Dr. Bonnie Dunbar will feature highlights of her five space flight missions, including scientific and engineering research with the Spacelab and conducting the first docking with the Russian Space Station, MIR. She will review how the lessons learned in developing large space exploration programs may frame our future for returning to the Moon and human exploration of Mars. She will also discuss the nevessart intersections and partnerships involved in human space exploration and the commercial development of space, particularly as it relates to Texas and the nation. How do we inspire future generations? Without an educated and trained workforce, the United States will not be able to conduct exploration on Earth of outside of it. Dunbar will recount het own inspiration on her path: becoming an engineer, helping design the Space Shuttle Thermal Projection System, working in NASA Mission Control as a Payload Officer, flying aboard the vehicle she helped to design, and being a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Event Date: 2/2/2017

The next in this season’s Frontiers Lecture series will be Mr. Chirag Parikh, former Director of Space Policy at the White House, now Director of Source Strategies Office at the National Geospatial - Intelligence Agency.

Event Date: 10/20/2016

Across the country, and around the world, NASA and its partners are working right now on the technologies and missions that will enable human "boots on Mars" in the 2030s. We are testing advanced technologies for the next giant leaps of exploration. From solar electric propulsion to cutting edge life support systems, to the first crops grown in space, the journey to Mars is already unfolding in tangible ways across NASA today for tomorrow.

NASA's strategic approach involves developing capabilities in three stages-from missions close to earth involving commercial partners and the International Space Station, advancing to missions in Earth-Moon orbit, or deep space, using the Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft, and finally moving on to Mars, where explorers will be practically independent of spaceship Earth. The innovation required to achieve a human mission to Mars cuts across science, human exploration, and technology. It builds on what has gone before while driving the next advances. Our journey to Mars inspires educators, students, and the public by investing in new leaders ready to realize the audacious journey.

Event Date: 5/17/2016