Solar system ambassadors at PSU

Portland State’s Friends of History hosted an event featuring two speakers from NASA’s Solar System Ambassador Program to discuss the history of American space programs and the forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope.

The Solar System Ambassadors Program is a public outreach program designed to work with motivated volunteers across the U.S., according to the program’s Web site. There are about 500 volunteers that coordinate with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, which sponsors the program and provides research for NASA.

Les Hastings, who has been an ambassador since 2006, gave a presentation titled “NASA: 50 Years and Beyond,” which focused on the history of American space travel.

According to Hastings, K.C. Piccard-Krone, president of Friends of History, contacted Hastings and asked him to be part of its ongoing lecture series.

“[Piccard-Krone] said there are some good historical educational programs held at Portland State and that they wanted to discuss American space exploration this spring,” Hastings said. “I felt that it would help shine a special light on NASA, especially since it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Apollo 13.”

Greg Cermak, who has been an ambassador since 1999, gave a presentation on NASA’s plans to launch the Webb Telescope, which will expand on the space imaging currently done by the Hubble Telescope. Cermak said he has previously spoken at PSU regarding volcanism on Jupiter’s moon, Io, and that he would like to see similar events on PSU’s campus in the future.

“I enjoy public speaking and this is my form of public service,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to have lived in a time to witness landing on the moon and visiting all the major objects in the solar system. I hope I make it to 2015 when the New Horizons mission does a flyby of Pluto.”

Hastings also said he would like to be part of future space-related events at PSU. He feels the history of NASA is important in shaping the university’s future, and he enjoys speaking to students about it.

“I think the history will help the advancement, that we learned from our mistakes and there will be differences as we move forward,” he said.

In addition, Hastings said he hopes the event will spark an interest in PSU students to study space exploration. According to Hastings, NASA is undergoing numerous changes and students will have a lot of opportunities to get involved with space programs.

“I feel space exploration has just begun, and they’re in the process of reconsidering spacecraft at NASA,” Hastings said. “They’re looking at new possibilities.”

According to its Web site, Friends of History is a nonprofit group that is part of PSU’s History Department. It is supported by donations through the PSU Foundation and holds free events regularly throughout the year.