Very early stage of the Moonscape at HCT

These past two weeks have been so busy on a couple of fronts. We have seen major milestones being achieved on the Huntsville Center for Technology (HCT) front as well as back at corporate headquarters as we prepare for some very cool, and yet to be announced, activities at the US Space and Rocket Center here in Huntsville on January 31. Stay tuned for exciting announcements. 

I was honored to have spent much of my last two weeks helping the students and faculty at the Huntsville Center for Technology (HCT) meet some critical milestones on three major efforts that they have been leading on the educational front. 

As you might recall, a little more than a year ago, HCT agreed to take on the Moonscape, Rover, and Lander (Engineering Development Lander-EDL) as student projects. The school would work with engineers from the Rocket City Space Pioneers (RCSP) team to make the hardware as functional and realistic as their skill sets, budgets, and schedules could support. 

We worked hard and made some major milestones on all fronts. I won’t give away the farm, but we kept Wal-Mart, Lowes, and Home Depot very busy the last two weeks! Man, this hardware looks amazing. These young people that built these cool capabilities and systems that are top notch. It gives me great hope for the future of America. We will have some great well-rounded students leaving HCT as a result of programs like RCSP. 

The students have some great instructors as well. We all worked till late night to make this project really come together. They are a committed bunch of folk. We also have some great engineers and mentors from our RCSP partners. Mike Soutullo of Teledyne Brown Engineering is one example of a very hands-on and applied engineer who resonates well with these students. He has taught them much, and I have enjoyed his interaction with them and have greatly appreciated his commitment to STEM. 

Stay tuned for rovers and landers on the moon, and maybe Capricorn 2 brought to you by HCT. I think their craftsmanship is worthy of high def and maybe Oscar material…