Casual Space

NASA Astronaut Dr. Jan Davis flew on the Space Shuttle for the first time in 1992- ​ on the first joint Shuttle mission with the Japanese during an eight-day mission on Space Shuttle Endeavour. She would fly again in 1994 on the first joint Shuttle mission with the Russians on Space Shuttle Discovery. Today on the show, we discuss her space career as well as her new book, Air Born, Two Generations in Flight.

Dr. Davis would fly once again in 1997 on a 12-day mission on Space Shuttle Discovery.

Read more about Dr. Davis and her expansive career at https://astronautjandavis.com/

To order her book, Air Born here: https://ballastbooks.com/purchase/air-born/

About Dr. Jan Davis: Jan Davis was born at Patrick Air Force Base and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, Jan Davis has been surrounded by aviation and space her entire life. She followed up her biomedical engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology with a mechanical engineering degree from Auburn University and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. During her career, she worked for Texaco and NASA before being selected as an astronaut in 1987. Davis flew on three Space Shuttle missions and continued her NASA career in the Senior Executive Service. After she retired from NASA, she went on to become an industry executive. Now a consultant and speaker, she also enjoys traveling, quilting, exploring the outdoors, and working with her non-profit organization, AstraFemina, to encourage girls to pursue science, technology, engineering, and math careers.

Laura is the CEO and Co-Founder of Epsilon3. Among the initial members of the operations team for SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, she helped put the US back in the human space flight business.

Laura wants to continue to revolutionize the space industry, beginning with operational tools. She believes that no matter what your specialty, no matter where you attended school, and whatever your talents may be, there is a place for you in the space industry. Find Laura and her company, Epsilon3 at www.epsilon3.io Connect with Laura on LinkedIn at: Linkedin.com/lauracrabtree linkedin.com/epsilon3inc and on twitter: @epsilon3inc twitter: @llcrabbie

More about Laura:

Laura was one of the Crew Operations & Resource Engineers (CORE) who helped put the United States back in the human Space Flight business. Among the initial members of the operations team for SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, she was also on console for the first Dragon mission in 2010, the first mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012, and part of the commercial crew contract over the next decade—including the mission that delivered astronauts to the ISS in 2020. During that mission, Laura was the lead trainer for the crew and one of the CORE operators who communicated to and advocated for the crew during free flight.

Laura's proudest moment was receiving a call on her personal cell phone from Astronaut Doug Hurley when he was orbiting above the earth and operating both the first commercial cargo and crew vehicles in free flight.

During her time at SpaceX, Laura was also a part of the early F9 Recovery, Dragon Recovery, and Dragon operations teams. She was responsible for crew and ground operator flight training, flight software test, CONOPs development and simulator design. Over the years, Laura authored, tested and executed hundreds of procedures for both the ground operations teams and the crew onboard Dragon.

Laura began her career at Northrop Grumman working various programs for DARPA and other DoD customers. She has a Bachelor's in Astronautical Engineering and a Master's in Systems Architecture, both from the University of Southern California.

The Artemis Accords- A Discussion with Dale Skran

What are the Artemis Accords? Are countries starting to "pick sides" as they decide to sign the Artemis Accords? What do the Artemis Accords mean for our future of space exploration, space settlement and space economy? Will the future of space exploration invite us into a collaborative market in space, or a competitive market? Dale Skran is the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the National Space Society- the preeminent citizen's voice on space exploration, development, and settlement- and shares his perspective on the Artemis Accords with us on this episode of Casual Space.

About Dale: Dale Skran worked 17 years with Bell Labs (AT&T, Lucent Technologies) and continued his career at several companies including Ascend Communications (VP of Enterprise Engineering), Sonus Networks (Director of Engineering), and CMWare (Founder, CEO, COO, and VP of Engineering). He was also a negotiator/ manager at the UN (International Telecommunication Union) where he led the development of international Internet standards for video conferencing and voice services (VoIP).

