AmericaSpace Note: This just in from the Conrad Foundation.
Jim’s Note: Back in 1999, Pete Conrad was gracious enough to spend over 2 hours working with me through some of the finer points of lunar operations that I was dealing with for a graduate class. Capt. Conrad was a funny as he was insightful.
The Conrad Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing learning and success through science, innovation, and entrepreneurship. By providing students with the tools, resources, and opportunities to innovate in science and technology, we connect the most creative students with real-world entrepreneurial ventures. Our philosophy is built upon astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad’s history of innovation and entrepreneurship. Each year we invite high school students to participate in the Spirit of Innovation Awards program where they are challenged to create tangible products and concepts in the fields of Renewable Energy, Aerospace Exploration and Space Nutrition. We are very excited to host our 2nd annual Spirit of Innovation Summit this upcoming April.
This year’s summit will feature several exceptional projects in the ever expanding field of Aerospace Exploration. We are especially excited for these Aerospace projects because of the legacy that Pete Conrad left behind. These students will truly be following in the footsteps of one of the great American astronauts. This year’s teams have submitted outstanding projects that correct methods for exploring extraterrestrial bodies, explore electromagnetic space gear, and investigate microgravity construction among many others. Our finalist teams come from all other the world combining creativity with concern for the future. The projects in this year’s competition show amazing potential in the real world indicating promising futures for our young competitors.
Our 2010 Spirit of Innovation Summit will be held from Thursday April 8th to Saturday April 10th at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. This year we will be hosting our competition alongside the annual space celebration, Yuri’s Night, which commemorates mankind’s first venture into space, by Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gargarin on April 12, 1961, and the launch of the first Space Shuttle by NASA exactly twenty years later. Over 15,000 people will join astronauts, artists, musicians, scientists and engineers for two days of learning, celebrating and connecting with space. We will also be initiating our People’s Choice Award on March 29th in which you will have an opportunity to get engaged in our program. By voting for your favorite team you will assist in selecting the winners of this years competition as well as providing sponsorship benefits for our affiliates. We hope you will help us design the future by getting involved with our program. Please visit www.conradawards.org for more information.