Another leap

It's amazing how things can change in just a few months.

Since I last posted here, I attended UN Headquarters for a conference on integrating young professionals in the workforce. It was my first trip to New York City, so I enjoyed every minute. I've also gotten more deeply involved in the effort to transform Johnson Space Center and been named to a team that will do "Barrier Analysis" to help figure out how we can get the community to buy in to the coming changes. That should get rolling soon. I'm also now the contributing author on spaceflight for the Houston Chronicle's Cosmo.Sphere blog!

I also came very close to changing my career path. I was interviewed and pursued by two other companies, but I decided that one wasn't really where I wanted to go and the other never actually got their act together enough to give me an offer before I made up my mind. I'm going to keep on working where I am and try to take on work that is more in line with my career goals. Rather than just doing something different, I'm going to target opportunities in flight operations and mission planning.

Just this past weekend, I was given reason enough to change my mind about not being in Obama's camp. Since the general election started, I've been utterly appalled at how quickly McCain's campaign went for the gutter. It didn't work for Clinton, so I don't know why McCain thinks it was a good idea for him to align with the people who torpedoed his 2000 campaign. Obama also just announced that he will not cut NASA to pay for education, that Sen. Bill Nelson and former Sen. John Glenn (both former astronauts) will advise him on space policy, and that he is committed to robust manned and unmanned exploration of the "moon, Mars, and beyond."

It's a sea change from his plan earlier this year and does seem to be based on an honest re-assessment. Thanks to Sen. Nelson and Sen. Glenn, Obama has already directed his staff to look elsewhere for funding his education plan. As I argued months ago, space exploration and education funding should never be pitted against each other. I'm glad to see Obama came around on this.