosure, making these magazines and all that they offer very challenging for the general public to access today. This talk combines the author’s perspective as principal of a research library that maintains these magazines on behalf of the public with her perspective as a researcher who has excavated the histories within them to reveal otherwise unexamined aspects of the history of human spaceflight.Megan Prelinger is cofounder and director of the Prelinger Library, independent research library in San Francisco. She is also an independent scholar and the author of two books, Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race (Blast Books, 2010), and Inside the Machine: Art and Invention in the Electronic Age (W.W. Norton, 2015), which was recognized with an award from the IEEE. In addition, she co-directs Prelinger Archives, an historical archives of nontheatrical film. Also a naturalist, she currently teaches seabird ecology for Golden Gate Audubon Society and leads natural history field trips both privately and for the public.
Roger That! Virtual Speakers - Czarina Salido Roger That! 2022-02-19 | The idea of space exploration has inspired many men and women who have directed their careers toward it, and sometimes, like Roger Chaffee, even given it their lives. Just as Eileen Collins broke barriers by becoming the first woman shuttle commander, we are witnessing a whole new generation of STEM explorers: How do we get young Indigenous girls excited about STEM and space? Czarina Salido, Program Director at Taking Up Space, will describe groundbreaking efforts to motivate new international groups of enthusiasts about opportunities in space for all manner of research and inquiry.Czarina Salido is the Chief Executive Officer and founder of the 501(3)(c) non-profit Time In Cosmology and the Program Director of Taking Up Space. Taking Up Space is a program that inspires the next generation of female Native American explorers through mentoring, teaching STEM with Idigenous Heritage and awarding our cohorts a scholarship to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. Taking Up Space introduces girls to fun, hands-on experiences that help facilitate a high level of self confidence and interest in STEM and STEM-related areas throughout middle school and beyond.
Roger That! Virtual Speakers - Louise Prockter Roger That! 2022-02-19 | HOT, COLD, AND IN BETWEEN: ROBOTIC RAMBLINGS ACROSS THE SOLAR SYSTEM As a planetary geologist my career has been spent exploring the Solar System, trying to understand how planets, moons, and asteroids got to be the way they are. In this talk I discuss my work on missions to Mercury, Eros, and Europa, giving background on what it’s like to be part of a team exploring with robotic spacecraft, and highlighting some of the amazing scientific discoveries we made.Bio: Dr. Louise Prockter is the Space Science & Instrumentation Branch Head and Chief Scientist of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory’s Space Exploration Sector. She has been involved in robotic planetary missions throughout her career, serving as an Imaging Team associate on the Galileo and Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) missions; a Deputy Project Scientist and Co-Investigator on the MESSENGER mission to Mercury; a Deputy Project Scientist for the Europa Clipper flagship mission, and currently a Co-Investigator on that mission’s camera team. Louise was recently the Principal Investigator of the Trident Discovery mission concept, which would send a spacecraft to Neptune’s moon Triton. Louise earned her Ph.D. in Planetary Geology from Brown University; her scientific research focuses on the geomorphology and structural geology of icy satellites and other solar system bodies. She has participated in numerous National Academy of Sciences and NASA advisory panels, and is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.
Roger That! Virtual Speakers - Jonathan Ward Roger That! 2022-02-19 | TELLING AN ICONIC WOMAN ASTRONAUT’S STORY: A MAN’S PERSPECTIVE When Col. Eileen Collins contacted author Jonathan Ward in April 2020 to help her write her memoirs about breaking the glass ceiling in aviation and spaceflight, Jonathan’s first question was, “Are you sure you want a male author working with you on this project?” In a prelude to Col. Collins’ talk later today, Jonathan will frankly discuss the challenges, revelations, and joys he experienced as a male author collaborating with one of the world’s most influential women on the story of her groundbreaking career.Jonathan H. Ward is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a NASA Solar System Ambassador, and a Resident Astronomer for Viking Ocean Cruises. He has written four widely-acclaimed books about the US space program, including “Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew."
Roger That! Virtual Speakers: Yvette Gonzalez Roger That! 2022-02-19 | BOLD ERA: A NEW PATH TO BECOMING AN ASTRONAUTAt that unique crossroads where human resilience, gallant exploration, and boundless curiosity meet - that is where we uncover solutions for a better human future. It will take pragmatic terrestrial and space technologies, the power of collective action, and human ingenuity to get us there. And we need everyone. The International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS) is on a mission to do just that. The institute is building the world’s most diverse pipeline of commercial research astronauts. In 2021, the IIAS, comprised of multidisciplinary professionals with experience in the industry, announced its first researcher that will fly to space. As the first IIAS sponsored payload specialist, she represents a paradigm shift. Through rigorous training, research, outreach for underrepresented communities, and contributing to climate resilience and adaptation strategies, the IIAS team is working to enable human-tended research spaceflights for this new era of discovery. In this presentation, learn how the IIAS is proving a sustainable, accessible market for suborbital research spaceflight, offering equity and space for all nations.Yvette Gonzalez is a humanitarian, bioastronautics/atmospheric researcher, space suit technician, and human resilience expert. With over 22 years of disaster response and international development experience rebuilding communities in war, conflict, natural disasters, and epidemiological outbreaks, Yvette focuses on space technologies that solve Earth challenges. She carries out research at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences. Yvette leads outreach initiatives connecting marginalized communities to experts, fostering collaborations, and enabling entry points into the industry. As a 2021 World Women Hour Honoree, she is part of a movement elevating 2 million women’s socio-economic milieu through access to capital, community, and STEAM mentorship programs. The movement honors 60 women working towards the Sustainable Development Goals and who have demonstrated leadership, strength, and courage in their commitment to causes or positively impacted others' lives to create a better world. Of Native American and Mexican heritage, she is a member of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society as well as the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, Women in International Security, and The Explorers Club. Yvette is one of 16 extraordinary women invited to join the Explorers Club in 2021 to honor the original 16 female members inducted in 1981.
