Be Proactive, Put First Things First, Start with the End in Mind. These three directives are concise instructions for project manager. They come from Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. They can apply to any project, large or small, short or long term. A key word in the book title is effective. One […]
Take time to show compassion to the Virgin Galactic employees here in our community
Take time to show compassion to the Virgin Galactic employees here in our community. When I started working in the space industry 26 years ago, I was unfamiliar with its vocabulary. My boss was critical of any misuse of the “technical” language which did not help me to continue to experiment with new vocabulary. Using […]
Making Little Bets on a Big Future
Are you willing to try little bets, maybe a thousand times and fail most of the time in order to succeed? I am and I have failed plenty of times. How about you? Early in my sales career, one of my mentors said No, means sell me again. The loudest NOs I hear are in […]
Tranquility Base and NMSU’s Role in its Preservation
Tranquility Base and NMSU’s role in its preservation Every year, New Mexico Space Grant (NMSCG) issues a call for research proposals from faculty across New Mexico. As Director, I have the privilege to review proposals which range from simple to complex. A recent proposal requested support to work on development a heat transfer technology to […]
It takes a village and patience to create great achievements
It takes a village and patience to create great achievements. The achievement in Santa Teresa of the expanded Union Pacific Rail facility is the result of work by many people, organizations and agencies over a long period of time. This will be Union Pacific’s largest fueling facility and the railroads’ largest intermodal freight terminal along […]
Travels with Charlie and the new space economy
I grew up on Long Island near John Steinbeck’s home in Sag Harbor. I remember when Steinbeck’s Travels with Charlie was published I had to get to the library. I found reading Steinbeck the perfect experience. His written voice took me away from crowded, grey and cold Long Island. The Pearl and Grapes of Wrath […]
Good News may be coming to Dona Ana Community College
Good News. Dona Ana Community College (DACC) is embarking on the establishment of an Associate’s Degree in General Engineering. Many of us followed the events over the last two years, particularly related to the Nursing Program and the Presidential search. With all that behind us, the College is now positioning itself to expand its offerings. […]
Try something new: learn an app, create an industry
I am using Microsoft office Speech Recognition software to write this article. I believe it’s important to challenge myself to use new technologies. I hope it is a time saver. I report at the of the article. Working at a university if a forcing function for trying new things. Fear of failure is mitigated because […]
New Mexico Universities must invest in faculty with commercial space capability now
New Mexico Universities must invest in faculty with commercial space capability now. Commercialization of space is becoming more important to our national leaders every year as commercial companies demonstrate low-cost increased access to space from commercial spaceports is possible. “The United States Defense Department needs to be thinking seriously about commercial alternatives in order to […]
International Space Station: Good for another 10 years and great for Las Cruces
2014 started off with an especially positive announcement for our community. NASA announced the extension of the orbiting outpost through 2024. Why does this matter to our community? NASA White Sands Test Facility (NASA WSTF) is a support facility for the International Space Station (ISS). NASA WSTF does failure analysis on micro-meteoroid orbital debris impacts […]
