Astronaut, Physician and So Much More

Dr. Story Musgrave is the most formally educated American astronaut and the only one to have undertaken missions on all five shuttle orbiters (Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavor). He has academic degrees in such wide-ranging fields as chemistry, computer programming and literature (as well as an M.D.), and is the co-author (with Ann Lenehan) and subject of the autobiography Story: The Way of Water (a perfect topic for our partnership with GVSU's Making Waves about Water initiative). Dr. Musgrave has worked in the field of aerospace medicine, focusing on exercise and cardiovascular physiology. Other work experience includes such varied activities as working with Walt Disney Imagineering; serving as a trauma surgeon in Denver, Colorado; teaching physiology, biological physics and biological engineering at the University of Kentucky; instructing at Pasadena's Art Center College of Design; teaching sailplane aerobatics; writing; photography; and helping plan the human future in space with Applied Minds, Inc. We hope that this Valentine's Day you'll love Story as much as we do!

Keynote Title: The Way of Water: Essential, Engaged, Energetic, Adaptable, Cohesive, Transparent, Creative, Flowing, Synergistic, Multidimensional, Unbeatable and Beautiful

Date: Friday, February 14th / Time: 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Location: Loosemore Auditorium, Pew Campus, GVSU / Cost: Free

Saturday morning talk: Farm Kid to Trauma Surgeon to Rocketman and Way Beyond: Excellence, Exploration, and Evolution

Date: Saturday, February 15th / Time: 11 a.m.
Location: Grand Rapids Public Museum / Cost: Free with GRPM admission

Alice Bowman is the Missions Operations Manager (MOM) for the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHUAPL)'s New Horizons mission. Ms. Bowman holds the distinction of being JHUAPL's first female MOM and leads the Space Mission Operations Group. New Horizons successfully explored Pluto in 2015, sending back amazing photos that made the mysterious dwarf planet come into focus, and mapped, measured, and sent back images from Kuiper Belt object 486958, now known as Arrokoth. New Horizons continues to explore the Kuiper Belt and should be in operation at least until the 2030s. 

In a nod to our partnership with Making Waves about Water, Ms. Bowman's talk will include a discussion of the watery elements of Pluto, including theories of a subsurface water ocean, and since her talk is on Valentine's Day, we've also asked her to discuss the Sputnik Planitia ice field on Pluto, the most famous "heart" in the Kuiper Belt. 

Keynote Title: New Horizons: Exploring the Icy Heart of Pluto and Beyond

Date: Friday, February 14th / Time: 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: Loosemore Auditorium, Pew Campus, GVSU / Cost: Free