PCE News
Roger That! Celebrates 10 Years
February 25, 2026
The Padnos College of Engineering was proud to be take part in the 10th annual Roger That! conference.
Roger B. Chaffee was an engineer, pilot and astronaut from Grand Rapids who lost his life in the Apollo 1 accident on January 27, 1967. The RogerThat! conference, scholarly in nature and open to the general public, is co-organized by Grand Valley State University, the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the Roger B. Chaffee Scholarship Fund. Roger That! seeks to honor Chaffee and highlight local research in a two-day celebration of space exploration.
This year's theme was Space and Time and this year's event welcomed more than 1,900 ticketed guests and 22 partner organizations. The keynote speaker, astronaut Dr. Jeanette Epps, drew a standing room only crowd and the PCE outreach team engaged with hundreds of students and parents. Roger That! is presented by Grand Valley State University in association with the Grand Rapids Public Museum and the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium.