"Space: New Opportunities For A New Era" Is The Theme

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has released the schedule for its annual conference, to be held at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, CA. September 14th - 17th.

Co-chaired by NASA and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), and organized by AIAA, Speakers will include The Honorable Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and Administrator, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Lt. Gen. John T. "Tom" Sheridan, Commander, USAF Space and Missile Systems Center, Lt. Gen. Larry D. James,Commander, 14th Air Force, Air Force Space Command, and Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, and Elon Musk, CEO/CTO, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), among many others.

The conference and exibition brings together top leaders from government, industry, and academia to discuss a broad range of topic related to space and the aerospace industry. This year's sessions include discussions of commercial manned space flight, space systems for environmental monitoring, rethinking the approach to space architecture, and NASA's next 10 years.

AIAA says 'Space 2009' serves as a venue for senior government and industry leaders and technologists. Under the theme "Space: New Opportunities for a New Era," the four-day event will examine the need for increasing America's commitment to education in the "STEM" subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; how best to approach the problems posed by global climate change; how to reduce global fossil fuel consumption; and the role that space exploration and space technologies will play in achieving these goals.

During the conference, more than 2,000 Pasadena area grade K-6 students and educators will take field trips to "Education Alley" to experience hands-on demonstrations of space-related technologies. Educational sessions on the future of NASA, a live teleconference with NASA's Desert Research and Technologies Study (RATS) group, and student press conferences with former astronaut Scott Parzynski are just a few of the highlights.

FMI: www.aiaa.org