Yesterday marked the beginning of the 16th Annual von Braun Space Symposium hosted on campus at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH).

Each year, NASA partners with the American Astronautical Society to bring together the brightest minds in order to discuss current and future projects within the industry.

This year’s theme is “Advancing Space: From LEO to Lunar and Beyond.” Speakers from government, industry, and academia will focus on the latest developments, future opportunities, and challenges in space science and exploration.

Joseph Pelfrey, who took over as acting director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center upon Jody Singer’s retirement announcement in July, delivered the opening remarks on Wednesday morning. Other Marshall speakers include Shane Canerday, aerospace engineer; John Honeycutt, manager, Space Launch Systems Program; Dayna Ise, deputy manager, Science and Technology Office; Mallory James, aerospace engineer; Mary Beth Koelbl, director, Engineering Directorate; Jason Turpin, senior technical leader, Propulsion; Lisa Watson-Morgan, manager, Human Landing System Program.

Yesterday’s panels included “The AA Team: Leading the Way from the Moon to Mars” and “Charting a Course: From Exploration to a Sustainable Cislunar Ecosystem”.

Today promises a continuation of these similar themes with yet another stellar line-up. The afternoon opens up with a technical discussion panel titled “Pushing the Limits: Advances in Propulsion” and is capped by a keynote presentation from Destin Sandlin of the Youtube Channel SmarterEveryDay, which focuses on exciting applications and interesting questions in the realm of modern science.

The day will also feature UAH student events, such as a presentation from the 2023 CanSat first place winning team Afterburner, and a networking event while discussing the research done by graduate and undergraduate students on campus in the evening.

Friday will finish off the three day event with similar panels, presentations, and even more NASA-related networking events, followed by the presentation of the Molly K. Macauley Award. This award honors a national leader in environmental economics who guided research projects joining economics with space research.

For those who might have missed the first day, there are still plenty of exciting events slated for the next two days. The 16th Annual von Braun Space Symposium is being held October 25-27, 2023 on UAH’s campus.

For more information or to view the schedule of events, please visit astronautical.org/events/vbs.