SpaceTalks | SEDS

SpaceTalks is a Google Hangouts On Air series that offers students the opportunity to learn from and interact with space industry experts as well as their fellow SEDS members.

In a typical episode, you might learn about a mentor’s career path, the system design of a particular satellite or space mission, how to create your own website from scratch, or the basics of orbital mechanics.

Past SpaceTalks speakers include Vice President for Special Projects at Virgin Galactic William Pomerantz, Vice President of Spacecraft Development at Planetary Resources Chris Voorhees, Former NASA Astronaut Clay Anderson, Yuri’s Night Executive Director Ryan Kobrick, and many more. See past talks below, or check out our YouTube Channel for even more videos.

Upcoming SpaceTalks

Andy Weir, Author of "The Martian"

RESCHEDULED TO: January 26, 5:30pm PT
Andy Weir was first hired as a programmer for a national laboratory at age fifteen and has been working as a software engineer ever since. He is also a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of subjects like relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. The Martian is his first novel.

Watch Andy’s SpaceTalk HERE on 1/26!

Loretta Whitesides, Founder of Yuri's Night, Future Virgin Galactic Astronaut

SpaceTalk coming in February– more info coming soon!

SpaceTalks July 23, 2015

Streamed live on Jul 23, 2015
Please join us for the Early Career Aerospace Professionals SpaceTalk, which is part two of our summer SpaceTalk series. Nipuna Jayakody and Davin Anderson from Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMCO) will be talking about their experiences in engineering and at LMCO. A question and answer session will follow, and some of your unanswered questions from the June SpaceTalk will also be discussed. Don’t miss this exciting discussion!

SpaceTalks June 30, 2015

Streamed live on Jun 30, 2015

SEDS-USA is excited to announce a two-part SpaceTalk series with some distinguished engineers at Lockheed Martin Corporation. Our June SpaceTalk will be focused on Design Leadership in Aerospace, featuring Mr. Josh Wood and Mr. Pieter Kallemeyn. Our follow-up discussion, Early Career Aerospace Professionals SpaceTalk, will be aired in July.

SpaceTalks February 12, 2015

Streamed live on Feb 12, 2015

Derek Nelson is an Optical Navigation Engineer for the Space Navigation and Flight Dynamics (SNAFD) Practice at KinetX Aerospace, Inc. KinetX is responsible for providing end-to-end interplanetary navigation solutions for the New Horizons mission to Pluto, OSIRIS-REx mission to Bennu, and MESSENGER mission to Mercury. KinetX provides a wide range of navigational support from mission design to spacecraft/planetary orbit estimation to end-of-life operations. Derek specifically supports optical navigation planning, development, and operations, while continuing development and verification of KinetX’s star-based optical navigation software suite.

During this discussion, Mr. Nelson will discuss KinetX’s participation in the New Horizons and OSIRIS-REx missions, with a particular focus on the role and purpose of optical navigation solutions within the broader context of spacecraft navigation.