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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

photo of speaker and Shuttle launch

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, May 3, 2010 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Pat Duggins

"Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program"

ABSTRACT -- NASA is gearing up for big changes, which may bear little resemblance to President Obama’s radical restructuring plan for the U.S. space program. Journalist Pat Duggins has covered over one hundred space shuttle missions, and known as "the voice of NASA" on National Public Radio. His experience began with the Challenger accident in 1986. Duggins will address how the political tug-of-war between the White House and Congress may re-shape NASA, and how commercial rocket makers may play a major role.

PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk is testing his Falcon-9 rocket, which is supposed to carry cargo capsules to the International Space Station. The inclusion of windows in Musk’s "Dragon" spacecraft is already prompting speculation that his ultimate ambition is to send astronauts to and from the orbiting complex. NASA may endure growing pains as it deals with the "run and gun" philosophy of these next generation space businessmen.

SPEAKER -- Pat Duggins is news director at Alabama Public Radio. He's known nationally as the "voice" of NASA coverage on National Public Radio. Pat has spent over twenty years providing stories on the space program, including the development of NASA's next generation spacecraft at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He has covered over one hundred space shuttle missions for National Public Radio, starting with the 1986 Challenger accident. Following the 2003 loss of Columbia, Pat provided three hours of "live" coverage on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon.

As the son of an Air Force Chief Master Sergeant, Pat was stationed with his family in Anchorage, Alaska when Neil Armstrong first stepped on to the lunar surface during Apollo 11. His father was later transferred to Patrick AFB, south of the Kennedy Space Center, in 1971. From his backyard, as a youngster, Pat watched the launches of the final Apollo moon missions, as well as the Voyager and Pioneer probes to the outer planets. During his twenty five year career as a space journalist, Duggins earned a national Sigma Delta Chi award and a National Headliner Award for his NASA coverage.

Duggins is author of Final Countdown: NASA and the End of the Space Shuttle Program. His latest book, Trailblazing Mars: NASA’s Next Giant Leap. comes out in September.


Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov