My wife and I took inspiration from more places than we can count for the declaration we gave earlier this month in front of family and friends when we got married. Colorado allows couples to self-solemnize, so we decided to something that reflected our values, instead of having a judge…

The experience isn’t all I’ve come to expect from an Apple product — I decided to buy a pair of the gorgeous and, by all accounts, decadent AirPods Max this weekend. Over the past few days, I’ve clocked in 10+ hours of listening time with my favorite playlists, and the sound quality is truly spectacular for Bluetooth audio. …

Setting the stage for the current exploration of Mars — On July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder mission and the Sojourner rover landed on the surface of Mars. This mission was an example of what NASA could do with a “low cost” flight, with the budget being roughly $280 million for the vehicle, operations on Earth, and a rocket. This…

Starting 13 Years of Amazing Science — On June 30, 2004, the Cassini-Huygens mission performed its SOI or Saturn Orbit Insertion burn to enter orbit around this enigmatic gas giant. This day marked the beginning of over 13 years of continuous operations in the Saturnian system. Online you may see that Cassini arrived on either June 30th…

Always Learning, Adapting, and Improving — On June 28th, 2015, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 on what was to be the 7th resupply mission to the ISS. I was enjoying a nice cup of coffee in my hometown, watching the launch with a few other people at my favorite coffee shop in Fort Collins. …

Twenty-four years ago this week, a Progress resupply spacecraft collided with the Russian Mir Space Station. What was meant to be a routine procedure ended up being anything but that. …

A quick thought on a past statement and hope for the future. — Like many in the space community, I’m interested to learn more about Joe Biden’s record on space policy and NASA programs. While there isn’t a ton to go on, I found this statement he made in the Congressional Record from 6/19/73 to be interesting. Nearly 40 years have passed from…

A brief policy overview from Apollo to Artemis… and hopefully beyond — Public Policy and Executive Branch Agencies- The operation of NASA has always been intertwined with Presidential politics. Since its inception, NASA has been an independent agency that is part of the executive branch. For better or worse, this has meant that each President can impart their legacy on the agency. …

Wet burps, rockets, and tasty space drinks — On July 29th, 1985, the Space Shuttle Challenger launched on the STS-51F mission, successfully completing an Abort to Orbit. An early shutdown of one of the RS-25 engines meant that the Challenger wasn’t able to reach as high of an orbit as planned, but the mission was still Go. A…