Space exploration and the future of STEM education were central themes at a recent Dartmouth College panel featuring former astronauts Mae Jemison and Jay Buckey. The event, titled “Launch to the NEXT Frontier,” took place on February 3 and was hosted by Dartmouth NEXT, with support from several academic departments and organizations.
Ansley Booker, executive director of Dartmouth NEXT, described Jemison and Buckey as “visionary intergenerational leaders, researchers, and global ambassadors for STEM education.” Booker moderated the discussion attended by 170 people in person at Loew Auditorium and over 150 via livestream. The conversation addressed space travel safety, its impact on human health, and the value of interdisciplinary approaches in challenging environments.
Odette Harris, a Dartmouth trustee and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, opened the event by recalling her earlier experience meeting Jemison. “She skillfully taught us that science could be real, that science could be nuanced, and most importantly, that science could and should be accessible,” Harris said.
Jemison is recognized as the first woman of color in space. She is also a physician and engineer who previously taught environmental studies at Dartmouth. In 1992, she joined the Space Shuttle Endeavour mission where she conducted experiments related to material science, life sciences, and human adaptation to weightlessness. Before her NASA career, Jemison served as a medical officer with the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Discussing her current work leading 100 Year Starship—a nonprofit initiative funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—Jemison said its goal is “to transform life here on earth and beyond, and to be inclusive across ethnicity, gender, geography, and even more so across disciplines because all the disciplines are involved in space flight right now.”
Buckey is a professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine where he leads the Space Medicine Innovations Lab. He flew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia’s Neurolab mission in 1998 to study how weightlessness affects brain development. Reflecting on progress since past disasters like Challenger’s loss forty years ago, Buckey commented: “The Apollo program had a disaster. The shuttle had its losses. But I think every year it’s getting a little safer… There will always be accidents and disasters. It’s never going to be totally risk-free but the journey is important.”
During audience questions about commercial versus government roles in space travel’s future—prompted by interest in companies such as SpaceX—Buckey noted government investment historically enabled technological advances before commercial viability followed: “Now space exploration is commercially viable… You’re using its discoveries every day. With your phone using GPS, we don’t even think about it but we have incorporated space into our economy.”
Jemison cautioned against diminishing public investment: “Who gets to be the gatekeepers? Who makes the calls about who gets to participate?… When we start to give away and not continue to fund the high-stakes things that the government does then we may stymie progress.”
Both speakers expressed hope that programs like Dartmouth NEXT would encourage new generations toward careers in space science. Buckey highlighted Lauren Edgar ’07—a former student now among NASA astronaut candidates—as an example.
Dean Madden, vice provost for research at Dartmouth College, stated that NASA funding has remained steady compared to last year. He also announced ongoing research coordinated through Dartmouth’s Department of Physics and Astronomy involving CubeSats for studying phenomena such as aurora borealis and Van Allen belts—research essential for understanding how Earth deflects solar radiation.
Madden emphasized recruiting diverse skills for STEM fields: “We want you to get excited… That is the vision of Dartmouth NEXT—to create this sense that everybody has a role.” Booker added that one aim of NEXT is increasing student participation both within Dartmouth STEM programs and globally.
Madden concluded by encouraging young attendees: “When I was 5 years old we had not yet been to the moon… keep your sense of wonder.”
