AIAA Members to Speak at National Space Council Meeting on March 26 Written 21 March 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: John Blacksten  
703.264.7532  
johnb@aiaa.org  

March 21, 2019 – Reston, Va. – American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) members Col. Eileen Collins, Daniel Dumbacher, Sandra “Sandy” Magnus, and Wanda Sigur will lend their expertise on human space exploration at the fifth meeting of the National Space Council on March 26 at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

This meeting will focus on the Administration’s plan to restore American leadership in space and the next steps in implementing his vision to send Americans to the moon, Mars, and beyond. As chairman of the Council, Vice President Mike Pence will convene the meeting, receive reports from Council members, hear input from experts on human space exploration, lead a Council discussion, and present policy recommendations for the President.

AIAA members will be part of two expert panels.

AIAA’s executive director emeritus, Sandy Magnus, who’s also a former NASA astronaut, will sit on the first panel, “Ready to Fly,” which includes AIAA Associate Fellow Col. Eileen Collins, U.S. Air Force (ret.), former NASA astronaut and the first female Space Shuttle commander, and Gen. Lester Lyles, U.S. Air Force (ret.) and former Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

The “Ready to Explore” panel will feature two AIAA members: Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director, former Purdue University aerospace engineering professor, and NASA (ret.) Deputy Associate Administrator, Exploration Systems Development Division, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate; and AIAA member Wanda Sigur, former vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Space Systems. Jack Burns, University of Colorado Boulder, also will participate in the panel.

The meeting is open to the public.

National Space Council Media Contact: Thea McDonald

About AIAA 
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 88 countries, and 95 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, www.aiaa.org, or follow us on Twitter  @AIAA.

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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 
12700 Sunrise Valley Drive, Suite 200, Reston, VA 20191-5807  
Phone: 703.264.7558 Fax: 703.264.7551  www.aiaa.org