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30 The College of New Jersey Magazine Space fans by the millions are already paying attention; how could they not be? A flurry of space-centric events has filled the nightly news: Billionaires race to beat one another into space on private rockets. Satellites reveal July temperatures to be the hottest ever on record for the planet. A spacecraft's research mission about an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building helps NASA scientists game the odds — 1 in 1,750 — of its hitting Earth. In an era where life is endlessly chronicled on social media, it's easier than ever to follow along on the journey. Sofia Stepanoff '22, a double major in mathematics and physics who plans to pursue a career in observational astronomy, fills her Instagram feed with space news and watches SpaceX launches on its YouTube channel. The potential for widespread human spaceflight intrigues her less than its role in increasing scientific missions. "Space tourism will fuel — pun intended — more exploration because it will make it cheaper," she says. "That's the part I'm excited about. It will make it easier to go to space." As a space operator for the U.S. Air Force in the 1990s, Lisa Loucks '87 witnessed the fledgling days of the commercial space industry — and believed so strongly in its potential that she joined Sea Launch, a multina- tional company led by Boeing that launched the first satellite into space from the sea rather than land. NASA/JPL/USGS Moving life from Earth to the moon is the leap needed to get humans to Mars. These days, millions of others share Loucks' excitement for the growing intersection between NASA and commercial space companies. "Shuttle launches became sort of yawners to some people because they happened so often," she says. "Now, all of the energy from the newness of it is there for the commercial side, as well as all of the excitement for people who were tracking the NASA launches." The president of Ascendant Spaceflight Services, Loucks consults with commercial space companies on developing infrastructure and navigating federal regulations. The stakes for commercial spaceflight, she says, are much greater than simply letting the richest men on the planet travel to space. "I think we're at the precipice," she says. "People might think it seems indulgent that we've got billionaires doing this space tourism, but if you think about it, it's really practice." Consider, she says, the aviation industry: at first, it was only the rich who flew on airplanes. "Now everybody flies," she says. "Think about that in terms of spaceflight, and not just from the standpoint of aspirational space travel. With things like the latest climate report, it might eventually

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