Episode 12 features a Q&A session with Lyle Campbell and Andrea Sportillo from the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy, in which we discuss what went into getting the Phoenix CubeSat up and running at ASU. Part 1 of this two-part conversation discusses exactly how the idea for Phoenix got started at ASU, where our funding came from, a bit about our interactions with mentors and with NASA, how we did recruitment, and a few things I would do differently with starting one of these projects again.