Dare to Explore
Dare to Explore features interviews with friends of the Rocket Center, Space Camp Alum, engineers, scientists, and explorers of all types.
Displaying Episode 1 - 10 of 22 in total of Dare to Explore with the tag “rockets”.
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Episode 44: Cheri Volkin
October 13th, 2025 | 25 mins 21 secs
astronauts, aviation, nasa, rockets, space
Cheri Volkin is the accountant and scholarship coordinator for the US Space and Rocket Center Foundation. She previously served as an accountant for the US Embassy in Paris, France, and in guest relations for the Rocket City Trash Pandas before joining the Space and Rocket Center as an Aviation Challenge Docent.
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Episode 43: Duke and Tina Tucker
October 1st, 2025 | 25 mins 12 secs
huntsville, nasa, rocket center, rockets, space, space camp, spacecamp
Duke and Tina Tucker are married professionals working in the aviation industry. Tina is president of Pinnacle Solutions, and Duke is the vice president of business development at Akima. Together, these companies are developing state-of-the-art training and simulation products, as well as a variety of other services for the aviation industry.
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Episode 42: Heather Roden
September 10th, 2025 | 33 mins 45 secs
huntsville, nasa, rocket center, rockets, space, space camp, spacecamp
Heather Roden is the Director of Space Camp Education at the US Space and Rocket Center. With a long career in informal education and museum experience, Heather oversees the Space Academy for Educators program, a Space Camp experience for teachers.
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Episode 41: Jeff Haars
August 13th, 2025 | 42 mins 42 secs
huntsville, nasa, rocket center, rockets, space, space camp, spacecamp
Jeff Haars is the Vice President and General Manager Space Exploration Division at Amentum, an advanced engineering and innovative technology company that has supported projects with the United States Military and NASA. Their current projects include parts of the Space Launch System and Human Landing System for the Artemis program.
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Episode 35: Rebecca Torzone
February 6th, 2025 | 34 mins 42 secs
huntsville, nasa, rocket center, rockets, space, space camp, spacecamp
Rebecca Torzone is the Division Vice President and General Manager, Airborne Multifunction Sensors at Northrop Grumman Mission Systems. She has more than 20 years of experience within the aerospace and defense industry. Rebecca attended Space Camp three times as a teenager, and today serves on the US Space and Rocket Center Foundation’s Board of Directors.
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Summer of Skylab: Ron Paulus
December 6th, 2023 | 20 mins 30 secs
engineering, flight, history, nasa, rockets, skylab, space
May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrated with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features Ron Paulus, a retired NASA project engineer who worked on Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle missions.
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Summer of Skylab: Kenny Mitchell
July 5th, 2023 | 35 mins 40 secs
engineering, nasa, rockets, skylab, space
May of 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Skylab. The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama, celebrated with the Summer of Skylab – a series of presentations, educational panels, and celebrity events taking place through November. This special episode features retired NASA engineer Kenny Mitchell. Mitchell worked at the Marshall Space Flight Center on the development of the Saturn V rocket and developed Environmental Control and Life Support Systems for Skylab.
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Episode 23: Director Harry Winer
January 30th, 2023 | 34 mins 31 secs
education, film, nasa, rocket, rockets, science, science-fiction, space, space camp, spacex, stem
Harry Winer is a director, producer, and writer in the film and television industry. His television work includes Alias, Veronica Mars, Felicity, Hart to Hart, and many others. Harry is president of Smash Media and has written, directed, or produced over 25 films, including Space Camp in 1986. He is a professor at NYU and is a member of the Space Camp Hall of Fame.
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Episode 22: Lt. Col. Burke Hare
November 22nd, 2022 | 41 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
Lt. Col. Burke Hare was a U.S. Air Force space and missile operator whose career has included overseeing the maintenance and operations of ICBMs and improvements made to the GPS satellite system. He is a Space Camp Hall of Fame member and is currently Program Manager Space Operations with the Space Development Agency at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville Alabama.
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Episode 21: Chris Vrenna
October 28th, 2022 | 41 mins 5 secs
deep space nine, engineering, enterprise, for all mankind, graphic design, nasa, rockets, science, space, space force, spacex, star, star trek, stem, trekkie, voyager
Chris Vrenna is a musician, producer, engineer, programmer, and songwriter best known as the drummer for Nine Inch Nails. He’s played with Marilyn Manson, Guns and Roses, Smashing Pumpkins, and more, and he’s composed music for video games in the Quake, Doom, Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Call of Duty game series. Today, he teaches music technology and is on the board of directors for the US Space and Rocket Center Foundation.