By: Sonya Carper

I was fortunate enough to receive the opportunity to travel to the NASA National Directors Conference in Washington D.C. The event took place, from February 25 through March 1. 

I began my trip by finally meeting a fellow NASA Ambassador, Ximena Cabrera, a senior aerospace engineering student from WVU. We were given the task of big-city driving. She was an amazing team player and director of madness. 

When we arrived at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill, we were treated like royalty. We checked in to the conference while the valet parked our vehicle, and the concierge took our luggage to our rooms. My nerves quickly turned to excitement for the days ahead. 

On the following morning Ximena and I met to attend breakfast and welcome ceremonies together. The food was bountiful and delicious. We sat at a table to ourselves because our program coordinator had fallen ill, but quickly the entire Rhode Island team joined us and brought warm conversations. 

Moments later, Jeff Hoffman walked over to our table and asked if he could have a seat. He is a well-known astronaut who is famous for repairing the panels on the Hubble Telescope. I was immediately in an unforgettable situation, and I soaked up every minute of it. Such a kind soul, that was easy to speak to and kind enough to answer any questions that Ximena and I had. “Don’t give up on your dreams, you will get there if you want it bad enough, Jeff stated.”

Throughout the day, we participated in multiple workshops that included so many areas of advancement with both NASA and the aerospace community. My favorite workshop was called “Space Needs a Lawyer”. In this workshop, we discussed International Law and the various Articles of Outer Space Treaties. 

Another great workshop was hosted by Lt. Colonel Meghan O’Rourke and Dan Kulp. They were representing USAF Special Operations Command and discussed the Quest Mission. The X-59 was designed to reduce the noise of a sonic boom in the hopes of removing a long-standing ban on commercial supersonic flight over land. This would cut flight times in half, which could greatly impact all of us. 

We even had the opportunity to send commands to the James Webb Space Telescope. I learned so many things about operations, policies, procedures, and the overall expectations of space travel. 

In between the order of business, I was able to hop on a Big Bus Tour, which I highly recommend. I quickly saw a large portion of the major sites to see. I saw Capitol Hill, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the MLK Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Library of Congress, the Air and Space Museum, and so many other wonderful places.

We concluded with a formal banquet that included presenting Rusty Schweikart with an award from SGC.  “I was a poor farm kid from New Jersey, born before tractors existed and I was going to space. I questioned myself about dreaming often, Rusty said.” He was a true groundbreaking astronaut in American History. As a member of the Apollo 9 flight and being the first person to have an untethered spacewalk, he helped pave the way for the moon landing. 

My takeaway from the trip was how important it is that we all stay informed about the changes happening around us. There were so many discussions about budget cuts and changes taking place in the educational sector across the country and these adjustments could change the ever-looming ability for SGC to help the youth and aspiring scientists to reach their goals. Even NASA is feeling the impact of government cutbacks and new restrictions. 

Photo by Sonya Carper