Events Category: Virtual Lecture

DC-X/XA – The Genesis of Fully Reusable Access to Space

The amazing vertical launching and landing capabilities for the rockets of SpaceX and Blue Origin are very exciting. The facts and histories of the NASA DC-X/XA rockets were rarely mentioned. Please join us for this inspiring mega event / meeting to learn more about it, and experience the thrills and inspirations, from the leaders in this groundbreaking and historic project! And networking together!

Speakers
    • Dan Dumbacher, Executive Director, AIAA
      Moderator and Keynote Speaker
      NASA interest in DC-X/XA and their linkage to SpaceX
    • Jess Sponable, President and Chief Technology Officer, New Frontier Aerospace (NFA), Inc.
      DC-X firsts
    • Joaquin H. Castro, Aerojet Rocketdyne Space Advanced Programs
      Propulsion
    • James R. French, AIAA Fellow (60+ year member of AIAA!) President, JRF Aerospace Consulting LLC
      Systems engineering and schedule
  • Jeff Laube Senior Project Leader, The Aerospace Corporation, Associate Fellow, AIAA Chief Emeritus, Integration and Outreach Division, AIAA Council of Directors

2022 Yvonne C. Brill Lecture in Aerospace Engineering & Reception

This lecture is free and open to the public.

2022 Award Recipient:
Robert D. Braun
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL)

“Are We Alone? Grand Challenges in Solar System Exploration”

The lecture will discuss the search for signs of past or present life beyond Earth, a profound human endeavor that has occupied a place in our consciousness since humans first looked skyward. Braun will discuss how this quest requires an advance in space exploration capabilities, technologies, and knowledge that also informs our future on our home planet and the pace of human exploration beyond it. After decades of hard work, and through an interconnected set of missions, NASA stands poised to address this timeless question along multiple arcs. Braun will describe the scientific opportunities, locales, technologies, and missions from which we may advance our understanding of the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. The goals and present status of multiple astrobiology missions planned for the next decade will be highlighted.

About the Yvonne C. Brill Lecture in Aerospace Engineering

The Yvonne C. Brill Lecture in Aerospace Engineering was established in 2013 in memory of Yvonne Brill, pioneering rocket scientist, AIAA Honorary Fellow and NAE member. She was a trailblazer at a time when women were not encouraged to enter the science and technology fields. The Lecture emphasizes research or engineering issues for space travel and exploration, aerospace education of students and the public, and other aerospace issues such as ensuring a diverse and robust engineering community. This biennial lecture is held at the Nationa