News and events

News and events

Events

Sally Ride Day at the Museum of Flight Seattle:…

  • Posted: 2023-06-20

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sally Ride’s historic STS-7 mission to become the first American woman in space! On June 17, the Museum celebrated Sally’s legacy. by hosting a day filled with conversations with extraordinary women in science and all-ages STEM activities.

Linda Dawson, former NASA engineer and Space Shuttle flight controller kicked off the presentations that include other engineers from NASA and Blue Origin as well as retired astronaut-teacher Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger.

Sally’s Night | The Museum of Flight

Events

The Monocle – Foreign Affairs Radio Podcasts

  • Posted: 2022-10-29

For over ten years, Monocle magazine has offered a global perspective on everything that matters, including current affairs, business, politics, travel, culture or design, Monocle magazine provides an informed and intelligent outlook on the goings on of the world. Monocle’s online presence includes a bureau of foreign affairs that includes current topics as well as a historical perspective on significant worldwide events.

Hosted by Andrew Mueller, an award-winning journalist, the latest podcast addresses the launch of Sputnik. The show is presented as a radio broadcast that could have occurred in 1957, when the Russian satellite Sputnik was launched.

The October 29th episode is entitled: Historical Series: The Sputnik Crisis

In part one of our historical series, we travel back in time to 1957 to unpack the Sputnik crisis. What did this new satellite foreshadow, and how did the Soviet Union do it? Andrew Mueller speaks to Henry Rees-Sheridan, Tom Nichols, Mark Galeotti and Linda Dawson.

Linda has taken on the role of a scientist commenting on the Sputnik launch.

Listen to this fascinating broadcast:

Historical series: The Sputnik crisis, The Foreign Desk 461 – Radio | Monocle

Photo of Project Paperclip Team, Fort Bliss Events

From WWII to the Space Race: The Story of…

  • Posted: 2022-08-19

Linda Dawson moderated this important virtual conversation on Tuesday, August 30, 2022. Event presented by the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City.

Check out the video posted on the museum website for this event or on YouTube:

From WWII to the Space Race: The Story of Project Paperclip – YouTube

Event details: From WWII to the Space Race: The Story of Project Paperclip

Summary:

Between 1945 and the 1960s, the United States government brought more than 1,500 German scientists and engineers into the country through Project Paperclip to work on guided missiles, jet and rocket engines, aerodynamics, aerospace medicine, and submarine technology. The U.S. hoped these specialists could give them an advantage at the end of WWII and into the Cold War. Over time, many of the Germans disappeared into American military, industrial, and academic positions. However, one of them, Wernher von Braun, became prominent through his involvement in the Space Race.

Join the Museum for a program exploring Project Paperclip with Dr. Michael Neufeld, Senior Curator at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum and author of Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War, and Eric Lichtblau, author of The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men. The conversation will be moderated by Linda Dawson, author of The Politics and Perils of Space Exploration.

Events

The Linda Getch Dawson STEM Scholarship for Women

  • Posted: 2021-09-29

The Linda Getch Dawson STEM Scholarship for Women at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Massachusetts was established by AWHS alumna Linda Getch Dawson ‘67 to support deserving young women in their pursuit of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics degrees.

The recipient must be able to strongly identify with and excel in STEM related coursework at AWHS. In addition, the student(s) must be able to verbalize their STEM interest and the importance of an increased number of women in science related careers.

Requirements upon the acceptance of the scholarship:

  • Student must remain in high standards academically and behaviorally, maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
  • Student must participate in a STEM related activity such as a science fair or presentation.

Uncategorized

Current writing project: “Women in Air and Space –…

  • Posted: 2021-09-20

Linda Dawson is writing for a new book project. The working title is: “Women in Air and Space – a Personal Perspective.”

