One last bit, and then —

… one last bit about the conference.  Or actually, an MSNBC.com link about the conference, called “Space on a Budget Balances Risk and Innovation.”  It gives a nice overview of our panel on the last day.  I don’t have a picture of us on the panel (wish I did), but imagine me in a snazzy suit jacket (yes, the same one I wore the next day to Type A Mom) at a table with my old boss, now a manager at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory; the head of Aerospace Corp’s NASA business; and the head of the Space Science Review Office at NASA Langley.  We each gave 5-10 minutes about the challenges facing small planetary missions, and then we answered questions from the audience.

I went first.  I was asked to give an overview of the history of the program, and I did, including several observations about challenges that have faced missions and the program itself, and three things I find challenging today.  It went really well — so well, in fact, that the moderator responded by saying that my upcoming book “should be required reading” for people interested in planetary missions!

I’ll take that!

Now all I have to do is finish editing it into something that is as much a joy to read as it has been for me to research and write!

Tomorrow: Type A Mom, Bloganthropy, and a dress made out of stars.

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