Let's Go to Space: BLUE-SKY Learning

Today we meet with Daniel Tatum. Dan is an electronics engineer specializing in hi-reliability applications. He provides design consulting services for small startups to get advanced electronics from concept to production quickly. Outside of work, Daniel is a motorsports enthusiast who spends his weekends motorcycling, 4-wheeling, boating, and enjoying anything with an engine. Lately, he’s even taken up racing remote control NASCARs on Wednesday nights for a little midweek adrenaline. We trust this will be a highly reliable interview that will rev your intellectual engines!

SmallSat Education Conference: https://www.smallsateducation.org/

Today we meet with Domina Stamas, a Space Camp alum and veteran science educator with over 15 years of experience, is the founding physics and astronomy teacher at Westlake Charter High School in Sacramento, California. She is also the founder of The ACE Project, which connects thousands of students from around the world with analog astronauts during simulated space missions. Domina was selected as the only formal educator in the 2025 World’s Biggest Analog Mission and was assigned to the Lunares Habitat in Poland, bridging STEM outreach and educator representatives. A NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassador and alumnus of the U.S. Naval Academy’s SET Sail teacher program, she’s passionate about inspiring the next wave of space explorers through unique student-centered educational experiences. She brings a wealth of knowledge to our podcast today and we look forward to the discussion.

https://www.smallsateducation.org/

Jackie Blumer is a passionate Earth and Space Science educator with over 25 years of classroom experience. She brings space exploration to life for students through innovative hands-on lessons, global collaborations, and real-world STEM connections. Jackie partners with organizations like Limitless Space Institute, ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, AIAA, the Space Foundation, and ARRL (American Radio Relay League) to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Her work especially focuses on reaching underrepresented students in rural and Title I schools. Jackie’s mission is to spark curiosity, build confidence, and open doors to STEM careers through the wonder of space. This is our second interview with Jackie and we can’t wait to be updated on all her amazing work.

Jackie's first podcast with us:

https://www.smallsateducation.org/

Tashfia Diha is a high school junior and the founder of the Youth Space Organization (YSO), a thriving community of space lovers who are passionate about research, digital storytelling, and writing. She is an alumnus of The Knowledge Society 24' where she led the space moonshot that won Most Innovative that year. She is passionate about science journalism and engineering to create a positive impact on the world. She has written for The Stanford Daily, and The Spectator, and is a semi-finalist for the Princeton Summer Journalism Program. She is also researching autonomous space navigation with a professor at Virginia Tech and has conducted preliminary research on the impact of COVID-19 on education with York College. You can check out her website by googling Youth Space Organization for more details.

LINK TO SMALL SAT ED: https://www.smallsateducation.org/

Today we meet with Rodrigo Schmidt! Rod is an astrophysicist, space engineer and analog astronaut from Brazil. He is finishing his PHD at Purdue, where he is researching the development of space missions while applying AI to sandbox game environments like Kerbal Space Program. Rod is the also the co-founder of SEARCH, the first organization at Purdue dedicated to astronaut-related initiatives, as well as RocketPy, the official rocketry simulator from the European Rocketry Challenge. This interview only touches the surface of all that Rod is doing, but be prepared to be as impressed as we are!

1. Rod's personal website https://rodrigo-schmitt.github.io/
2. Translunar: https://www.translunar-esi.com/
3. Purdue SEARCH: https://purduesearch.github.io/
4. RocketPy: https://docs.rocketpy.org/en/latest/

Today, we meet with Daniel Portas Levy, a 10th grader at Florida Atlantic University High School, where he is also pursuing an undergraduate degree in mathematics. He has been a part of the Wolfpack CubeSat Development Team since middle school. He brought that early interest along with him as he entered high school where he joined their aerospace team, and he is currently their software lead. His primary focus is on the applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, particularly in space missions and aerospace education. He has shared his ideas with the scientific community at international conferences such as the Committee on Space Research, the Astrobiology Science Conference, and the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics' SciTech Conference. We look forward to catching up with Daniel and know that his work will inspire you to consider the future of AI and machine learning.

https://www.smallsateducation.org/ (link to SmallSat Education Conference mentioned in promo

Today we meet with Alex Castronovo, a 17-year-old student at Florida Atlantic University High School and long time Wolfpack member. Alex has demonstrated proficiency in software development, with contributions in neuroscience research as a research fellow at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience. His work includes the development of a software tool for analyzing synapses in electron microscopy images. Alex's academic achievements extend to astrophysics and aerospace, with several publications in peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. Some of his personal projects include Launchify, a web application providing customizable rocket launch notifications, and JANGL ], a Java graphics library simplifying 2D graphics development. Alex's awards, including first place in the QubitX Hacks competition, show his commitments in the fields of software development and scientific research.

Today, Kevin and I meet with the TheTERP RAPTOR team at the University of Maryland who are  leading an ambitious mission. What started as a class project has rapidly grown into a multi-institutional collaboration, bringing together researchers from UMD, the Naval Research Laboratory, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks to design and launch a 12U CubeSat for ahigh-speed flyby of the asteroid Apophis.  Their goal? To image Apophis, analyze its surface, and send ground-breaking data back to Earth. Guided by aerospace engineering professor Brent Barbee, the UMD team includes Adrienne, Kruti, Chinthan, Sean, Rahul, Ryan, and Cameron, a diverse group of Masters and PHD students. Their expertise spans orbital determination, machine learning, radio communications, and structures and mechanical modeling, and their prior experience includes work at NASA, Naval ResearchLaboratory, the FDA, ExoAnalytic Solutions, and UMD's Balloon Payload Program.  We are excited to learn more about how their student-led initiative evolved into a full-scalespace mission and we know you will be just as  inspired as we are by this amazing team.

In this first episode of 2025, Kevin and I discuss the amazing work of the Wolfpack CubeSat Development Team and how AIA (Aerospace and Innovation Academy) is beginning it's Spring trimester. Your middle-high school space-loving student can still join by visiting the website at aerospacehigh.org.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/moire/space-ranger

License code: FOJ02OAYEPOEJYD3

Today we meet with Maria Nickel, a Kinesiology and STEM specialist teacher for over27 years. Although she has taught a variety of subjects K- 12, Maria is currently the STEM innovation program specialist K- 12 for the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada where she focuses a lot on space.

Maria has sent two SSEP experiments to the ISS- including the first elementary school experiment in Canada on Cancer and Manitoba’s first Jr. High Experiment on double exposure of radiation on ungrown Tomatosphere seeds. She also has created a science instrument for Manitoba’s first Cube Sat, IRIS, and is working on a second Cube Satellite for Artic Ice flow research

In addition to all her great work as an educator, Maria is the winner of Science Teachers Association of Manitoba- Innovative Group STEM work for the RAMWC 202 and was Inducted into the Space Camp Alumni Hall of Fame Class of 2024.