Geogria Institute of Technology

Professor Robert Braun took a group of 20 undergraduate honors students to Washington, D.C. last week to meet with some of our nation’s leading policymakers. This Spring semester undergraduate honors course (AE 2803, Aerospace Science and Technology Policy: The Role of NASA in the 21st Century) addresses the importance of technology innovation and the integration of technical, budgetary and policy issues in the framing of the U.S. civilian aerospace economy. Course material covers the challenges and fundamental physics of aerospace engineering, the historical development of aerospace capabilities, and budgetary and policy aspects of this sector. The course has utilized the rollout and subsequent debate of the Obama administration 2011 NASA space policy as a case study. On March 29-30, this group of students met with senior policymakers in the Administration and in Congress and discussed aspects of aerospace science and technology policy that we have been studying in class. We met with:

Congressman Chaka Fattah

Doug Babcock, Legislative staff in Senator Brown's office

Charlie Harman, Chief of Staff in Senator Chambliss' office

Ed Feddeman, Professional Staff of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

Alex Saltman, Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

Lori Garver, NASA Deputy Administrator

Beth Robinson, NASA Chief Financial Officer