Space4U

In this episode:

We meet Danny Jaques creator of Danny’s Rocket Ranch Space Salsa. Born and raised on a ranch (the company’s namesake) near Ignacio, Colorado, Jaques realized that rather than becoming a rancher, he wanted to pursue a career in space. He initially dreamt of being an astronaut, but after graduating from Fort Lewis College he embarked upon a junior high teaching career, during which he escorted hundreds of his students to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2010, Jaques was inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame.

After years of friends and family raving about his homemade salsa recipe, he had the idea to utilize dehydration techniques developed by NASA to formulate a salsa that could be consumed in and withstand the rigors of space, while still being delicious to consume on Earth. Danny has since retired from his teaching career, but he continues to help students attend Space Camp, with a portion of company profits donated to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation for Space Camp scholarships. Jaques’ Space Salsa has also earned Space Certification through Space Foundation.

In our conversation, Danny discusses his overarching love of space, how that played into his teaching career, his experiences taking students to Space Camp, what prompted him to start a salsa business, how he integrated his love of space into his company’s products, and how he perfected the process of making his dehydrated salsa as delicious as fresh salsas on the market.

Describing comments he’s received on his salsa, Jaques says, "Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, she’s a Shuttle astronaut and a former Ft. Collins high school teacher, and I [asked], ‘Dottie, do you think the folks on the International Space Station would like my salsa?’ And she looked over at me, and her eyes wide, and she said, ‘Danny, they’d love your salsa!’”

Learn more about Danny, his “forever bride” Laura, and Danny’s Rocket Ranch Space Salsa by visitinghttps://www.dannysrocketranch.com

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Kevin Rice who spent 40 years in the aerospace industry, roughly split between Lockheed Martin’s legendary Skunk Works and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). At Skunk Works Kevin served as Director of Business Management, where his responsibilities included management of several hundred employees in the execution of budgeting, scheduling, proposal development, cost estimating and pricing, contracts, and risk management. His work supported tactical aircraft projects including the F-117, F-22, and F-35, as well as reconnaissance projects such as the U-2, SR-71, various C-130 projects, and the sub-scale X-33 reusable launch vehicle.

Following that, and until his retirement in 2019, Kevin worked for NASA JPL, as a Division Manager and Director of Project Business Management for NASA’s research and development centers. Kevin developed, implemented and maintained JPL’s project controls processes, and created JPL’s business policies and practices manual (the “Dark Green Book”), which served as a model for business throughout NASA. He also developed the independent assessment model adopted by NASA to assess project performance. From 1992 to the present, Kevin has served as adjunct professor of Corporate Finance, International Business, and Global Financial Management at the University of Redlands.

In our conversation, Kevin discusses how he budgeted costs and set timelines for massive aerospace projects, established risk evaluation and management controls, what it was like maintaining constant discretion on classified projects, details on Skunk Works’ X-33 reusable launch vehicle program with NASA, and his experiences riding the annual Federal appropriations rollercoaster.

Discussing his own personal commandments for business management, Kevin says, “It’s about understanding the trends — what are the facts, what is the relationship between facts — that’s analysis. Assessment is, ‘What do I do with that information?’” You know, what is the risk attendant to that? How reasonable is it? What are some of the alternatives that we can apply to some of that?”

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Laurie Orth, educator, musician, and creator of the Rocket Recorder musical curriculum. Laurie has taught music in several different settings, and in 2012, she began her own business teaching general music classes to home schoolers. Noticing her students lacked motivation to participate, she had an out-of-the-box idea that by creating music and teaching it under a space theme might grab their attention.

In our conversation, Orth discusses what led her to careers in music and education, what gave her the idea to merge those different disciplines into Rocket Recorder, and the response she got the first time she introduced her Rocket Recorder songs in the classroom.

In describing the results of Rocket Recorder, Orth says, “It was a great outcome, because I wanted my kids to learn how to read music and not just memorize little nursery rhymes — and they did! They really would read the music and they learned how to count (time), so I felt like it was a success all around. And they learned a lot about space exploration.”

