Dare to Explore

Dare to Explore features interviews with friends of the Rocket Center, Space Camp Alum, engineers, scientists, and explorers of all types.

About the show

Dare to Explore is a podcast from the Space Camp Explorers Club featuring interviews with friends of the Rocket Center, Space Camp Alumni, engineers, scientists, and explorers of all types.

Episodes

  • Episode 18: Katie Berryhill

    July 20th, 2022  |  32 mins 8 secs

    Katie Berryhill is former intelligence officer for the United States Air Force. Today, she is an astronomy professor at multiple colleges and the CEO of Berryhill Computer Forensics, Incorporated. She is a Space Camp alumni, a science education researcher, and a NASA Solar System Ambassador.

  • Episode 17: Andrea Hanson

    May 23rd, 2022  |  37 mins 3 secs
    exploration, explore, kids science, nasa, science, science for kids, space, stem

    Dr. Andrea Hanson is a bioastronautics and microgravity science aerospace engineer. She is currently working at NASA Johnson Space Center on Crew Health and Performance for the Human Landing System (HLS). She is a Space Camp alumni, Space Camp Hall of Fame member, and serves on the Space Camp Alumni Advancement Board.

  • Episode 16: David Hitt

    April 19th, 2022  |  39 mins 58 secs
    alabama, engineering, explore, explorers, florida, huntsville, launch, math, nasa, rocket, rocketry, science, scientist, sls, space, space camp, space exploration, space force, space shuttle, star trek, star wars, stem, technology

    David Hitt is a contractor Communications Strategist with Marshall Space Flight Center's Office of Strategic Analysis and Communication. He began his career as a small town newspaper editor before joining NASA's Space Launch System as Communication Strategist. David is also the author of Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story and Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years.

  • Episode 15: Marcia Lindstrom

    March 24th, 2022  |  33 mins 33 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Marcia Lindstrom leads the Strategic Communications Team for NASA's Space Launch System, the rocket that will take humans to the Moon and eventually to Mars. In the past, she has served as manager for the External Relations Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and as Director of Operations for Space Camp.

  • Episode 14: Jim Allan

    February 16th, 2022  |  27 mins 41 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Jim Allan is the accessibility coordinator for the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He served as their webmaster and as an assistive technology specialist. He has been coordinating and bringing Texas students to SCIVIS (Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students) for more than twenty years, and serves as a technical expert for the program. Jim's expertise supported Space Camp's development of mission software usable by blind and visibly impaired students.

  • Episode 13: Peter Marquez

    January 18th, 2022  |  32 mins 43 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Peter Marquez is the Head of Space Policy at Amazon Web Services. He has consulted on television shows like "Space Force" as a space consultant, Director of Space Policy on the National Security Council, and served at Planetary Resources, Inc. as the Vice President for Global Engagement. His unique view of the space industry comes from a career of space policy and understanding the interconnected issues that come with advancing exploration.

  • Episode 12: Keri Bean

    December 17th, 2021  |  29 mins 20 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Keri Bean is a systems engineer for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She is a deputy lead Rover Planner on the Curiosity rover. She is also a Helicopter Integration Engineer for the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter currently on Mars. 

  • Episode 11: Margrit von Braun

    November 15th, 2021  |  38 mins 30 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Margrit von Braun is an environmental engineer specializing in hazardous waste management and risk assessment. Her father was Dr. Wernher von Braun, the first director of the Marshall Space Flight Center and led the development of the Saturn V rocket that sent the Apollo astronauts to the moon. Margrit was one of the first women to join the University of Idaho College of Engineering faculty in 1980, and served as their Dean of the College of Graduate Studies.

  • Episode 10: Derek Hodgins

    October 15th, 2021  |  30 mins 51 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager
  • Episode 9: Dan Oates

    September 17th, 2021  |  29 mins 44 secs
    science, space

    Dan Oates is a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame and a retired teacher from the West Virginia School for the Blind. For thirty years, Dan has been helping thousands of visually impaired and blind students and teachers experience Space Camp through a program called SCIVIS - Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students. In the past, he has served as Education Program Manager for Space Camp, and is currently the group coordinator for SCIVIS.

  • Episode 8: Mandy Vaughn

    August 20th, 2021  |  32 mins 47 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Mandy Vaughn is the founder and past president and CEO of VOX Space, a subsidiary of Virgin Orbit providing satellite launch services to the US government and allied nations. She is an Air Force veteran who served as Chair of the Workforce Development efforts for the National Security Space Association and is currently a member of NASA's National Space Council User's Advisory Group.

  • Episode 7: Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger

    July 16th, 2021  |  30 mins 44 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger is a retired high school earth science and astronomy teacher. In 2004, she was selected as an Educator Mission Specialist by NASA, and flew on STS 131 Discovery to resupply the International Space Station. She is the first Space Camp alumni to go to space.

  • Episode 6: Michael and Denise Okuda

    June 16th, 2021  |  30 mins 17 secs
    deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager

    Husband and wife duo Michael and Denise Okuda have worked in science fiction television for more than three decades as graphic designers, artists and technical consultants. Together, they have worked on six Star Trek films, as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, even writing the Star Trek Encyclopedia. Michael has designed several NASA mission patches, and are currently consultants for the Netflix series Space Force and the Apple TV series For All Mankind.

  • Episode 5: Susie Martínez

    May 17th, 2021  |  27 mins 10 secs
    astronauts, boeing, education, engineering, flight, launch, math, nasa, rocket, rockets, science, scientists, space, space x, stem

    Susie Martínez is an additive manufacturing engineer for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. She received her Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2019. Calling herself a "STEMinist," Susie has more than 64,000 followers on Instagram, where she uses her platform to encourage and mentor women in pursuing science and engineering careers.

  • Episode 4: Suzanne Saltz

    April 16th, 2021  |  33 mins 17 secs
  • Episode 3: Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides

    March 16th, 2021  |  32 mins 37 secs
    astronaut, galactic, science, space, space camp, stem

    Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides is an alumni of Space Camp and author of The New Right Stuff: Using Space to Bring Out the Best in You. Co-founder of global space party Yuri’s Night, Whitesides is a Founder Astronaut with Virgin Galactic and creator of SpaceKind leadership training.