NextGen programming focuses on students, educators, and everyone interested in inspiring today's students to aspire to bring to fruition the vision of everyday people living, working, and thriving in communities beyond Earth.
These sessions take place in the International BC ballroom.
Morning NextGen Session 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Dr. Jennifer Rochlis, Spaceflight Consultant
"Advice for On and Off Planet"
Afternoon NextGen Session 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Aarti Holla-Maini, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Susan Kilrain, Former NASA Astronaut
Morning NextGen Session 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Robert "Hoot" Gibson, Former NASA Chief Astronaut
Afternoon NextGen Session 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Dr. Pascal Lee, Planetary Scientist
"Human Exploration of Mars"
Morning NextGen Session 10:00 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Dr. Steven Hawley, Former NASA Astronaut
Afternoon NextGen Session 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Melodie Yashar, Space Architect
"Building Off-World: Habitats on the Moon and Mars"
Morning NextGen & Industry Session 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Planetary Defense Special Session with Nancy Wolfson, AIAA
"Look Up, It's an Asteroid!" (Third Edition)
"The DART Mission Team: From DART to HERA, and What’s Next"
NextGen Sessions
Session Speakers Info
Jennifer Rochlis
CEO, Advancing Frontiers, Inc.
Dr. Jennifer Rochlis has spent her career bridging cutting-edge science with human-centered systems, bringing that synergistic lens to spaceflight, emerging technologies, and leadership development. She is the co-founder, President and CEO of Advancing Frontiers, Inc., a consulting company providing human systems and spaceflight integration services. Previously, she was Vice President for Products and Chief of Solution Architecture at Teledyne FLIR. During her 20-year tenure at NASA, she served as Division Read More
Dr. Steven Hawley
Former NASA Astronaut
Steven Hawley grew up under the dark skies of rural Kansas, where the dream of space travel seized him for a lifetime. Inspired by Astronaut Al Shepard’s first flight beyond the atmosphere, Hawley pursued academic degrees in astronomy, physics, and astrophysics, and later earned a seat in the “Thirty-Five New Guys,” NASA’s first class of astronaut candidates to include civilian scientists and engineers, women, and people of color. Dr. Hawley made history deploying Read More
Aarti Holla-Maini
Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Aarti Holla-Maini is the Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), having taken up post on 18th September 2023 following her appointment by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Ms. Holla-Maini brings over 25 years of experience in the space and satellite sector, working predominantly with international organizations and regulators. Prior to the United Nations, she held the post of Secretary-General of the Global Satellite Operators Association. Under Read More
Robert "Hoot" Gibson
Former NASA Chief Astronaut
Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson entered the United States Navy after college and served as a fighter pilot in the F-4 “Phantom” and F-14 “Tomcat” aircraft, flying combat missions in Southeast Asia and making more than 300 carrier landings aboard the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Enterprise. After attending the Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as TOPGUN, and the Navy Test Pilot School, he served as a flight Read More
Melodie Yashar
Space Architect, Founder, AENARA
Melodie Yashar is a space architect, technologist, and researcher. She is the founder of AENARA, a practice developing technologies to autonomously build off-world habitats, which in the near term redefine construction paradigms on Earth. In prior roles, Melodie was the VP of Building Design and Performance at ICON, a technology company focused on large-scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supported Read More
Nancy C. Wolfson
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Nancy C. Wolfson is a Washington, D.C., US-based scholar, lecturer, and researcher. Nancy is a published author with over 18 years of professional managerial experience. President of Disrupting Space, a company dedicated to analog and risk management space-related research and developing international partnership opportunities for various space activities. Nancy focuses on space exploration, sustainability, and planetary defense research and education. Nancy was elected Vice-Chair of the International Astronautical Federation’s (IAF) Read More
Susan Kilrain
Former NASA Astronaut
Commander Susan Kilrain is an astronaut, a navy test pilot, an aerospace engineer, and a world traveler. She was one of the first women selected to fly the F-14 Tomcat and the youngest person, and one of only three women, to pilot the space shuttle. She served twenty years in the Navy paving the way for women. She has flown more than 3,000 flight hours in more than thirty different Read More
Dr. Pascal Lee
Planetary Scientist, Co-founder and Chairman, Mars Institute
Dr. Pascal Lee is a planetary scientist with the SETI Institute, the Mars Institute, and NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. He is also professor of planetary sciences at Kepler Space University, and chief scientist for Ceres Robotics, a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) industry provider. He also serves as the National Space Society’s Vice-President for Planetary Development. Dr. Lee holds an M.E. in geology from the Read More