Finally: Virgin SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity completed her first glide flight! It’s been just over two years since the accident. I wish I could have seen her on her own without the mother ship. Up until Saturday, she was always in captive carry mode. That is she was carried and firmly attached to WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve […]
The Janitor Who Inspired Me
Jobe is a church janitor. This is not his real name but he exists. I spoke with him last week. He attended ISPCS and also our SUMMIT on Inclusion. This janitor spent over $1500 to join our community. When people attend ISPCS, we do not ask for their title. When you see a name badge […]
Ambition is necessary for success
My career or any career needs to be nurtured. Careers were on the agenda at NMSU last week because of homecoming. Successful alumni who serve on various advisory boards were on campus, including my former boss who now works at NASA’s Langley Research Center. He still works in the area of technology development. He was […]
Am I speaking or yelling, how do you tell the difference?
Speaking or yelling, how do you tell the difference? Public speaking is one of the things I dream about. It’s an art, and most certainly an acquired skill. You know it when you hear a great talk. And most of the time, we don’t hear it or see it. Why is that? Power Point slides. […]
BEAM Me Up NASA
I have just returned from the launch of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the 8th commercial resupply services (CRS-8) mission for NASA by the SpaceX Flacon 9 rocket from their launch complex 40 at Kennedy Space Center. I was a launch site guest of Bigelow Aerospace […]
Local columns add to community dialogue
Local columns add to community dialogue Over the past few weeks we have learned of the resignation of some of the local contributing columnists. Like you, I read their columns. Over time, each columnist finds their voice and their audience. As I now return from vacation time with family, I reflected on how the family […]
The Coin of Discovery
The Coin of Discovery The year 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einstein’s field equations on the General Theory of Relativity. There are celebrations across the globe to mark this centennial event. Science is cooler these days than it has been for a while. Like Einstein, many bright and curious people don’t […]
Read the NTSB report on the SpaceShipTwo accident
In the past year, we have experienced three aviation deaths at or near the Las Cruces Municipal Airport. All three of the accidents are being investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB website states in part, it is a federal agency which does not assign fault or blame for an accident or […]
The Full Story: The NTSB report on the SpaceShipTwo accident is out today
Today at 7:30 am MT, the National Transportation Safety Board will release its final report on the Virgin Galactic accident that occurred on a powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo October 31st, 2014. In a preliminary report issued by the NTSB last November, it was reported the pilot who survived the crash of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo […]
Today is the closest New Horizons will get to Pluto
Fear of public speaking is common. The remedy: picture the audience naked. Seriously? That was a cure suggested to me when I was in high school. Like other remedies that don’t work, I had to discover how to cope with fear through trial and error. Early in my career I gave my fair share of […]
