Today is T=0 at ISU

First, thanks for tuning in. Over the next eight weeks, I plan to share with y'all a bit about my experience at the International Space University's (ISU) 36th annual Space Studies Program (SSP) hosted by Rice University in Space City. Since I've always wanted to write something, I imagine I'll sprinkle in some stories, observations, and lessons learned after ten years in the space industry.

ISU's programs are designed around three tenets: interdisciplinary, international, and intercultural. SSP 2024 (SSP24) promises to be all of those with 150+ participants from at least 35 countries. In addition to weekly cultural nights and distinguished lectures at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the program features a series of over 55 core lectures, a mid-term, and a final exam. In parallel to the lectures, we'll be split into teams to follow separate elective tracks, complete hands-on workshops, and tackle one of four potential team projects. Honestly, I am excited to sharpen my #2 pencil and dust off my ~$10 scientific calculator that got me through engineering school over a decade ago. I am also excited to see what's changed in the "how to learn" domain. Maybe chatGPT, e-ink writing tablets, OneNote, and collaboration applications like Teams will make all the difference. Maybe some things are fundamental to learning: showing up on time, completing the pre-reading, not being afraid to ask questions, and engaging with a positive, open mind. One thing that hasn't changed since ten years ago is the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) around only being able to select one team project or one set of electives.

In any case, today, T = 0 (read: tee equals zero) in my ISU adventure. Today is both the start of a wonderful new trajectory brimming with potential, and today represents all of the things that had to go in exactly the right way while the count was regressive. T = 0 evokes the NY Times image by Tim Urban copied below.

Early June ten years ago was another such T = 0 moment for me, as I had just started my career at Blue Origin. In fact, I'm proud to share the graphic below of New Shepard's controlled vertical landing in honor of my ten year work anniversary.

I hired in to Blue Origin at the West Texas Launch and Test Site as a Test Operations Engineer in 2014, having just graduated from my aerospace engineering bachelor's program the week before. I don't know that I could have anticipated how my career would have unfolded, and I don't know that I could recreate the exact path it followed even if I was given the same ingredients and thousands of trials. That's the element of chance for which I feel so lucky: to be here, at T = 0.

One of the social media filters the ISU admin team encouraged us to use this summer is #goingboldlyyall. Of course, the space aficionado in me resonated with the call back to Star Trek and to Shatner's new book where he reflects on his voyage to space onboard New Shepard. The Texan in me loved the filter, since I really do try to superfluously throw in a "y'all" when "you" in the plural form suffices. à propos, I do also try to say "pen" and "pin" in the exact same way. Finally, I like the idea of going boldly, especially when T = 0. In fact, it's my preferred mode of "going," as long as we define boldly as showing up on time, completing the pre-reading, not being afraid to ask questions, and engaging with a positive, open mind.