Tag: 30 July – 1 August 2024

AIAA Unveils ASCEND Diverse Dozen Op-Eds on Space Sustainability and Environmentalism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA published the 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen (D12) Op-Eds – a collection of unique perspectives on today’s most pressing space sustainability challenges. The 12 visionaries who comprise the D12 will present their ideas on the opening day of 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas. Organized as rapid-fire lightning talks, the D12 will address burning topics from the challenges of balancing growth through responsible space sustainability to orbital debris risking human space exploration.

ASCEND is the world’s premier outcomes-focused, interdisciplinary space event designed to accelerate building our off-world future. In its fifth year, D12 is produced in partnership with astrodynamicist Moriba Jah, chief scientist and co-founder of Privateer. More than 50 people have participated in the D12 program since 2020. Read all their Op-Eds here.

This year, the D12 is supported by the Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce helping amplify underrepresented voices as they promote messages on space sustainability.

The 2024 ASCEND D12 cohort includes startup founders, association leaders, aerospace and engineering scholars, and policy experts in the space industry. They hail from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the United States and its territory, Puerto Rico.

The 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen are:

  • Nifemi Awe, Management Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Priyanka Dhopade, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland
  • Martina Dimoska, Founder and President, International Space Alliance
  • Jose Figueroa, Founder, Aqua/Sky Launch Innovations
  • Amir Gohardani, CEO, Springs of Dreams Corporation
  • Kim Macharia, Executive Director, Space Prize Foundation
  • Isabelle Mierau, Founder, Space Debris DAO
  • Sumbal Mushtaq, Founder, Astralbeam Organization
  • Alma Okpalefe, Executive Director, World Space Week Association
  • Carolyn Overmyer, Director, Orion Chief Engineer, Lockheed Martin Space
  • Olga Stelmakh-Drescher, Chief Policy, Legal & Government Relations Officer, Exolaunch
  • Salman Ali Thepdawala, Ph.D. Candidate and Munich Aerospace Scholar, University of Bundesweehr – Munich

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Press passes are available.

Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

AIAA to Present Aerospace Excellence Awards During 2024 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 28, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of two aerospace excellence awards to be presented during 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Caesars Forum, Las Vegas. Registration is open for the global aerospace community to attend. Journalists can request a Press Pass here.

2024 AIAA Hap Arnold Award for Excellence in Aeronautical Program Management
  • MiMi Aung, Director, Technical Program Management, Project Kuiper, Amazon
    (Formerly Project Manager for Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
  • Award Citation: For exceptional project management and leadership in delivery of the first aircraft on another planet, Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, advancing planetary exploration state of the art, and providing a new Mars exploration technology.

This award is presented to an individual for outstanding contributions in the management of a significant aeronautical or aeronautical-related program or project. The presentation is scheduled for Tuesday, 30 July, 8 a.m. PT.

2024 AIAA Space Systems Award
  • Elena Adams, DART Mission Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • Elizabeth A. Congdon, DART Mechanical Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • Geffrey K. Ottman, DART Electrical Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • Evan James Smith, DART Deputy Mission Systems Engineer, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
  • Award Citation: For outstanding achievement in the development and operation of the DART spacecraft, completing humanity’s first in-space demonstration of planetary defense technology.

This award is presented to recognize outstanding achievements in the architecture, analysis, design, and implementation of space systems. The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, 31 July, 8 a.m. PT.

AIAA is committed to ensuring that aerospace professionals are recognized and celebrated for their achievements, innovations, and discoveries that make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous. Visit AIAA’s Honors and Awards Program for more information.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and visit ascend.events or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Instagram.

2024 AIAA David W. Thompson Lecture in Space Commerce Presented by Sir Martin Sweeting During 2024 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA is pleased to announce the 2024 AIAA David W. Thompson Lectureship in Space Commerce is awarded to Sir Martin Sweeting, Executive Chairman, Surrey Satellite Technology, Ltd. (SSTL) and Distinguished Professor, Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey. The lecture, “Small Satellites – The Foundation of NewSpace,” will be presented Tuesday, 30 July, 12 p.m. PT, during 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas.

Sweeting’s lecture will trace 20 years of small satellites’ impact on life on Earth and look toward future developments. The emergence in the early 2000s of low cost and rapid response, yet operationally capable small satellites initiated a fundamental gear-change in the economics of space. Two decades later, small satellites are mainstream and the basis of mega constellations in low Earth orbit providing communications and Earth observation services with the private sector now playing a dominant role. Recent developments in launchers, both large and small, have accelerated this trend, often referred to as “NewSpace,” enabling far wider participation by nations and commercial companies. The next generation of launchers on the horizon will stimulate the next gear-change in space, with dramatic implications for industry and society.