Read more about Dale and find numerous articles and blog posts he's authored at https://space.nss.org/dale-skran-biography/

Learn more about & become a member the NSS (National Space Society): https://space.nss.org/

Henk Rogers is on a mission. Several missions, actually, and each one is as bold and audacious as the next.

When we explore space, Henk wants to take nature with us. It's just one of the many goals that Henk has set out to accomplish, and there's plenty of reason to believe he's going to, based on his previous work within the space industry, his companies and non-profit organizations. Listen for big ideas and clear missions presented in this insightful conversation with Henk Rogers.

About Henk:

Henk Rogers is the President of the Tetris Company and a pioneer in the video game industry.

In the 1980s, Rogers brought role-playing games to Japan and turned a little-known game called Tetris into an international phenomenon after intense negotiations with the Soviet Union and Nintendo. His efforts helped establish the Game Boy as a market leader and made Tetris one of the most popular games of all time. Rogers' story became folklore in the gaming industry and is the subject of the 2023 Apple TV+ film "Tetris."

Today, Rogers is the founder of 10 companies and non-profit organizations focused on renewable energy, space exploration, and ending the use of fossil fuels on Earth. A near-fatal heart attack in 2005 made Rogers identify his true missions in life and led to him founding the Blue Planet Foundation, a non-profit organization that has been instrumental in implementing renewable energy policies in Hawaii. Realizing this model needed to be exported to the rest of the world, Rogers founded the Blue Planet Alliance, an organization helping island communities disproportionately affected by climate change transition from being reliant on importing fossil fuels to using 100 percent renewable energy.

Rogers is also the founder of Blue Planet Energy, a global leader in renewable energy storage systems, and the International Moonbase Alliance, an organization with the goal to build sustainable settlements on the Moon and Mars and establish Hawaii as a leader in the space industry.

Today, Rogers continues to be an influential figure in both the gaming industry and the sustainable energy sector. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to both fields, including being inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2008 and named CEO of the Year by Hawaii Business Magazine in 2015.

He currently lives between his off-grid ranch in Hawaii and New York City and continues to be an active entrepreneur pursuing his passion for making a positive impact on the world.

Follow Henk Rogers https://henkrogers.com/

Get tickets now for the Casual Space Podcast LIVE November 12 event "Returning to the Moon" www.bethmund.com/events

The private space sector is growing tremendously. The industry's consensus leader, SpaceX, headed by outspoken billionaire Elon Musk, is today worth an estimated $74 billion. And SpaceX and its chief competitors, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, are taking on more roles—flying cargo, supplies, and astronauts to outer space. Space Race 2.0 tells their story with expertly written text by science journalist Brad Bergan and stunning photography of the spacecraft, key players, and facilities in California, Texas, and Florida. Brad Bergan is a writer and executive editor in New York. His words have appeared in or on VICE, the National Book Critics Circle, The World Economic Forum, nft now, NBC News, Business Insider, and elsewhere. Brad is the author of the book "Space Race 2.0, SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, NASA and the Privatization of the Final Frontier." Space Race 2.0 is the only authoritative photographic history of the efforts of private companies—often alongside NASA—to accelerate humankind's exploration and understanding of the final frontier. Get YOUR copy of Space 2.0 here: https://www.amazon.com/Space-Race-2-0-Galactic-Privatization/dp/0760375542

And be sure to follow Brad and his work at: https://www.bcbergan.com/

JOIN US on Sunday, November 12 at the 1st Ever Casual Space Podcast LIVE event! Get tickets here: www.bethmund.com/events

Adriana Blachowicz may just have one of the MOST IMPORTANT JOBS on our planet… and perhaps one of the coolest! Adriana is a planetary protection scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory where she works to prevent microbial transfer between the Earth and other planets. So how can we protect as we explore? Why should we care about planetary protection? What are extremophiles? Can microbes live in an inhospitable environment? Does finding water really equate to finding life? In this episode, Adriana helps answer these questions, and shares some amazing insights on how she serves as a guard for our galaxy!

