Welcome

President Don Kidd opened the meeting at 7:30. The meeting was held at the Lockheed Martin offices located at Space Center Drive. A list of attendees is included at the bottom of these minutes.

President’s Comments (Don Kidd)

Stellar Space Competition
The Stellar Space Competition was held in conjunction with the National Space Symposium (April 13 – 16). The competition was a great success with five high schools competing. High School teams from Lewis Palmer, Vista Ridge, Falcon, Aurora, and Grand Junction competed by solving one of three scenarios involving an unauthorized contact of a U.S. satellite. The teams, using Satellite Tool Kit (STK) software, were provided orbital parameters for one of three satellites. In a matter of three hours, the high school teams developed solutions and prepared a briefing for a panel of judges. Winning the competition was the Aurora High School team. An awards ceremony was held Wednesday afternoon during the National Space Symposium.
Sijan member TSgt Tim Tishawa was instrumental in planning, organizing, and leading this initial Stellar Space competition. TSgt Tishawa worked with Air Force Space Command and AFA leadership to gain approval for the competition. He also worked with Air Force Academy instructors developing the scenario, he identified and coordinated the high school teams, he arranged for the panel of judges, he developed the evaluation criteria and scoring methodology, and he organized the competition. A very big thank you goes out to TSgt Tishawa for the time and energy spent making the Stellar Space Competition a huge success.