Link Observatory Space Science Institute

Greg McCauley, Executive Director and CEO of Link Observatory Space Science Institute in Mooresville Indiana spoke to Kiwanis about the Institute, STEM education, and the challenges of a mission to Mars.  The mission of the Institute is to advance scholastic literacy of future generations with informal STEM education focused on NASA missions, astronomy, and space exploration; and to foster scientific curiosity and advance science literacy to cultivate and nurture the next generation of leaders.

In the early 1970’s, Greg McCauley worked for NASA at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston, Texas in the Mission Planning and Analysis Division for the lunar missions of Apollo 15 and 16, and was a member of the Lunar Launch Team for Apollo 17. Greg is the former CEO of Advanced Imaging, Inc, an Indianapolis based national medical imaging and consulting firm. Greg serves as a Solar System Ambassador for NASA/JPL and lectures throughout central Indiana on planetary exploration. The Solar System Ambassadors Program is sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and a lead research and development center for NASA. He is a professional science communicator and member of the Indiana Astronomical Society where he spent three years on the Board of Directors.

McCauley explained how SpaceX, a privately owned company, is building the components for a mission to Mars in 2022.  One of the major challenges to mission is that a 10 day window for launch of a 5 month trip only occurs every 26 months.   Once a crew arrives on Mars they will remain there for 16 months before beginning a 5 month return trip. 

The main mission of the Institute is education of school students encouraging them to consider carreers in STEM fields.  For more information on the Institute or the Observatory see  linkobservatory.org/.