National Space Symposium… A Super Start (Event)

[SatNews] The 29th National Space Symposium was launched Monday night with a…

…rousing performance by the band, Smash Mouth and presentation of four of the Space Foundation‘s top awards. Co-sponsored by Northrop Grumman, the upbeat event focused heavily on the importance of inspiring children, supporting education and aspiring to greater heights. The event opened with remarks from Space Foundation CEO Elliot Pulham and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.

The awards (recipients pictured to the right) presented at the opening ceremony included:

The Alan Shepard Technology in Education Award (jointly conferred by the Space Foundation, the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and NASA) to Daniel R. Newmyer, a science and math teacher for Center High School in rural southern Colorado and a Space Foundation Teacher Liaison.

The Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award to Bill Nye the Science Guy®, CEO of The Planetary Society.

The Space Achievement Award to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for its use of space-based systems in making life-saving predictions and issuing early warnings of calamitous weather conditions (Director of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory and Deputy Assistant Administrator for Research Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes Dr. Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald, pictured right center, with Space Foundation Board Chairman Marty Faga, left, and Pulham, right).

The John L. “Jack” Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration to the NASA Mars Science Laboratory Mission Team (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Deputy Director Gen. Eugene Tattini)

Northrop Grumman Corporate Vice President and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems President Thomas E. Vice served as corporate host. He spoke about the need to explore and to inspire the next generation. The opening ceremony was followed by the grand opening of the Lockheed Martin Exhibit Center, which features two halls and more than 150 company exhibits featuring the latest in space technology, equipment and services.

With more than 9,000 expected participants over the course of the week, the Space Symposium is the premier annual gathering of the global space community. Scheduled for April 8-11 at The Broadmoor Hotel, the Space Symposium brings together all sectors of the worldwide space community to address opportunities and issues. As a convenience for Space Symposium attendees and followers, the Space Foundation is using Twitter to tweet coverage of Space Symposium sessions and major events, such as meal speakers—follow #NSS29.