Learn more about Laurie and Rocket Recorder, visit www.laurieorth.com

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Dr. Steven Hawley, Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kansas, and former NASA astronaut who’s flown on five Space Shuttle missions. In those missions, Hawley had major roles in the deployment and later upkeep of the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

In our conversation, Dr. Hawley discusses the first telescope he owned, the 1991 Hubble Space Telescope deployment mission, his role in its deployment, why it initially didn’t operate as intended, what it’s told us about our universe, his later role in the launch of the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and his thoughts on the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope.

In describing his first space mission deploying the bus-sized Hubble in 1991, Hawley says, “My job was to operate the arm to grasp the telescope, lift it out of the payload bay, and release it. Well, that sounds simple enough on the surface. It actually was quite complicated, and there were a lot of ‘what-ifs’ that we had to think about.”

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Dr. Dorit Donoviel, director of the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH). She is also director of the Biomedical Innovation Laboratory and associate professor of Space Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Donoviel’s work revolves around performing research and developing strategies aimed at reducing health and safety risks to astronauts in long-duration space missions. She has received numerous awards for her work, including NASA’s Group Achievement Award for work as a member of the Executive Steering Committee for “The Impact of Sex and Gender on Adaptation to Space,” a collection of six scientific articles published in The Journal of Women's Health.

In our conversation Donoviel discusses how her career in the space ecosystem began, what inspired her to do the research she does, changes that occur in the human body in space, how space health includes both physical and behavioral health, the TRISH-sponsored research conducted by the civilian crew on the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission, and her thoughts on the importance of mentorship.

Explaining the importance of racial and gender diversity in tracking the health of humans in space, Donoviel says, “You go back to the Sixties; we’ve been in space for 60 years… Roughly 530-something-odd people have been to space. That’s like 10 a year. And as a biologist — as a person who studies particularly humans — you need more than that! You need a lot more people. And you need diversity in your sample.”

To learn more about TRISH, visit https://www.bcm.edu/academic-centers/space-medicine/translational-research-institute

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Will Henry, award-winning filmmaker, producer and writer of the documentary film The High Frontier: The Untold Story of Gerard K. O'Neill, released on September 15th of this year. Will is the Creative Director and Senior Producer at Multiverse Media, a media company focusing on space exploration and science and technology. He is also currently producing an eight-part television series in association with NASA, and is the writer and producer of The Legendary Podcast, a monthly podcast dedicated to sharing stories of perseverance and glory from the world’s top athletes.

In our conversation, Will discusses how he ended up working on the film, how long it took to take it from concept to release, how difficult it was to encapsulate a 30-year period of O’Neill’s eventful life into documentary film length, how they were able to round up Gerry’s family and associates to participate, and how much O’Neill’s work then has inspired today’s commercial space travel efforts.

Discussing O’Neill’s inventiveness, Will says, “He was a prolific inventor. He invented the particle accelerator; he invented the chambers that made that work. He also invented the precursor to GPS, and he predicted a lot of what we use today, you know — things like the Kindle to self-driving cars. And it’s just incredible how way ahead of his time he was.”

To learn more about the documentary, visit thehighfrontiermovie.com. To learn more about Will and his projects, visit willhenryfilm.com or catch him on Twitter @WillTHenry.

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Garrett Harwood, founder of Eagle Shield Inc., a premier provider of energy-saving products for home and business that were developed using a technology originally created by NASA. Eagle Shield’s products are space-certified through Space Foundation’s Space Certification Program.

Prior to Eagle Shield, Garrett was vice president of sales for a billion-dollar fitness center with locations in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School with a degree in administration, and also holds an MBS in Green Sustainability from San Francisco Institute of Architecture.

In our conversation, Garrett discusses how the lessons he learned in his previous career in the fitness industry helped to lay the groundwork for Eagle Shield, the space technology at the core of their product and its applications, how radiant barrier reflective insulation works, how use of the insulation has moved beyond residential homes to private and commercial properties, and where he’d like to take Eagle Shield next.

