Members of the space science community will soon land in Morehead for the inaugural Appalachian Space Technology and Research Advancement (ASTRA) Conference.
ASTRA-Con 2023 will take place on September 14 through 16 at Morehead State University. Organizers said the student-led event aims to highlight innovations in aerospace technology and research in the region.
Emily Ballantyne is an MSU graduate student and the conference’s founder. She said ASTRA-Con is a good opportunity to collaborate with one another, and see what’s going on in the space industry.
“We want to bring everybody to this part of the country to see what we’re all about at the Space Science Center, to give our students an opportunity to network and talk with professionals, and listen to professionals talk about their research,” Ballantyne said.
ASTRA-Con will feature academic presentations from students, and Ballantyne said that was the driving force behind the conference’s inception. Organizers mainly wanted to allow undergraduate students to have a chance to meet with prominent figures in the space science industry, and have their own work showcased.
“Oftentimes, we can send a couple people off to conferences like this, but we can’t send everybody,” she said. “So, the goal was to bring that to Morehead.”
In addition to student presentations, ASTRA-Con will feature keynote speakers from certain divisions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). With help from the university, Ballantyne said she and fellow organizers were able to secure a keynote speech from current NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson.
“We are very excited that he was able to make the time to come down to Morehead, give this talk, and give everybody at the conference a chance to listen to him, because oftentimes you don’t see a speaker quite like that at these kinds of conferences,” she said.
Sen. Nelson will be delivering his keynote speech at 1 p.m. on Friday, September 15 in the Adron Doran University Center ballroom on MSU’s campus. His speech is open to the public.
Other keynote speakers associated with NASA include Christopher Baker and Dr. Prasun Desai on Thursday, September 14, and Dr. Andy Klesh on Saturday, September 16. Tickets are required for those speeches and all other ASTRA-Con events.
More information can be found here.