The book will not only include factual biographies of these women and their contributions to the aerospace discipline but will also include the backstories that provide insight into what inspired these women as well as the challenges these women faced in order to live out their dream. When possible, the book will include personal stories that give a glimpse into these lives that provide a window into experiences that young women can relate to such as feelings of isolation, discrimination, cultural issues or pressures associated with personal relationships, family, and children. The book will provide a window into what made these women pursue such challenging and pioneering jobs, against the odds. It is important to document the stories of these women — their failures as well as their successes. All too often, women are overlooked or diminished in the roles they played in making space exploration successful. Their accomplishments need to be highlighted so that other women can be inspired and see that others, like themselves, have succeeded in their dreams to pursue careers in aerospace.

Slice of MIT logo Publicity

Linda Dawson featured by MIT Alumni Association

  • Posted: 2021-06-11

Linda was recently featured in Slice of MIT, an MIT Alumni Association website. Linda graduated from MIT in 1971, and this year marks the Class of ’71 50th anniversary!

Former Space Shuttle Engineer Explores the Politics of Space

Linda (Getch) Dawson ’71 grew up during the height of the space race between the United States and the USSR. She recalls driving with her family from Massachusetts to a New Hampshire observatory to hear the beeping of the Soviet satellite Sputnik as it passed overhead. “It’s funny how your path takes different turns, but I always came back to that first love: aerospace,” she says. Dawson’s path took her from MIT to NASA, then into a second career as a teacher and a writer, earning her the nickname “Rocket Woman” from colleagues and journalists along the way.

Read the full story…

Jun 4, 2021 | Catherine Caruso SM ’16 | Slice of MIT

Also posted on Twitter:

Wikileaks Handout/Reuters. The image is of classified U.S. military footage released by Chelsea Manning. Iraqis and journalists are seen being shot and killed, with the remote targeting interface visible. Publicity

Upcoming chapter in cyberwar book

  • Posted: 2021-02-27

Linda is writing a chapter for an upcoming book edited by Asst. Prof. Svitlana Matviyenko of Simon Fraser University School of Communication. Summary: Cyberwar Topologies: In Struggle for a Post-American Internet. Publication expected by the end of 2021.

Cyber related attacks are considered by some to be the biggest threats to space systems. Due to interdependence between civilian and military systems, a cyber-attack on a satellite could adversely affect the integrity of military operations. Cyber assaults are difficult to trace and become a perfect means to create large scale disruptions and possible damage to space systems. If an enemy manages to gain control of the command and control of a satellite, it could possibly “shut down all communications and permanently damage the satellite by expending its propellant supply or damaging its electronics and sensors”. A greater number of space systems are using “more advanced on-board processing, all digital components, software-defined radios, packet-based protocols, and cloud-enabled high-performance computing, the attack surface for cyber-attacks is likely to increase”.3 The most common counter-space cyber threats are unauthorized accesses, spoofing, software threats, data corruption/modification, ground system loss, interception of data and interruptions to precision timing.4

This chapter will present possible cyberwar cases using demonstrated technology along with the devastating impacts that could provide incentives to a war in space.

3. A. Gini, “Cyber Crime from Cyber Space to Outer Space”, Space Safety Magazine, 14 February2014, http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/cyber-security/cyber-crime-cyber-space-outer-space/.

4. Khan, Ahyousha. Cyber ASAT-Capabilities and South Asia. 01 Aug 2020. https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2020/08/01/cyber-asat-capabilities-and-south-asia/

Space War Events

War in Space lecture at Museum of Flight on…

  • Posted: 2019-08-21

War in Space: A special presentation from author Linda Dawson

Date: Saturday, September 14, 2019 – 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M.
What: Lecture / Presentation
Location: Charles Simonyi Space Gallery

War fought in space is becoming increasingly likely in a politically tense world, and author Linda Dawson explores how such a conflict could manifest in her new book, War in Space: The Science and Technology Behind Our Next Theater of Conflict. Presenting scenarios of what would occur in the event of a space attack, Dawson discusses the required technologies for both offense and defense in a possible war in space.

This event is FREE with Museum admission!

Check out Linda's recent and upcoming books:

Show me the books!
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