All About Adriana:

Dr. Adriana Blachowicz has a M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Marie Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin, a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology. She has pioneered research into fungal adaptive responses to the space environment, utilizing a multiomic approach. She led a fungal test campaign, sending experiments to the International Space Station (ISS). As a Planetary Protection Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, her responsibility lies in preventing microbial contamination from Earth to other celestial bodies and vice versa, especially those with conditions to potentially sustain life. At JPL, she is also involved in mission formulation. Recently, she joined the space startup, Star Harbor, as their Chief Scientist, developing and executing their R&D architecture to make running experiments in orbit or on parabolic flights more affordable for customers. She took part as a Chief Scientist in the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI–SEAS) program, replicating Mars-like operations and activities. During the mission, she tested an automated platform designed for in situ DNA extraction aboard the ISS, assessing its flight readiness level. This experience led Dr. Blachowicz to become the Science Team lead for the World's Biggest Analog (WBA) - a global collaboration of researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs aiming to address the challenges of space living and working. She also mentored at the Launching Space Biology workshop, fostering a generation of scientists, students, and early-career researchers in the interdisciplinary field of space biology. Dr. Blachowicz is dedicated to promoting scientific awareness and education, often participating in conferences and public speaking events. In her leisure time, she is learning Spanish and Italian.

More about JPL and Planetary Protection:

https://planetaryprotection.jpl.nasa.gov/microbe-01

Learn more about Star Harbor here: https://starharboracademy.com/

Find more information about the World's Biggest Analog: https://www.worldsbiggestanalog.com/

Do you want your next event to be stellar? Book host Beth Mund as your keynote speaker in 2024 www.bethmund.com

Tara Sweeney is a United States Air Force Academy graduate, a Space Camp Hall of Fame inductee, a corporate leader in advanced technology test and evaluation events, a former crew member on parabolic research flights, a private pilot, and a graduate of SpaceKind training. She has been instrumental in establishing and executing the Cosmic Odyssey Scholarship as a mentor to Niko Blanks. In addition to being a proven leader, entrepreneur, and STEM mentor to many organizations, individuals, and students, Tara is a field geologist who recently returned from a 102-day Antarctic science expedition to McMurdo Station, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, Thwaites Glacier, and the McMurdo Dry Valleys. She is currently working on PhD research related to rocket seismology, impact cratering, and field techniques and technology in preparation for extravehicular activity on the lunar surface. As a matter of fact, Tara Sweeny and her team laid out the largest number of seismometers in the history of Antarctic exploration and scientific achievement (deploying 457 seismometers)! Why is this important to Tara? In her current research as a Ph. D candidate, she's investigating using a similar seismic array on the Moon, on Mars, to understand the human influences of our presence on other planetary bodies and here at home. We discuss how seismometers work, Antarctica adventures, Moonquakes, Earthquakes, and Marsquakes, milkshakes and being wicked awesome!

Where to find Tara

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sweeneytl

On LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/taralsweeney/

More Wicked Awesomeness about Tara

Tara Sweeney has been inspiring children and adults to see the wonder of space exploration and the importance of the STEM fields that make it possible for nearly four decades. She has served as CEO, President, Interim Executive Director, COO, CSO, and Vice President, of technology test and evaluation organizations focused on operations in austere and hazardous environments for national defense, homeland security, and intelligence community projects. Tara is a retired United States Air Force Special Operations Command Officer. She has engaged in both military and civilian aviation activities, including as a single-engine aircraft pilot, a glider student pilot, a helicopter maintenance officer, a parabolic flight coach, and a parabolic flight attendant. Tara has accumulated approximately five hours in microgravity while conducting space-based research experiments and training participants how to experience reduced gravity. She previously served as the leader of the world-renowned STEM education program, Space Camp, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame in 2018. Tara holds degrees from the United States Air Force Academy, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Regis University. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of Texas at El Paso. Tara is from Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and has twice been inducted into the Fitchburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame as an Individual Inductee and as a Team Inductee. She presently lives in El Paso, Texas, with her wife, Dr. Jennifer Bishop, and their dog, Sylvia.