Roger That! Virtual Speakers: Catherine Newell Roger That! 2022-02-19 | TO BELIEVE WITHOUT HAVING SEEN: CHESLEY BONESTELL, WILLY LEY, AND THE INVENTION OF OUTER SPACE This talk traces a history of the popularization of space exploration through scientific illustration and popular science writing between 1946 and 1958, and begins with the career of Chesley Bonestell, a man with a gift for being in the right place at the right time. This history begins with his partnership with German rocket expert Willy Ley. The two men collaborated on several articles and eventually a book, The Conquest of Space (1949). The book was an illustrated introduction to the solar system and a primer on rocketry and the science of space exploration. Their intention was to present “outer space” as a site for scientific study. In contrast to contemporary science fiction, Bonestell’s photograph-like paintings and Ley’s accessible prose provided scientifically accurate representations of the planets to their readers. But The Conquest of Space was also an intentionally dramatic revelation of the new frontier of outer space. Bonestell and Ley purposefully conjured the romance and excitement of exploration, discovery, and conquest, and built clear connections between the space frontier and the American frontier. Their method was so effective that many NASA scientists and engineers credit their interest in space exploration to the sense of wonder they felt while reading The Conquest of Space. This spirit of “conquest” became the zeitgeist of an era, and Americans dedicated themselves to a technological conquest of the new frontier that continues even today.Catherine L. Newell is an associate professor of Religion and Science at the University of Miami. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara. As a scholar, she is interested in any aspect of American culture where religion and science intersect. She is the author of Destined for the Stars: Faith, the Future, and America’s Final Frontier.
Roger That! Virtual Speakers: Michelle Francl Roger That! 2022-02-19 | To boldly go where no woman has gone beforeDr. Jeannette Ridlon Piccard was the first woman to fly into the stratosphere, piloting a balloon expedition in search of cosmic rays in 1934. She was a chemist who successfully went and returned, where no woman had gone before. We’ll learn about the history of her expedition, her work with NASA and about some of the research I've done on molecules found in the stratosphere and beyond.Michelle M. Francl, Ph.D. is the Frank B. Mallory Professor of Chemistry at Bryn Mawr College, where she has been on the faculty since 1986, and an Adjunct Scholar of the Vatican Observatory. She is a quantum chemist who has published in areas ranging from the development of methods for computational chemistry to the structures of topologically intriguing molecules. Prof. Francl is also a writer whose essays on science, culture and policy appear regularly in Nature Chemistry and other venues.
Describing the Indescribable: Alone Around the Moon on Apollo 15 Roger That! 2021-08-08 | What was it like to spend six days orbiting the moon, three of them solo, as the most remote and isolated human in existence? Fifty years after it happened, Apollo 15 astronaut (and Michigan's own) Al Worden's biographer Francis French will take you through the magical, mystical, spine-chilling moments Al Worden experienced from this remote vantage point, seeing sights no human had experienced before.
Brother Guy Consolmagno clip Roger That! 2021-02-27 | A short clip from Brother Guy Consolmagno's keynote at Roger That! 2017.
Roger That Interview Roger That! 2021-02-27 | Glen Swanson interviews Sheryl Chaffee (Roger B. Chaffee's daughter) on the occasion of the first-ever Roger That! in 2017
Evening Keynote Roger That! 2021-02-27 | The evening keynote from the first ever GVSU Roger That! in 2017. Glen Swanson interviews Roger Chaffee's daughter Sheryl, along with Dave DeBruyn and Bob Steelman.
NASA Micrognext RogerThat 2021 Roger That! 2021-02-16 | GVSU NASA Microg-next challenge for Roger That! 2021A GVSU team was chosen as one of the NASA MICRO-G NEXT teams! Here's what they did. More info: microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/about-micro-g-next.cfm
Roger That! V - V for Virtual Roger That! 2020-12-08 | The Fifth Roger That! goes online, Feb. 19th and 20th, 2021
Roger That! - The Design That! Challenge Roger That! 2018-07-25 | Students participating in Design That! are encouraged to design and build physical objects or use non-fictional and fictional narrative styles to present challenges related to space exploration, specifically connected with Humans in Space, Communities in Space and Robots in Space. More information can be found at: https://www.gvsu.edu/rogerthat/design-that-29.htm
RogerThat! Grand Rapids Roger That! 2018-07-21 | Roger That! is an annual event, taking place in February, that celebrates space exploration in honor of Grand Rapids' first astronaut, Roger B. Chaffee. Space exploration is celebrated in all its forms, including literature, science, social science, the humanities, engineering and the arts. (Video by Jamie Lewis Hedges of aNovelEcho, http://www.anovelecho.com)
