So, I am a member of AIAA and I receive a daily email with news and headlines from the aerospace industry. Two from last week caught my eye as being extremely relevant to Mach 30.
- NASA’s New Reality Check – Take a look at the opening line of the article – NASA’s administrator is saying that NASA must focus on “affordable, sustainable, and realistic” programs. Sound familiar? It should, sustainability is one of Mach 30’s core values. It is encouraging to see NASA start to talk about this value. It is unlikely to change things overnight, but one never knows, if the idea were to really take root, then maybe NASA can start to really rebuild its human spaceflight program. Only time will tell.
- Amateur Astronomers Usher in New Era Of Discovery, Says Report – This is very exciting news for the astronomy community. Professionals and volunteers are working together, using new and old techniques and tools. This is exactly the kind of collaboration I am hoping we can create in the engineering communities (especially spaceflight). I eagerly look forward to articles like this being written about the work we are doing.
I found an outstanding series of videos from an unlikely advocate of human spaceflight. Steven Colbert’s series called “Fall Back Position: Astronaut” chronicals his experience as he goes through “astronaut training” at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Colbert has also contacted the astrnauts onboard the ISS during a live press conference. here’s the links to some videos: