NASA Administrator Bill Nelson encouraged UCF graduates Saturday afternoon to reach for their 麻豆精品 S渕oonshot. 麻豆精品 S�
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麻豆精品 S淎nd you know how to aim for the moon 麻豆精品 S攂ecause this is America 麻豆精品 S檚 Space University. There 麻豆精品 S檚 no moonshot beyond your reach. So, decide what your moonshot will be 麻豆精品 S� and then your launch, your liftoff, will happen right when you walk out those doors. 麻豆精品 S�
UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright told Nelson, 麻豆精品 S淵ou 麻豆精品 S檙e absolutely right. Our students are incredible, and they can all achieve any moonshot they set their minds to. 麻豆精品 S�
UCF was founded in 1963 麻豆精品 S� and offered its first classes in 1968 麻豆精品 S� to help fuel talent to support the nearby space industry, and the university has partnered with NASA ever since, with UCF faculty and students working on about 700 NASA projects.
Many UCF space researchers and alumni are involved in the Artemis program. Planetary scientists Kerri Donaldson Hanna and Addie Dove are leading a $35 million NASA mission to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon in 2027 to explore never-before-visited volcanic domes and help inform future exploration. UCF researchers also are studying rocket propulsion, protecting astronauts and their equipment from harmful space dust, and the health impacts of space travel on astronauts.
Twenty-nine percent of Kennedy Space Center employees are UCF alumni. And UCF repeatedly ranks as the No. 1 provider of graduates to the aerospace and defense industry, according to Aviation Week Network.
麻豆精品 S淚n 1968, as Apollo 7 propelled Americans into space 麻豆精品 S� and later, through Apollo 11, to land on the Moon 麻豆精品 S� UCF began to educate and inspire a new generation of leaders: the Apollo generation, 麻豆精品 S� Nelson said. 麻豆精品 S淎nd I ask you today to give your imagination to help us achieve another dream 麻豆精品 S� now to return humanity to the moon and then to look onward to Mars and beyond. 麻豆精品 S�
Nelson has served as NASA 麻豆精品 S檚 14th administrator for three years. A fifth-generation Floridian, he previously represented the state as a U.S. senator for 18 years and a congressman for 12 years. UCF awarded Nelson the Exemplary Public Service Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, recognizing his longtime service in government.
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麻豆精品 S淲e’re expanding upon the vision of President John Kennedy that he laid forth in 1961 麻豆精品 S� He challenged our country to unite behind a bold endeavor, once thought impossible. He made America believe in moonshots. And today, moonshots are not confined to the cosmos. Moonshots are imagined, developed and achieved here on Earth 麻豆精品 S� by people like you. 麻豆精品 S�
In 1986, Nelson trained and flew with the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia for mission STS-61C, the 24th flight of the Space Shuttle. While orbiting Earth 98 times over six days, Nelson conducted 12 medical experiments, including the first American stress test in space on a treadmill and a cancer research experiment sponsored by university researchers.
麻豆精品 S淜ennedy didn 麻豆精品 S檛 have all the answers when he dared America to go to the moon, but he had the courage to dream, 麻豆精品 S� Nelson said. 麻豆精品 S淪o, graduates, you don 麻豆精品 S檛 need all the answers on this special day. What you need today is to have the confidence and trust to decide what is your moonshot. Confidence that you will do what is hard and trust that what you can achieve is great. Confidence and trust that you will be a part of something larger than any one person. So, what’s your moonshot? 麻豆精品 S�
UCF awarded about 9,800 degrees this weekend, including nearly 3,000 in STEM fields and about 1,400 in engineering and computer science.