Who was Robert H. Goddard?

His theories on space exploration were so ahead of his time that they were mocked and ridiculed by colleagues and by the New York Times… but Robert Goddard persisted, and with very little resources, he overcame adversity and launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, ushering in the space age.

In 1903, the Wright brothers took their historic "First Flight" and got humanity off the ground. Just 23 years later, Dr. Robert Goddard's "First Launch" was the first step in taking humankind off the planet. 43 years later, in 1969, humans walked on the Moon!

Although admired by the scientific and aerospace communities, most people have no clue who Goddard is or the extent of his groundbreaking accomplishments and vision.

Charles Slatkin wants to change that.

Charles Slatkin is the founder of the Robert Goddard Project and the Wonder Mission. Part of this project includes the "First Launch'' centennial celebration – a unique opportunity to leverage the incredible legacy of Dr. Goddard, the Father of Modern Rocketry- and recognize the achievements of today's scientists, engineers, educators, researchers and "visioneers."

Charles is a multimedia and internationally recognized "wow factor" pioneer, space evangelist, and visioner. Charles has an extensive background in "wowing" people through his expertise in science, film, video, audio and photography-and today, he's taken his talents from his professional career and applied them into the Goddard Project, reimagining Goddard's legacy with advanced storytelling technologies to help inspire and motivate a new generation of dreamers and "visioneers."

Get involved, support or volunteer, or get in touch with Charles at: [email protected]

More about the Wonder Mission https://thewondermission.org/

Did you know that the white material on the outside of space shuttles was not metal or glass but actually fabric? Specialized quilts, two inches thick, covered the space shuttles and protected the astronauts from deadly heat and radiation. Jean Wright was one of the eighteen "Sew Sisters" who crafted these thermal blankets, mostly by hand, with incredible precision and skill.

From sending letters to Johnson Space Center as a child with crayon-drawn patch ideas, Jean had always aimed to work for NASA, patiently applying and eagerly awaiting for the job she was meant to have, one that would help secure – in a literal sense- the materials that would protect the vehicles carrying the astronauts to space, and secure her place in NASA history… this is the conversation that you must not miss.

On this very special 200th EPISODE of the Casual Space Podcast, Beth enjoys speaking with Jean Wright, sharing her inspiring stories from her time at NASA as a "Sew Sister."

Together, Beth and Jean discuss stories from Jean's newly-released book, Sew Sister: The Untold Story of Jean Wright and NASA's Seamstresses. The book, just like this conversation, unveils both the grandeur of space flight and the intimacy of a needle and thread, and the story of Jean's childhood passion for space and sewing, and her fascinating work for NASA's shuttle program.

Listen as Beth learns the definition of what schnibbles* are. Note: It's a variant of schnibbles, a far more common term for "scraps," or "small pieces," which is heard in parts of the United States that were settled largely by German immigrants. The term comes from German Schnippel, meaning "scraps."

Imagine having the task of cutting the fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer that went to the Moon with Neil Armstrong, and several shuttle flight- so it could be displayed at the University of Cincinnati . And guess what kind of fabric the Wright Brother's used for the first flight? A kind of high-end, expensive fabric women would use for their undergarments!

"I'm all about fabric!" – Jean Wright, Casual Space Podcast

Jean Wright is a former NASA Aerospace Composite Technician- a NASA seamstress. Jean worked with the United Space Alliance at the Thermal Protection System Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. One of 18 seamstresses in this critical role, Jean and her co-workers dubbed their group, "The Sew Sisters", using machines and hand stitching to build, create and repair thermal protection flight hardware and parachutes. Wright worked on the Endeavor, Atlantis and Discovery space shuttle missions. She also worked on test parachutes and aft-skirt blankets for the Orion spacecraft. When she's not sewing, Jean is a photographer for SpaceUpClose; www.spaceupclose.com

Beth's Note: I especially loved "Big Mo," "Sweet Sue", and "Lurch" - the names of the sewing machines used by Jean and her team at NASA (some from 1914)!

