Greetings Phoenix Section members,
The Phoenix Section of AIAA has more great events scheduled for the coming months. The first will be watch party for Perseverance landing on Mars next Thursday, Feb. 18. Our Zoom session starts at 11:30 am and the plan is to watch the feed from ASU which will have some of their staff providing commentary, but you can drop in any time during the following 3½ hours (until 3:00 pm MST). Please note the schedule:
11:30 am - ASU event and our Zoom session starts
12:15 pm - NASA coverage starts
1:55 pm - actual expected landing on Mars
Click on this link to join the Zoom Meeting
https://aiaa.zoom.us/j/97685658377
Meeting ID: 976 8565 8377
Phone only: Participants can use their computer audio or dial in via phone using 669-900-9128.
For information about the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover from NASA and to view the launch countdown clock, visit: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
The following week the ASU Student Branch has invited us to join up with them as they host distinguished lecturer Alice Bowman, who will give a presentation on the New Horizons mission to Pluto. This will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 pm MST. The New Horizons mission helped us understand worlds at the edge of our solar system as it made the first reconnaissance of the Pluto system and beyond.
Click on this link to join the Zoom Meeting
https://asu.zoom.us/j/2365726772?pwd=ZDRqL2YvVkVkc2hKN203YVhpMEcvUT09
Meeting ID: 2365726772
We also are pleased to announce our March event will be a virtual presentation by Jim Cantrell of Phantom Space Corporation in Tucson. Jim was formerly associate with Vector Space, and he is taking a different approach with Phantom Space.
Phantom Space is a Tucson-based space transportation company focused on the development of Earth-to-space, in-space, and Earth-return transportation technologies. Their products include small mass-manufactured launch vehicles, in-space propulsion, and satellite systems. Phantom has begun designing and building their first launch vehicle known as the "Daytona" which will be capable of lofting 450 kg into Low Earth Orbit and will be mass manufactured to bring low cost launch and space access to a broader community at an affordable price.
Jim is the founder of several entrepreneurial start-ups, including Vector Launch, StratSpace, and Vintage Exotics Competition Engineering. He was on the founding team of Moon Express, a private company attempting to land on the lunar surface, and on the founding team at SpaceX where he was the first VP of Business Development. He has been involved in over 46 satellite flight missions including the Iridium Next space telephone system, the Lightsail solar sail mission, and OSIRIS-REx.
A mechanical engineer by profession, Cantrell also actively participates in road racing and has participated numerous times in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, the 24 Hours of Daytona Classic, SCCA championships in GT-1 and the World Racing League endurance racing championships. He's a fascinating speaker, and I can guarantee that this is a Roundtable you won't want to miss!
The date for this is Wednesday, March 17, again at 7:00 pm MST. The Zoom link is:
https://aiaa.zoom.us/j/99015110782
Meeting ID: 990 1511 0782
Phone access is same as the Feb. 18 meeting.
We are working on events for April and May including some possibilities for a virtual tour, where we livestream from a facility or museum or some other interesting remote location with an aerospace connection.
Stay tuned and see you soon!
Michael Mackowski
Phoenix Section Chair
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Michael Mackowski
Gilbert AZ
480-282-1343
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