In 1979, with a Ph.D. in radio engineering from the University of Surrey, Sweeting pioneered rapid-response, low-cost, and highly capable small satellites utilizing modern consumer electronics to change the economics of space. In 1985, he founded a university spin-off company, SSTL, that has designed, built, launched, and operated in orbit over 70 nano-, micro-, and mini-satellites for customers worldwide providing missions for communications, Earth observation, space science, and the demonstration of active space debris removal techniques. Sweeting was knighted in 2006 by HM the Late Queen and is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Physics. He has received numerous international awards, and has been identified as one of the UK’s 20 most influential engineers. He is regarded as the “father of small satellites” that led to NewSpace.

This lectureship recognizes a prominent industry leader or senior management team who has created or grown a space-related business and generated substantial economic benefits and market value. It was endowed by Orbital ATK to commemorate the long and distinguished career of commercial space pioneer, David W. Thompson. The lecture will be delivered in person, as well as recorded and available on demand.

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Press passes are available for credentialed media by request.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and visit ascend.events or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Instagram.

2024 AIAA von Kármán Lecture in Astronautics on OSIRIS-REx Mission Presented by Dante S. Lauretta During 2024 ASCEND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA is pleased to announce the 2024 AIAA von Kármán Lectureship in Astronautics is awarded to Dante S. Lauretta, Regents Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson. The lecture, “Unlocking the Secrets of Our Solar System’s History: The OSIRIS-REx Journey,” will be presented Tuesday, 30 July, 10:45 a.m. PT, during 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas.

Lauretta’s lecture delves into the challenges, discoveries, and scientific implications of OSIRIS-REx as it unveils the ancient secrets of our solar system’s history. Lauretta will discuss the mission’s planning and execution, from the spacecraft’s voyage to asteroid Bennu’s surface to the precision required to retrieve a pristine sample of this celestial time capsule and deliver it to Earth for scientific analysis. He will explore the groundbreaking findings from the returned sample, which are already revolutionizing our comprehension of solar system formation and evolution. This lecture not only showcases human ingenuity and perseverance, but also celebrates the collaborative ethos driving the forefront of space exploration.

After receiving B.S and B.A. degrees from the University of Arizona, he obtained his Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis in 1997. Transitioning to Arizona State University for postdoctoral work, Lauretta embarked on crucial research analyzing the mineral composition and formation processes of meteorites and asteroids. His pivotal move to the University of Arizona in 2001 marked the beginning of his most significant contributions as a faculty member within the historic Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Lauretta’s exceptional work in cosmochemistry led to his selection as the principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx in 2011. The mission launched in 2016. The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft reached Bennu in 2018, collected a sample in 2020, and commenced its return to Earth in 2021. The samples landed on Earth on 24 September 2023.

Named in honor of Theodore von Kármán, a world-famous authority on aerospace sciences, this lectureship honors an individual who has performed notably and distinguished themselves technically in the field of astronautics. The lecture will be delivered in person at 2024 ASCEND, as well as recorded and available on demand.

AIAA is committed to ensuring that aerospace professionals are celebrated for their achievements, innovations, and discoveries that make the world safer, more connected, more accessible, and more prosperous. Visit AIAA’s Honors and Awards Program for more information.

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Journalists from around the world are invited to cover 2024 ASCEND; press passes are available for credentialed media by request.

Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

2024 ASCEND to Feature Europa Clipper Mission in William H. Pickering Lecture

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 8, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA is pleased to announce the 2024 William H. Pickering Lecture, “Europa Clipper: First NASA Mission to an Ocean World,” by Bonnie Buratti, Deputy Project Scientist, Europa Clipper Mission, 31 July, 12 p.m. PT, during 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas.

As NASA’s first detailed exploration of an ocean world with an overarching goal of searching for a habitable zone, Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in 2024. Europa is one of Jupiter’s four moons discovered by Galileo in 1610. It almost certainly harbors a salty ocean underneath a thick ice crust. This ocean has all the requirements for a habitable zone where primitive life could potentially thrive: liquid water, energy in the form of chemical potentials, and organic molecules. Europa Clipper also will study the geology, interior, and composition of Europa. Buratti’s lecture will showcase the mission’s objectives and its role in the search for life beyond Earth. This lecture will be delivered in person, recorded, and available on demand.

Buratti is Senior Research Scientist, Principal, and Fellow at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. An expert on planetary surfaces, she has held leadership roles on several NASA flight projects, including Cassini to Saturn and New Horizons to Pluto. She is a recipient of the Carl Sagan Medal for Excellence in Public Communication and the Gerard P. Kuiper Prize for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of planetary science. She is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the American Astronomical Society, and author of over 250 papers and the popular book, Worlds Fantastic, Worlds Familiar (Cambridge).

Named for former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director William H. Pickering, the lectureship honors his initiation and leadership of America’s robotic scientific space program, from Explorer I in 1958 through the development of the Viking Mars orbiters and the Voyager outer planet and interstellar missions.

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open; press credentials are available here.

Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and visit ascend.events or follow ASCEND on LinkedIn, X/Twitter, and Instagram.