- New Upcoming Event - 

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Lunch featuring Dr. Karen St. Germain

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To book the event, contact us.
2019 Event Schedule
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Jan 15 - CANCELLED - Lunch featuring Dr. Karen St. Germain, NOAA

Feb 12 - Lunch featuring Dr. Hal Weaver, JHU/APL

March 19
Lunch featuring Dr. Karen St. Germain, NOAA
​flyer

April 26 - Annual Gala
6 - 10 pm at Martins Crosswinds
Flyer 
Silent Auction and Raffle
donation form
Featuring STEM student, Keynote speaker (tbd)
Entertainment by The Capitol Steps

May 21
Lunch featuring Dr. Nicola Fox, Director, NASA Heliophysics Division

June 18
Lunch featuring General Lester L. Lyles, USAF (Ret.)
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July 16
Aug 20
Sept 17
Oct 15
Nov 12
Dec 3

2018 Event Schedule

January 16, 2018 - Lunch featuring Dr. Stephen Volz, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Observation & Prediction and NOAA's Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information Services
PRESENTATION

February 20, 2018 - Lunch featuring William Wrobel, Director of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA
​PRESENTATION
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March 20, 2018 - Lunch featuring Dr. Louis Uccellini, Director National Weather Service
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April 17, 2018 - Lunch featuring Nancy A. Levenson, Deputy Director, Space Telescope Science Institute
PRESENTATION, part 2, part 3

May 11, 2018 - Annual Gala
6pm - 10:30pm at Martins Crosswinds
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June 19, 2018 - Lunch featuring Colleen Hartman, NASA/GSFC
PRESENTATION

July 17, 2018 - Lunch featuring Greg Mandt, Director, Joint Polar Satellite System at NOAA

August 21, 2018 - Lunch featuring Chris Scolese, Director, Goddard Space Flight Center

September 18, 2018 - Lunch featuring Senator Chris Van Hollen

October 3, 2018 - GSFC Fall Reception at the National Air & Space Museum

October 16, 2018 - Lunch featuring Ben Wu, Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development 

November 13, 2018 - Lunch featuring Antonio Busalacchi, President of University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)

December 4, 2018 - Lunch featuring Dr. Jim Garvin
Chief Scientist, GSFC​





Picture
Senator Mikulski, Rushern Baker, Wallace Loh, Jingli Yang, with the Oxon Hill High School FIRST Robotics Team at the MSBR April 27, 2015 lunch.
Event News

Luncheons are typically held on the last Tuesday of the month, from 11:30am to 1:30pm, at Martin's Crosswinds in Greenbelt, MD (unless otherwise noted).
2017 Luncheon Speaker Notes
​October 17, Steve Jurczyk. Associate Administrator for NASA’s STMD; Space Technology Mission Directorate.
 
The STMD directorate enables new missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. The directorate has a cross cutting focus on the enterprise directorates; in addition to creating new technologies it creates markets for technologies.
 
There are several stages to the STMD efforts from Early Stage through Commercial Partnerships. Early stage innovation to take items from low TRL to higher. Examples include NIAC, Space Tech Research grants, and innovation funds. Game changing takes technologies from TRL 3-4 to 5 or 6 through the death march. Lastly, commercial partnerships for higher level TRLs to increase market presence and value to taxpayers such as tech transfer, prize challenges.
 
Mega drivers for STMD activities include improving access to space while lowering cost; accelerating pace of discovery, democratization of space (broadening participation of citizens and government, along with public private partnerships), increased utilization of space.
 
