NSF Small Satellite Workshop 2007 May 17 www

NSF Small Satellite Workshop 2007 May 17 www. American-Aerospace. net Student Space Experiment Access - A National Imperative Starshine Spacecraft Vanguard 1 launched in ’ 58 (50 th anniversary in ‘ 08) David Yoel & Gil Moore 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 1

www. American-Aerospace. net Background • From 1973 to 2001 NASA provided free or low-cost rides into orbit for hundreds of high school and university student payloads – – Skylab Student Experiment Program Shuttle Student Involvement Project Get Away Special Program Hitchhiker Project • These programs helped attract young engineers and scientists to aerospace during the recovery from the ’ 70’s crash • Many of those former students now occupy responsible positions throughout the space industry and the scientific community 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 2

The Impending Workforce Gap www. American-Aerospace. net • Industry leaders decry the magnitude of the problem – Dozens of reports, little action • Rising Above The Gathering Storm, Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future, 2004 www. nationalacademies. org/cosepup • This time it’s different – Demographics (aging population) – Declining K-12 STEM interest & skills – Off-shoring not an option in aerospace industry • Our response? – Terminate programs that have inspired the best & brightest students 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 3

www. American-Aerospace. net Current Realities • All Shuttle secondary payloads de-manifested after Columbia accident – Full cost accounting another major factor • Dozens of university space experiment programs have been terminated – Many students interested in space have moved on • Attempt to fly on NASA ELVs terminated last year • Student Zero-G aircraft access now facing termination • Cube. Sat and Nano. Sat Programs 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 4

www. American-Aerospace. net Informal Coalition of Aerospace Scientists & Engineers • Recommendations to date – There’s no substitute for hands-on approach • Many ways to accomplish this – U. S. launch vehicle companies add provision for secondary educational payloads to all their vehicles – Investigate use of tax credits to reimburse launch vehicle providers for the cost of integrating each payload they fly – Encourage Do. D to increase funding and launch rate for the University Nano. Sat program 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 5

www. American-Aerospace. net Informal Coalition of Aerospace Scientists & Engineers • Recommendations (cont. ) – Encourage NASA and industry to include accommodations for student payloads on all new launch vehicles – Encourage spacecraft manufacturers to donate surplus and prototype flight hardware and make test facilities available to student experimenters – Create bridges between university-level space experiment programs and K-12 STEM initiatives across the country 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 6

www. American-Aerospace. net Informal Coalition of Aerospace Scientists & Engineers • Universal Space Networks – Has offered to work with student spaceflight programs to downlink data and uplink commands on a capacity-available basis • Tax Credits – Credits more valuable than deductions – Informal assessment is positive • Working to obtain formal expert opinion 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 7

Observations www. American-Aerospace. net • Focus on students – Compatible with priority NSF places on education – Help find a way to provide access in U. S. – Don’t make empty promises to students • Attached payloads can have value – Don’t necessarily have to deploy a spacecraft – Reduces cost, integration complexity, mission risk 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 8

Issues www. American-Aerospace. net • Excess capacity exists – Issue is marginal cost of integration (at no mission risk) • Cost of developing Secondary payload accommodations – – Robust accommodations “Auxiliary” not “Secondary” Cost is trivial if averaged over multiple missions Non-recurring expense “has” to be paid by 1 st customer(s) 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 9

Collaboration www. American-Aerospace. net • Auxiliary access a shared problem across the industry – No organization can afford the solution alone • Consider Prizes/Cups/Prizes (E. g. , “The Vanguard Cup”) – DARPA Challenge, Solar Challenge, FIRST Robotics… – The prize is not access, it’s based on what’s done in space • Untapped resources – Industry – Student space “alumni” • An organization capable of aggregating and channeling resources could break the bottleneck – Focus on student access and student programs – Leverage – Be sure it’s not a “sticky” organization – money flows through 2007 May 17 NSF Small Satellite Workshop 10