Emphasis On Commercial Spaceflight, Robotic Developments

The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will hold its SPACE 2011 Conference & Exposition September 27–29 at the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA, focusing on the theme “Enhancing Today, Inspiring Tomorrow.”

SPACE 2011 will examine how best to pursue the nation’s space and technology goals to explore, educate, build, and innovate in the post–space shuttle era, and in a time of severe budgetary constraints, and how to drive the advancement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the nation’s schools to preserve and enhance our nation’s scientific and technological capabilities.

Specific topics of discussion for the conference include:

• How can commercial space enhance our current space program and what are the current issues and challenges?
• How might recent global political events change requirements for national security space?
• What are the latest developments and innovations in robotic exploration technologies?
• What key technologies are required to meet the needs of NASA and the Department of Defense?
• What is the legacy of the space shuttle program and what developments will affect the future of human spaceflight?
• How can academia, government and industry support education in space-related subjects?

Other areas of discussion during SPACE 2011 include: space history, medicine, law and policy, logistics, operations, remote sensing systems and sensors, transportation and launch systems, systems engineering and space economics, and human sustainment using in-situ resources on the moon and other bodies.

Guiding the formation of the SPACE 2011 Conference are the executive chairs: Charles Elachi, director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, commander, U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center; Roger Krone, president, network and space systems, integrated defense systems, The Boeing Company; Jeff Grant, vice president and general manager, Space Systems Division, Northrop Grumman; and Joanne Maguire, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.

The conference is co-chaired by NASA and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The conference will kick off with remarks from AIAA president Brian Dailey and The Honorable Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California. Following their remarks will be an opening panel discussion on “Enhancing Today, Inspiring Tomorrow,” moderated by Wanda Austin, president and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation, and featuring Lt. Gen. Eugene L. Tattini, USAF (retired), deputy director, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, as well as the conference’s executive chairs.

Luncheon speakers include George Nield, associate administrator, Commercial Space Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration.

Thousands of Long Beach area school children will participate in the conference’s “Education Alley” program, which allows students in grades K–12 to take part in exciting hands-on learning activities reinforcing the value of the “STEM” subjects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in their daily lives, as well as in potential future careers in aerospace engineering and scientific disciplines. “Education Alley” is sponsored by Lockheed Martin Corporation, The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon Company, The Aerospace Corporation, Wyle, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, and the AIAA Foundation.

FMI: www.aiaa.org/events/space