Linda Krause (ST13) finished the seven-week program of the 2021 NASA Small Spacecraft Forum, presented virtually from March 25th through April 19th to all participants, and concluding with a NASA-only session on May 6th. The Forum covered all phases of the mission life-cycle, as well as development of conceptual designs with compelling science and discussions on state-of-the-art technology to support sound small satellite missions. The NASA-only session covered topics related to mission assurance.
Panelists from both HQ/SMD (including ST13’s own Amy Winebarger on detail) and HQ/STMD provided their perspectives, and attendees from all sectors shared observations and concerns. These conversations provided an opportunity for HQ to become aware of challenges, especially to smaller institutions and new principal investigators, and to engage in fruitful conversations with scientists to address these challenges.
The forum’s website is: https://science.nasa.gov/technology/2021-smallsat-forum/agenda.