About
Stories of Space™ (The STORIES Project) is an open-source project available to a global community of storytellers who wish to connect people to space. Driven by a team of scientists, researchers, communicators, and writers, The Stories of Space Project™ believes that a story-YOUR story-can change the way we explore space.
Helping to create a JEDI space – a Just, Equity, Diverse, and Inclusive space – Stories of Space™ is a worldwide project. Everyone – from space enthusiasts to space professionals – can launch a piece of their on-Earth experience into a true outer-space adventure.
Selected Stories of Space™ submissions are currently cataloged on SD cards (secure digital cards or a tiny flash memory card designed for high-capacity memory and various portable devices) and launched Aug. 4, 2023. The SD cards are part of a payload test project flown by NASA on a MISSE satellite carrier, provided by Aegis Aerospace, a major small satellite carrier and approved NASA contractor. MISSE is a highly flexible, commercial facility owned and operated by Aegis Aerospace that is permanently installed on the external ISS truss near the solar arrays.
After the return flight, stories will be shared on the Casual Space Podcast, hosted by Space Communicator, Beth Mund.
Participate
Industry Partners
Stories of Space Team
Beth Mund
Executive Director
Beth Mund is an analog astronaut, CEO of Stellar Communications, former NASA communications officer, keynote speaker, and space communicator. At NASA, she served as a public affairs officer and International Space Station communications officer. As an analog astronaut, she served on two (2) simulated missions; one to Mars at the HI-SEAS research facility in Hawaii, and a lunar simulation in Poland at the Lunares Research Station. Beth is the weekly host of the “Casual Space” podcast, providing “intimate conversations each week with astronauts and authors, scientists and CEOs, looking to share their love for space exploration while helping to inspire the next generation of difference makers.” Beth Mund works passionately to connect people to space exploration through her projects, her podcast, and her in-person programs.
Mund currently serves on the Space Camp Alumni Board and the Space Drinks Association. She is a founding board member of the Women’s Leadership Alliance at her alma mater, Loras College. For more information, visit www.bethmund.com.
Alex Martin
Digital Communications Specialist
Alex Martin is a seasoned professional in the realm of communications technology and media production, boasting over 30 years of expertise as a systems administrator, audio/video producer, and technical director. From software development to video production to event management, Alex has honed his skills, both on stage and behind the scenes, across a diverse array of mediums and formats.
Central to Alex's character is his commitment to empowering clients to articulate their visions, foster audience engagement, and convey compelling narratives. His calm demeanor, clear communication, and collaborative approach make him a valuable asset in any realm of media production.
Academic Project Partners
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JR Dennison
JR is a Professor of physics at Utah State University, where he leads the Materials Physics Group. He has worked in the area of electron scattering for his entire career and has focused on the electron emission and conductivity of materials related to spacecraft charging for the last two decades. This has often emphasized studies of the electronic structure of highly disordered materials, with an emphasis on elemental carbon allotropes.
Dennison has a strong interest in physics education with particular emphasis on secondary school interactions; activities in education outreach have included more than a half dozen teacher workshops and the development and coordination of USU Physics Day at Lagoon, an amusement park physics activity serving more than 150,000 secondary student and teachers since 1989.
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Achal Duhoon
Achal a PhD Physics student at Utah State University currently working as a Research Assistant in the Materials Physics Group (https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/mp). His research goals involves developing instrumentation, methods and analysis to accurately simulate the space environment for testing radiation effects on space materials, electronics, and understanding cellular damage due to the synchronous radiation effects and microgravity on cardio and neurological cell clusters.
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Marc Hartzman
Marc is the author of The Big Book of Mars (Quirk Books) as well as six other books. He’s written articles for Mental Floss, HuffPost, AOL Weird News, AllThatsInteresting.com, and his own site, WeirdHistorian.com, and has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, and the Travel Channel's Mysteries at the Museum. Hartzman was also a panelist at PlanetFest ’21 and a speaker at the 2022 Humans to Mars Summit in Washington, DC.
Outside of writing books and articles, he earns a living as an award-winning advertising creative director. Hartzman’s 25-year career includes BMW’s 2015 Super Bowl ad (which CBS recently ranked as #17 in its Top 50 of all time list) and the IBM Moon Walk interactive experience created in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
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Lisa Gethard
Lisa is passionate about sharing the "Deep Ocean, Deep Space and its connectivity with Humanities.” She is a NASA Webb Space Telescope Community Event Host, a long-term, sustained public engagement initiative that creates and nurtures generations of science enthusiasts, including underserved audiences, through long-term, meaningful engagement with Webb’s discoveries. She is a Speaker through the NASA Speakers Bureau on a variety of subject matters ranging from Earth Life Science, Space Exploration. A dedicated Member of the NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador Program, ISS Space Station Ambassador Program, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) she shares the message to enable anyone, anywhere, to participate in scientific discovery through variable star astronomy through scientific research, education, and public outreach.
NASA Citizen Scientist with The GLOBE Program, NASA Exoplanet Watch, Network For Ocean Worlds (NOW) and NASA Advanced Air Mobility Working Group (AEWG) for Air Space and Community Integration. She serves as a content creator with ASU, ETX, SESE Infiniscope, a NASA-funded project that is transforming Earth and space science education. Alumni and Member of The Clemente Course In The Humanities Program and the Southern Clemente Community Alliance, a challenging interdisciplinary program that focuses on moral philosophy, literature, US history, art history, critical thinking and writing. She is a Team Member of AstroAccess “making Space accessible for All.”
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Amanda Gutierrez
Amanda is a junior at Pius X High School in Lincoln, Nebraska. She was selected as the winner (high school division) of the NASA and Future Engineers Artemis Moon Pod Essay Contest from over 14,000 entries. Amanda is actively involved in Million Girls Moonshot, a national organization that works to engage one million girls in STEM learning opportunities across the United States. She is a member of the Nebraska Million Girls Moonshot board through the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, and is part of the national MGM Flight Crew. Amanda spoke as a panelist at the SXSW EDU 2022 conference, and co-hosted the national 2022 Afterschool Alliance "Lights on Afterschool" town hall event. She serves as a youth speaker for NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement, and has been featured on Space.com, NPR’s Blue Dot, the Casual Space Podcast, and other local and national media. Amanda enjoys dancing competitively and plans to study aerospace engineering in college.
In the future, Amanda hopes to become an astronaut.