Dare to Explore

Lieutenant Colonel John Lassiter is a retired Air Force Aerospace Engineer who has worked on a variety of aircraft in his long career, including the F-15 fighter and the C-130 aircraft. Lassiter worked for nearly 30 years at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center in the Test Laboratory, where he supported numerous programs such as the Space Shuttle and Space Launch System, conducting structural dynamic and fluid dynamic testing. Today, he is a docent at the Space and Rocket Center, and joins Dare to Explore to talk about the A-12 Oxcart on display in the museum.

Ed Stewart graduated from West Virginia Weslayan College with a bachelor of arts in theatrical direction and design. Ed served the US Space and Rocket Center as the Director of Exhibits and Curation for almost nine years before becoming the full time Curator in May of 2023.

May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrated with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features Ron Paulus, a retired NASA project engineer who worked on Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle missions.

May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrated with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features retired Marshall Space Flight Center Lowell Zoller. Zoller served as chief of the projects office in the materials laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center during the creation of Skylab.

Beth Mund was a NASA public affairs officer for the Johnson Space Center and a communication officer for the International Space Station. She is a passionate advocate for the people and their stories of science and space exploration, now sharing their stories on stage, in workshops, and on her podcast, "Casual Space." She serves on the Space Camp Alumni Board and as a Space Drinks board member, and is an Analog Astronaut.

May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrated with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features retired NASA Human Factors Engineer Jack Stokes. Efficient, safe, and comfortable interactions between the machinery and the human astronauts on board SkyLab was made possible through the research and designs of the Human Factors Engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center.

May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is celebrating with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features retired NASA physicist Richard Hoover. Hoover worked on the ATM Experiment S-056 grazing incidence X-ray telescope that captured more than 25,000 solar Xray images from Skylab. Skylab.

May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrated with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features retired NASA engineer Kenny Mitchell. Mitchell worked at the Marshall Space Flight Center on the development of the Saturn V rocket and developed Environmental Control and Life Support Systems for Skylab.

Josh Whitfield is a United States Army veteran awarded the purple heart for his service in Iraq. Today, he is a political consultant and works as the District Director to California State Assemblymember Heath Flora. Josh attended Aviation Challenge 13 times in his youth and is a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame.

Dr. Kirby Runyon is a Space Camp alumni and planetary geologist at the Planetary Science Institute. He has flown 16 parabolic flights, accumulating more than an hour of time spent in weightlessness. He owns a technical and space tourism consulting company, guiding clients through parabolic flights and teaching future astronauts about the geology they will see from space.

Dr. Gretchen Green is a Brown, Yale, and Harvard educated radiologist practicing in North Carolina. She attended Space Camp four times, and served as a crew trainer. Dr. Green served on the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation's Board of Directors as the alumni representative, and is currently the active chairman of the Space Camp Alumni Association Board. She now serves as the active secretary to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation's Board of Directors as well.

Danny Jaques is a retired school teacher from Colorado. In his three decades of teaching, Danny helped with fundraising and chaperoned more than 500 students to Space Camp. He is a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame, and owns Danny's Rocket Ranch, selling dehydrated space salsa and donating a portion of the profits to continue funding Space Camp Scholarships.

Harry Winer is a director, producer, and writer in the film and television industry. His television work includes Alias, Veronica Mars, Felicity, Hart to Hart, and many others. Harry is president of Smash Media and has written, directed, or produced over 25 films, including Space Camp in 1986. He is a professor at NYU and is a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame.

Lt. Col. Burke Hare was a U.S. Air Force space and missile operator whose career has included overseeing the maintenance and operations of ICBMs and improvements made to the GPS satellite system. He is a Space Camp Hall of Fame member and is currently Program Manager Space Operations with the Space Development Agency at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama.

Chris Vrenna is a musician, producer, engineer, programmer, and songwriter best known as the drummer for Nine Inch Nails. He’s played with Marilyn Manson, Guns and Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, and more, and he’s composed music for video games in the Quake, Doom, Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Call of Duty game series. Today, he teaches music technology and is on the board of directors for the US Space and Rocket Center Foundation.

Penny Pettigrew is a payload communications manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, communicating with astronauts conducting scientific experiments aboard the International Space Station. She is a Space Camp alumni and a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame.

Robert Pearlman is a space historian and the founder and editor of the website collectSPACE. He was the director of communications and the marketing director for Space Adventures, the first space tourism company to send private individuals to the ISS. Robert is a Space Camp Hall of Fame member and a contributing writer to Space.com.

Katie Berryhill is former intelligence officer for the United States Air Force. Today, she is an astronomy professor at multiple colleges and the CEO of Berryhill Computer Forensics, Incorporated. She is a Space Camp alumni, a science education researcher, and a NASA Solar System Ambassador.

Dr. Andrea Hanson is a bioastronautics and microgravity science aerospace engineer. She is currently working at NASA Johnson Space Center on Crew Health and Performance for the Human Landing System (HLS). She is a Space Camp alumni, Space Camp Hall of Fame member, and serves on the Space Camp Alumni Advancement Board.

David Hitt is a contractor Communications Strategist with Marshall Space Flight Center's Office of Strategic Analysis and Communication. He began his career as a small town newspaper editor before joining NASA's Space Launch System as Communication Strategist. David is also the author of Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story and Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years.