When I first came to NASA in January, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. For a long time, I’d been an observer on the outside, from watching shuttle launches on the TV in elementary school to excitingly following the progress of Spirit and Opportunity as they began their exploration of Mars in 2004. I knew very little, however, about how the inner-workings of NASA functioned. How does an agency so large, with so many levels and people and locations, manage to accomplish such incredible things?
On one hand, some might say it’s easy. After all, space is cool. Who doesn’t get excited when they see pictures of Earth from the International Space Station or get chills down their back when they hear the iconic first words from the Moon?
International Space Station seen during the STS-130 mission
On the other hand, NASA’s mission is extraordinarily difficult. One mistake could result in the loss of a multi-million dollar mission, or worse. It takes tens of thousands of people working tirelessly to ensure that NASA continues to make incredible progress in science and technology.
And now, for a time, I get to be one of them.
In the relatively short time I’ve been here, I’ve gotten involved with many awesome projects, including planning NASA’s first ever water sustainability forum, participating in creating our Open Government Plan, and sharing the excitement of the STS-130 mission through social media on Facebook. I hope to give you an outsider’s view from the inside on these projects and many more in the upcoming months.
One of the most exciting things I’ve had the opportunity to work on over the past few months is LAUNCH, a global initiative to identify and support innovative work that has the potential to contribute to a sustainable future. Through a series of forums, each focusing on a different sustainability challenge, LAUNCH aims to accelerate groundbreaking sustainable projects into real solutions that can make a difference on earth – and beyond.
One of the forefront challenges facing our planet today is water sustainability, so that seemed like a perfect starting place for us to begin. Along with our partners, USAID, the State Department, and NIKE, we hosted the first forum, LAUNCH: Water, last week at the Kennedy Space Center. To say it was an incredible experience would be downplaying the awesome discussions that happened.
We gathered 26 world-class experts in a variety of fields, such as Robin Chase, founder of ZipCar, and Anil Gupta, co-chair of the Honeybee Network in India, as part of the LAUNCH Council. We then also brought in 10 innovators, each with a unique solution to some of the most difficult challenges on the planet. After showcasing their innovations to the Council, the Innovators had the opportunity to break into small groups (called Impact Rotations) with council members. In the impact rotations, council members and innovators discussed the potential issues, opportunities, and logistics behind each of the individual innovations. Many of the discussions gave the innovators valuable ideas and insights as to how to move forward with their projects. Walking around the room while the discussions were taking place gave me a great feeling of inspiration – so many of the innovations, from pipes that can use salt water to irrigate plants to a network of robots that can track changes in water systems, have the ability to make huge positive changes on our planet, not to mention the opportunities they present for managing water on long-duration space missions.
Exciting discussions abound at LAUNCH: Water
With so much innovation and cutting edge discussions going on, there couldn’t have been a better place to host LAUNCH: water than the Kennedy Space Center. Being at KSC also offered some incredible opportunities to our LAUNCH Council and Innovators. We spent Wednesday morning giving LAUNCH attendees some close up time with two of the Space Shuttle orbiters – Discovery as it sat on pad 39A awaiting its targeted April 5th launch for STS-131, and Endeavour as it was being worked on in the Orbiter Processing Facility. Walking underneath Endeavour made everyone look like they were 11 years old again (myself included). The sheer awe in realizing this incredible machine goes to space provided inspiration and a realization of what was truly possible through the combination of innovation and collaboration, the core tenets of LAUNCH.
We ended the day with a toast at dinner to water innovation. Rather than an ordinary toast, however, we drank from glasses filled with recycled water that was filtered using the same technique as on the International Space Station. Although I was a bit apprehensive at first to drink machine processed astronaut urine, I put my faith in the brilliant minds working everyday to solve the challenges we are facing here on Earth. I’m happy to report that it tasted no different than the water I drink from my filtered pitcher in my apartment.
Preparing to make a toast with recycled water at LAUNCH: Water. Tasted great!
At the end of the forum on Thursday, we invited the innovators to take the stage one last time to reflect on their experiences at LAUNCH. Universally, the response was that LAUNCH was unlike any other conference they had attended. The unique and diverse group of people that LAUNCH brought together challenged the innovators to think outside of normal boundaries and envision possibilities for their projects to go in directions they hadn’t imagined.
If you didn’t have the chance to follow LAUNCH: Water via the live video stream we provided last week, visit www.launch.org to learn more about the various innovations that were featured. We’re also going to continue tweeting @launchorg when we hear updates from any of our innovators or have news about future LAUNCH events.
Lastly, I wanted to thank everyone on the LAUNCH team, especially Beth Beck, Diane Powell, and Robbie Schingler, for making it possible for me to attend the forum. It was a great experience, and one more reason for me to believe I have the most exciting, fun, and educational internship ever!
Me in front of the Space Shuttle Discovery at Kennedy Space Center during LAUNCH: Water
