NASA engineer Mallory Jennings '10 and WSU 2024 CosmoShox team to give public presentations on human safety in space

Mallory Jennings, the first speaker at the free 2024 Ad Astra Galaxy Forum at the Cosmosphere, is a NASA expert in charge of spacesuit, spacewalks, jetpacks and more at Johnson Space Center.

She is also local. The NASA EVA (extravehicular activity) Operation Lead Engineer is a 2010 Wichita State graduate in mechanical engineering and a 2005 Goddard High School graduate. Attendees can view an actual spacesuit while Jennings explains about the challenges and solutions for human safety in space and shares about her work at NASA. She has been involved in over 70 spacewalks.

Also at the Ad Astra Galaxy Forum on August 24 will be the WSU CosmoShox, an interdisciplinary team in the Open XR Lab at WSU, were NASA finalists in the 2024 NASA SUITS ( Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students) Design Competition. They will talk about and demo the innovative interfaces with an augment reality (A/R) head gear they developed for possible use by an astronaut in space.

Solar System Ambassador Jeanette Bosch and Ad Astra Kansas board member Steve Durst will also speak.

This FREE event, open to the public, will be Saturday, August 24, from 1-3 p.m. at the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson. It is sponsored by the Ad Astra Kansas Foundation. Register at contact@adastra-ks.org. Attendees will receive a free pass to the Hall of Space Museum after the Forum. It will also be live streamed on the AAKF Facebook page

Speaker bios and other information at http://www.adastra-ks.org.