Astrophysics has long been regarded as the coolest of the hard sciences. Space. The Moon. Mars. Extraplanetary life. Equal parts mind-boggling and mesmerizing.

In an academic setting, space-related issues can often feel like they’re being gatekept by the amount of knowledge one must accumulate to truly grasp these concepts. This is why it was particularly exciting to stumble upon a space where experienced people in the realm of space science would freely talk about their knowledge to whoever was interested, in terms that felt accessible to everyone.

This Thursday, three Alumni currently working in space science came together to talk about their jobs, their transition to and from Columbia, as well as their takes on the state of space exploration today. The event was conducted over Zoom and mediated by Space.com’s Editor in Chief, Tariq Malik, who opened the panel with the question, “Who are you and what do you do?”

First up was Gabrielle Barbour, GS ‘20. Barbour is a “radiation survivability engineer” at Lockheed Martin, global security and aerospace company—in layman terms: she tests space-bound materials to see how they react under different radioactive environments. Barbour’s ‘journey to space’, however, was rocky. She studied Middle Eastern Studies at Penn State, got a master’s degree on the subject, and later on, worked for the FBI. The terms of her departure from the Bureau were clouded in turbulence, having suffered stalking and sexual harassment from her supervisors, which resulted in a federal lawsuit. Fresh out of the job, it gave Barbour the motivation to start over and pursue her pipe dream. She applied to one specific program within one specific school: Astrophysics at Columbia University. Initially, she remembers sitting through math lectures where students half her age were doing twice as good, but it paid off. Right out of college, she applied to 24 positions at Lockheed Martin and finally landed her dream job. To aspiring astrophysicists, she advises never to settle and to overapply for positions.

Kyle Hughes, SEAS ‘18, always wanted to go to space. When asked about his motivations, he cites his upbringing in the  “middle-of-nowhere, New Hampshire” as one of the reasons, noting the clear skies and frequent family visits to the Kennedy Space Center. At Columbia, he was a part of the Columbia Space Initiative (CSI), where he worked on a Cube Set Form Factor, which helped measure “exoplanet transits”. CSI often works in collaborations with NASA, and even sends some of their experiments to the international space station. Straight out of college, Hughes started working for the Jet Propulsion Lab at NASA, where he still is a Software Systems engineer on the Spectro-Photometer. Again, required translation: he takes multiple photos (spectra) of every possible pixel around the Earth to map out the history of the universe.

Michael Massimino, SEAS ‘84, is a certified space-veteran. He was an astronaut for 18 years, an on-screen consultant for the Big Bang Theory, and the first person to tweet from space. Currently, he teaches the famous engineering requirement: “The Art of Engineering.” In the beginning Massimino wasn’t sure whether he wanted to work in space, and studied industrial engineering during his time at Columbia. After some years working at IBM post-grad, he went on to get his master’s at MIT, where he finally decided to apply to be a NASA astronaut. When asked why, Massimino is straightforward: “I just wanted to be like all those Apollo guys.” His is a story of utmost perseverance. His first two applications were rejected. After a third application and an interview, he was once more rejected. Finally, after his fourth application, he was inducted as part of the Class of 1996. Massimino believes it was crucial for him to find his own way into astrophysics, honoring his interests while at college and his timing in order to make it on his own terms. He advises students that an unrelated major should not deter them from wanting to become an astronaut. Project work, skills, and experience are key. “I flew to space once with a geologist, you never know,” remarks Massimino.

What now, then? Having covered so much about the past, what can we look for in the future? As our alums point out, space no longer seems limited to just engineers as various professionals from diverse academic backgrounds are coming into the arena. The concept of the space industry has emerged as a new, exciting thing (I think Elon Musk fits in here) and space startups such as Relativity Space and Rocket Lab have begun to pop up with extreme missions such as launching a 3D printed rocket off Earth. What most excites them? They can’t choose: the James Webb telescope that’s on a mission to capture images of the earliest days of star formation, tickets to go to space and float around being sold for relatively reasonable prices in context, or the Perseverance Rove, which is seeking signs of ancient life on Mars.

The future of space and space exploration is clouded in both mystery and revelation. For someone with little knowledge of the theory and jargon of space, it may seem as if this future is not yours to be a part of. But behind these convoluted terms are people that are highly curious, as we all are, to understand our place in the solar system and the grander universe. In that panel, one thing these alumni had in common was their passion for human life. Barbour, Hughes, and Massimino all spoke of a passion for what they called the “human experience of space exploration.” As Massimino said in his closing remarks, it often feels like “This is the most important thing that has happened in the last 500 years, and will be for the next 500.”

moon club via National Geographic