In describing how reflective insulation works, Harwood says, “Deep space is -460º [F] below zero. Why wouldn’t you have a heater in an astronaut uniform? Because your own body heat is 98.6 degrees [F]. So, by having the reflective insulation in the astronaut uniform, you’re reflecting your own body heat back in, keeping you comfortable.”

Learn more about Eagle Shield by visiting https://eagleshield.com/

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Libby Jackson, the Human Exploration Programme Manager at the UK Space Agency, and author of two books for young people on space exploration: Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women in Space published in 2018, and the recently published Space Explorers: 25 Extraordinary Stories of Space Exploration and Adventure. Libby is one of Britain’s leading experts in human spaceflight and she’s passionate about sharing stories on that topic with young people to encourage them to follow their passions in life.

Space was Libby’s childhood inspiration, and she has worked in the space industry since she earned her degrees in Physics from Imperial College and Astronautics and Space Engineering from Cranfield University. She began working at Europe's control center for the International Space Station as a flight instructor and controller in 2007, and a few years later, became director for the European Space Agency’s ISS Columbus module. She joined the UK Space Agency in 2014 as spokesperson for the first British ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s mission to the International Space Station and has remained there since.

In our conversation, Jackson explains how she wrote a “Travel Guide to Mars” when she was just nine years old, how, at age 17, she shadowed a mission control worker at NASA Johnson Space Center, what it was like working at Europe’s control center for the International Space Station, what inspired her to write her new book, and how the stories in it go beyond just facts — to include the emotions that the explorers experienced on their missions.

Describing her objective in writing her newest book, Libby says, “Here’s a book I wish I had when I was 10, or 11 or 12. Something that tells these fantastic stories, gets behind just the pictures and the highlights of what you see. And I hope I get across just how exciting and brilliant a place [space] is.”

To learn more about Libby and her books, visit libbyjackson.com

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Homer Hickam, author of the No. 1 New York Times bestselling memoir Rocket Boys and its ever-popular movie adaptation, October Sky. Rocket Boys is the story of a young man and his friends in Coalwood, West Virginia, who, inspired by the space age, started building and launching rockets, which was just the beginning of a fantastic career that eventually took Homer to NASA. Since he published that first book, he has written more than a dozen fictional and nonfictional bestsellers.

On October 26, Hickam will release a new follow-up memoir to Rocket Boys titled Don't Blow Yourself Up. This story includes tales of his life and times during the next 40 years that take the reader to college, Vietnam, underwater, NASA, and to remote locations looking for dinosaur bones.

In our conversation, Hickam details his memoir writing process, what it was like to pioneer the infamous Virginia Tech Skipper game cannon, his time at NASA, meeting Elon Musk at adult Space Camp, becoming an avid amateur paleontologist, and why he would be considered an old Grinch on a suborbital flight.

In discussing whether he is an actual Renaissance man, Homer says, “I wonder if the people during the actual Renaissance thought of themselves as Renaissance people — I don’t think you know that until you look back. I love the idea of having an adventure in my life and, and when it’s presented to me, I just grab it, and I just go with it, and I just want to make it happen so much.”

To learn more about Homer Hickam and his newest book, Don't Blow Yourself Up, visit https://homerhickam.com/

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged

In this episode:

We meet Dr. Kathryn Thornton, former NASA astronaut and current Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

Dr. Thornton was selected by NASA in May 1984, became the third woman to walk in space, and the first woman to make multiple extravehicular activities (EVAs). A veteran of four space flights, which included her stents as a spacewalker, repairing in-orbit satellites — including the Hubble space telescope — gave Dr. Thornton nearly 1000 hours of space travel.

In our conversation, Dr. Thornton discusses pursuing education in STEM at a time where women were not encouraged in the field, the advancement of gender equality in space, how she trained for missions, an incident that could have impacted the course of a space flight, and what travel to the Moon means for deep space exploration.

In sharing advice regarding a career in space, Dr. Thornton says, “There are lots of ways to be involved in the space program. Anybody can, there’s so many different dimensions that require humans and people with a passion that anybody can be a part of it.”

Introductory and closing music: Paint the Sky by Hans Atom © Copyright 2015, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/50718 Ft: Miss Judged