The organization working to develop a spaceport on desert land between Las Vegas and Pahrump has appointed a former NASA astronaut to head its Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Academy.
José Hernández, 61, president and CEO of Tierra Luna Engineering LLC and a member of the University of California Board of Regents, has joined Spaceport Las Vegas as a senior advisor and is expected to coordinate the University’s STEM Academy. organization for training students in engineering.
Hernandez is a former astronaut who served as a flight engineer on the Space Shuttle Discovery STS-128 14-day mission to the International Space Station in 2009.
When developer Rob Lauer announced his plans to build a 240-acre private spaceport in Clark County in June, he said one of the first initiatives would be to create a STEM academy to train high school students to build and pilot vehicles. capable of reaching orbit, which could be launched from the spaceport or take off and land in the same way as conventional aircraft.
Lauer said Hernandez is the perfect person to lead education efforts because of his own background as the son of a California farm worker who, through a strong work ethic and resilience, earned engineering degrees and eventually joined NASA.
Hernández received a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California in 1985 and an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1987.
California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Hernandez to the University of California Board of Regents in August 2021, with a term that runs through March 2033.
“I am very excited to be part of the Las Vegas Spaceport team and contribute to the advancement of space exploration and education,” Hernández said in a statement announcing the appointment. “It is a privilege to work alongside dedicated professionals and share my experiences to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists.”
Lauer said he expects the STEM Academy to be operational this year. Lauer said enrollment applications would be available later this year and the inaugural class would begin their studies in the fall.
Lauer explained that the Las Vegas Spaceport STEM Academy will offer a military-style aerospace engineering curriculum. Cadets will undergo a rigorous two-year program characterized by high-speed learning and high-stress challenges, preparing them for the demands of the aerospace industry. The program will also offer cadets the opportunity to do summer internships at leading space companies, allowing them to experience first-hand the real-world applications of their studies.
Lauer bought the desert land in November and in June began soliciting investors to raise $310 million to build a launch pad, spaceplane runway, control tower, flight school and 200-room casino. .
Lauer sees the outskirts of Las Vegas as the perfect place to build the spaceport because of the millions of tourists who flock to the city in search of a unique travel experience, with gamblers unfazed by the thought of betting thousands of dollars. in a hand of poker, a roll of the dice or a spin of roulette.
He expects the first rockets to launch within five to seven years and spaceplanes to be used in ten.
Once the industry is established, Lauer expects 15 releases a month. She hopes that, eventually, tourists will make routine flights to an orbiting hotel, to the Moon or to Mars.
Tourism experts have said it would be important for those involved in the spaceport to focus on the safety of guests.
