NASA is back in orbit, sending Discovery to the international space station in the shuttle program’s first outing in almost a year. The mission marks the 107th journey of the most complex spacecraft ever built. Despite setbacks and tragedies, the reusable space vehicle (each shuttle is predicted to last 100 missions) ignited a generation of scientific and engineering innovation.
At the halfway point of a 12-day mission, Coloradans can proudly ponder the state’s pioneering aerospace presence.
Colorado currently boasts the third-largest space economy in the nation, with 164,500 space-related jobs, making it one of the state’s most powerful and exotic economic engines. Future plans could bring the industry’s Colorado employment level to 232,000 by 2010. This workforce has provided advances in such space fundamentals as data dissemination, navigation, launch and ground control and remote sensing. Buck Rogers would be riveted by such development projects as planetary spacecraft, modernized antennae and satellite systems, search and detection instruments and electro-optic devices.
Colorado’s rapid growth in aerospace owes primarily to its protective location. Landlocked near the center of the country, Colorado is not so vulnerable to attack. The state hosts four military commands, including the Air Force Space Command, the Army Space Command, the North American Space Command (NORAD), and the U.S. Northern Command. They all rely on spaced-based operations and provide funding for future growth.
The University of Colorado plays a major role in the state’s space coalition, and Boulder has received national recognition for its research laboratories, government service and student preparation for prosperous careers in aerospace. CU sustains an annual research budget of $11 million, and its work supports civilian and military space programs and commercial contractors. CU has graduated the most astronauts of any school in the U.S. – NASA has sent 15 CU alumni on 34 missions.
There are 141 Colorado companies in aerospace. The biggest, Lockheed Martin, employs 10,300 people, with more than half of its employees working in the Space Systems unit in Jefferson County. Space Systems designs, develops and manufactures a variety of technology systems for space exploration and national defense.
It’s good to see the shuttle back in action, and to consider our neighbors’ enormous contribution to space achievement.