More about Jean:

Jean says she's retired, but she's ever the most incredible NASA advocate, photographer, speaker and representative. Jean remains involved with NASA as a Docent for the Shuttle Atlantis exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center. She is a member of NASA's Speakers Bureau, representing the organization at civic, professional, educational and public events. She has been a keynote speaker at the MQX Quilt Festival in 2018, Women's History Month at KSCVC in 2018, Family Day at the Udvar-Hazy National Air & Space Museum in 2016, the International Quilt Festival with Astronaut Karen Nyberg and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. One of her life's biggest thrills was being asked by Mark Armstrong to cut and prepare for auction, pieces of historic muslin fabric from the Wright Brothers 1903 Flyer that his father, Neil Armstrong, carried to the moon aboard the Apollo 11 Lunar Module.

Pre-order Jean's book here: https://www.amazon.com/Sew-Sister-Untold-Wright-Seamstresses/dp/0884489825/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35842DQC0D3T2&keywords=sew+sister+the+untold+story+of+jean+wright&qid=1693428497&sprefix=sew+sister%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1

Apply for a NASA Moon tree here: https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-forest-service-to-share-moon-tree-seedlings-promote-stem

And don't forget to send your story to space at www.storiesofspace.com

UFO's. New books. A movie script with a character who has a gold nose, and a beaver dinosaur. Star Trek, Yerkes Observatory, and of course, aliens. Mark O'Connell brings the best stories and big news to the show this week- everything you would expect from a Star Trek writer, screenplay writer, UFO book author, podcast host…. All around awesome friend of the show! You're going to love this episode.

Mark O'Connell got his start in television writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, most notably DS9 fan favorite Who Mourns for Morn? Since then, he has had feature screenplays optioned and placed in development at Al Ruddy Productions, DreamWorks Animation, and Disney. His comedy screenplay Doug and Dave was in development at Disney with the late Bill Paxton attached to direct. Mark's first book is The Close Encounters Man: How One Man Made the World Believe in UFOS, a biography of Dr. J. Allen Hynek, famed UFO researcher and inspiration behind Steven Spielberg's epic film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The Close Encounters Man was published by Dey Street Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Mark was recently featured in a UFO documentary produced by NHK, Japan's Public TV network, and he can currently be seen in the National Geographic TV Documentary UFOs: Investigating the Unknown, streaming on HULU. Mark lives in Georgia with his wife Monica.

Get a copy of Mark's book, Close Encounters Man, and follow him as an author here: https://www.amazon.com/Close-Encounters-Man-World-Believe-ebook/dp/B01KFBO77U?ref_=ast_author_mpb

Other Oddities Mentioned on the Show:

Yerkes Observatory: https://yerkesobservatory.org/

The Movie 65 with Adam Driver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/65_(film)

Watch Now: National Geographic's TV Show, UFO's: Investigating the Unknown (where Mark is featured along with his work and research) Episode 2 https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/ufos-investigating-the-unknown/episode-guide/season-01/episode-02-giant-ufo-in-texas/vdka32402838

And Episode 3: Close Encounters at Nuclear Bases: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/tv/shows/ufos-investigating-the-unknown/episode-guide/season-01/episode-03-close-encounters-at-the-nuclear-bases/vdka32402854

Listen To Far Fetched, Episode 35, My Unsold Star Trek Pitches: https://ococonnell.podbean.com/

AND, check out the Micro-G NEXT project opportunity at NASA's Johnson Space Center NBL here, as mentioned in the commercial! https://microgravityuniversity.jsc.nasa.gov/about-micro-g-next