Pictured is Shana Dale, the Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration. Dale was the guest speaker at the Space Foundation’s annual Educational Exchange held July 28 at St. Charles High School. The Space Foundation, in partnership with Charles County Public Schools, hosts the luncheon annually as part of the summer Space Discovery Institute training for teachers.
It is just a matter of time before ordinary people can go where few have gone before – to outer space, according to Shana Dale, Deputy Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Dale, the guest speaker at the Space Foundation’s annual Educational Exchange held July 28 at St. Charles High School, said commercial entrepreneurs have entered the space business, providing vessels to deliver people and supplies to the International Space Station. Suborbital tours are the next step, she said. Dale spoke about the dawning of commercial space flight to an audience of students, teachers, school administrators, and community officials and partners.
As an FAA deputy associate administrator, Dale is responsible for encouraging, facilitating, and promoting commercial space launches and reentries to Earth by the private sector. She talked about the expanding commercial capabilities for orbit as well as weightlessness in outer space. “It’s pretty cool when you think about reaching supersonic speed in one minute and weightlessness in five minutes,” Dale said.
Dale highlighted companies contracted to deliver crews, cargo and supplies to the international Space Station as well as other private industries developing spacecraft to provide space travel. Part of Dale’s job is to license these contractors and services, and she said she is excited to be a part of the commercial space world and the increased involvement of companies in researching and developing spacecraft.
One company, Virgin Galactic, is developing suborbital launches for space tourism. According to Dale, the company’s goal is to become a space line for Earth, opening access to space. The company’s web site touts that it hopes to build a community of future astronauts.
“I would go to the moon, but not to Mars,” Dale said, comparing the time required to complete each respective flight.
This is the ninth year of a partnership with the Space Foundation, that includes the luncheon and the summer Space Discovery Institute for teachers, said Superintendent Kimberly Hill. Through the partnership, the Space Foundation helped Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) expand its Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum and develop the James E. Richmond Science Center, Hill said. Last school year, more than 20,000 students visited the Science Center.