Six thrust areas and their specific examples include:
  • Expand near earth space.
  • E.G. laser comm, sat servicing, and partnerships to reduce cost of access to space and partnerships
  • Enable efficient and safe transportation through space
  • Safer fuels and propellants, solar arrays such as megaflex and roll out solar arrays. 13 watt hall thrusters, cryo fuels.
  • Increase access to planetary surfaces
  • Vehicles, descent mechanisms and ascent vehicles for Martian and other planetary surfaces and atmospheres. HEO Mission directorate engagement
  • Enable the next gen of science discoveries
  • Deep space atomic clock, adaptive optics and indirect imaging of exoplanets, computing, solar power, discovery 14 ao demonstration opportunities (deep space optical comm). Smallsat launches for science missions such as formation flying, constellations or swarms, deep space missions.
  • Enable humans to live and explore in space and planetary surfaces
  • Examples include deep space atomic clock, adaptive optics and indirect imaging of exoplanets, computing, solar power, discovery 14 AO demonstration opportunities (deep space optical comm). Smallsat launches for science missions such as formation flying, constellations or swarms, deep space missions.
  • Grow and utilize the US industrial and academic base
  • Integrate solicitations, Itech program (provides venture capital engagement opportunities for VC to talk directly to inventors)
 
 Specific technology progress includes: 
  • Solar electric propulsion -- Sep – PDR Deliver flight units in 2019.
  • LCRD – replan has project on track and HEO scan on AF STP-Sat 6
  • DSOC - Deep space optical comm.
  • RRM 3 – January on spacex resupply.
  • Restore L.
  • Inspace robotic manufacturing and assembly – using additive manufacturing to assemble structures in space. IRMA
  
2017 Luncheon Speaker Notes
September 19, Dr. Nicola Fox, APL, Parker Solar Probe

Nicky Fox is the Parker Solar Probe project scientist. The mission will launch in 2018, and was introduced by a mission trailer.
 
Total solar eclipse in August 2018 provides a good background for the Parker Solar Probe mission.  Eclipses were feared in ancient times, but an eclipse provides a method to observe the sun.  The Carrington event 1851 -- where he observed solar flares but the effect was not immediately present until the electronic transmissions were interrupted, this proving some insight into the nature of solar activity and its effect on out atmosphere. 
 
Solar cycle now is on a decline near absolute minimum   but, nonetheless, we saw a x39 flare last week.
Solar activity is included in the President’s Daily Brief and White House action plan. Knowledge of activity close to the sun is lacking. Mystery 1:  temp rises as you move away from the sun. Mystery 2: why is there a solar wind; and how does the solar wind continually get accelerated? Structures within the corona are visible during the eclipse, for example.
 
In 1958 guidance from Simpson Committee provided 12 missions, but the only one not done yet is solar probe.  The reason we haven’t done this to date is that technology wasn’t there yet, namely materials and lightweight durable  structures.  The heat shield is a Carbon-carbon alloy with aluminum coating 30 million watts input. Solar cells tuck in as we get close to the sun. No RTG’s.  Full water driven cooling system throughout the solar arrays.  Final testing underway and the heat shield is separate
 
Launch will be on a Delta 4 heavy with upper stage.  Launch window July 31 2018from Kennedy with a 6 week commissioning phase. Venus orbit trims momentum as we step into the suns gravity assist.  
 
Payload  Includes: 
SWEAP: Includes SPC, a faraday cup operating at 2500 Degrees.
FIELDS: Antenna or measure electric fields.
IS-SIS: Instrument suite for hi and low particles.
WISPER: White light imager to see solar wind structures, shocks, flux ropes, etc.
 
Everything we have previously known about the corona was previously discovered during eclipses.
 
Parker Solar Probe provides science not just for science sake, but also for early warning. 

February 21, 2017,  John Schaub, Director, Naval Center for Space Technology (NCST), NRL 

Director Schaub provided an overview of the NCST, which provides systems engineering and technical  direction to NRL.  The lab was a Brainchild of Edison,  following the sinking of the Lusitania. Now, 93 years later, NRL serves as the Navy’s full spectrum laboratory for operational and research needs. Research ranges from the mud to the sun  and from applied technology to acoustics, from remote sensing to oceanography.

NCST funding is dependent on relevance and operational needs; funding for its research is not guaranteed. The center’s most public accomplishment include in house cradle to grave support for space missions and related technologies. Director Schaub provided an overview of their Space Robotics Laboratory, established in 2001. The three research  thrusts of the robotics are: controls and algorithms, mechanisms and actuation, and sensing. Projects include a  Lidar  based grappling system; and  related grappling tasks and dynamics. New fellows  join NCST through the Carl fellowship, and  work on tasks such as Quadriped creature for warfighter assistance.