Press release
American Public University System and Policy Studies Organization Announce Keynote Speakers for Third Annual Space Education and Strategic Applications Conference on September 22-23, 2022
Leading Astronaut and NASA Telescope Expert to Share Research and Findings at Free Two-Day Virtual Event CHARLES TOWN, W.Va., May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --
About this update from American Public Education, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Leading Astronaut and NASA Telescope Expert to Share Research and Findings at Free Two-Day Virtual Event\nCHARLES TOWN, W.Va., May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Public University System (APUS) and the Policy Studies Organization (PSO) have announced two keynote speakers for the third annual Space Education and Strategic Applications Conference (SESA), to be held virtually September 22-23. The event is free and open to the public; visit here to see the latest event updates.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nDr. Sian Proctor, the first African-American woman to pilot a spacecraft, and Carl Starr, a well-known telescope expert and Mission Operations Manager for NASA, will be keynote speakers at an event which will bring together leaders, innovators, and industry decision-makers to focus on 'Fifty Years from the Moon: The Future of Commercial, Government, and Military Space Exploration.'\nThe speakers each have decades of experience and have made significant scholarly contributions to space studies. Dr. Proctor is a geoscientist, explorer, space artist, educator, and astronaut who is now the mission pilot for the Inspiration4, the first all-civillian mission to orbit space. She is an analog astronaut, notably leading the all-female SENSORIA Mars 2020 mission at the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) Habitat.\n\"I believe that we all need to strive for a J.E.D.I. space: a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive space as we advance human spaceflight.\" said Dr. Proctor. \"SESA offers an opportunity for our industry to come together at all levels and explore this mindset from many different, valuable perspectives—because when we solve for space, we also solve for issues on earth.\"\nStarr—a 2020 Goddard Outstanding Public Leadership Medal recipient who earned a bachelor's and master's in Space Studies from American Military University—is now Missions Operations Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and has been part of the team since 2004. In this role, he has been responsible for Observatory operations after the telescope is separated from the launch vehicle.\n\"In my work with the James Webb Space Telescope Project, I see firsthand the importance of coordinated communication within the space industry, where collaboration is the key to exciting new...