STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA's chief technologist says there are a lot of options for getting humans to distant places in space, but with all of them the "pathway to do that will go through Mississippi." Robert Braun was at NASA's Stennis Space Center today as part of a national tour to bring attention to the $5 billion Space Technology Program slated to start next fiscal year. The program will focus on developing transformative new space technologies, from propulsion systems to space habitats and more. This was Braun's first visit to SSC, and he admits he strongly associated it with propulsion testing but found "it's really much more than that." He noted the large number of additional federal agencies, and said he sees a number of partnership opportunities. Braun said that one of the first things that impressed him about Stennis was "how quickly people can do things here," such as taking an innovative idea and doing the testing. While SSC is most noted for test and evaluation, Braun sees it playing a role in the Space Technology Program and working on transformative technologies through the innovative partnership program, which will become a part of his office in 2011. So what will he tell his bosses about Stennis Space Center? "First thing I'm going to say is how cool it is," he said. (Source: Tcp, 08/26/10)
NEWS: A digest of aerospace, defense and technology news from the Gulf Coast I-10 region
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Braun impressed with SSC
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. - NASA's chief technologist says there are a lot of options for getting humans to distant places in space, but with all of them the "pathway to do that will go through Mississippi." Robert Braun was at NASA's Stennis Space Center today as part of a national tour to bring attention to the $5 billion Space Technology Program slated to start next fiscal year. The program will focus on developing transformative new space technologies, from propulsion systems to space habitats and more. This was Braun's first visit to SSC, and he admits he strongly associated it with propulsion testing but found "it's really much more than that." He noted the large number of additional federal agencies, and said he sees a number of partnership opportunities. Braun said that one of the first things that impressed him about Stennis was "how quickly people can do things here," such as taking an innovative idea and doing the testing. While SSC is most noted for test and evaluation, Braun sees it playing a role in the Space Technology Program and working on transformative technologies through the innovative partnership program, which will become a part of his office in 2011. So what will he tell his bosses about Stennis Space Center? "First thing I'm going to say is how cool it is," he said. (Source: Tcp, 08/26/10)
